Commentaries:
Robertson's Word Pictures (NT)
He was transfigured before them (metemorfwqh emprosqen autwn). The word is the same as the metamorphoses (cf. Ovid) of pagan mythology. Luke does not use it. The idea is change (meta-) of form (morfh). It really presents the essence of a thing as separate from the sxhma (fashion), the outward accident. So in Romans 12:2 Paul uses both verbs, sunsxematizesqe (be not fashioned) and metamorfousqe (be ye transformed in your inner life). So in I Corinthians 7:31 sxhma is used for the fashion of the world while in Mark 16:12 morfh is used of the form of Jesus after his resurrection. The false apostles are described by metasxhmatisomai in II Corinthians 11:13-15. In Philippians 2:6 we have en morfh used of the Preincarnate state of Christ and morfhn doulou of the Incarnate state (Philippians 2:7), while sxhmati wv anqrwpov emphasizes his being found "in fashion as a man." But it will not do in Matthew 17:2 to use the English transliteration metamorfwsiv because of its pagan associations. So the Latin transfigured (Vulgate transfiguratus est) is better. "The deeper force of metamorfousqai is seen in II Corinthians 3:18 (with reference to the shining on Moses' face), Romans 12:2" (McNeile). The word occurs in a second-century papyrus of the pagan gods who are invisible. Matthew guards against the pagan idea by adding and explaining about the face of Christ "as the sun" and his garments "as the light."
Other Robertson's Word Pictures (NT) entries containing Matthew 17:2:
Matthew 17:2
Mark 9:2
Mark 9:3
Luke 9:28
Romans 12:2
2 Corinthians 3:18
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