Commentaries:
Adam Clarke
Elias - shall first come, and restore all things - Or will reform, ; this word our Lord quotes from the Septuagint; who render the Hebrew vehesheb leb aboth al banim , he will cause the heart of the fathers to turn to the children, by, , who will convert, or restore, the heart of the father to the son. We are not therefore to understand the version of the Septuagint quoted by our Lord in any other sense than the Hebrew will allow. No fanciful restoration of all men, devils and damned spirits, is spoken of as either being done, or begun, by the ministry of John; but merely that he should preach a doctrine tending to universal reformation of manners, and should be greatly successful: see Matthew 3:1-7, and especially Luke 3:3-15, where we find that a general reformation had taken place,
1.among the common people;
2.among the tax-gatherers; and
3.among the soldiers.
And as John announced the coming Christ, who was to baptize with the Holy Ghost, i.e. to enlighten, change, and purify the heart, that the reform might be complete, both outward and inward, he may be said, in the strictest sense of the word, to have fulfilled the prophecy: and that he was the Elijah mentioned by Malachi, the words of Gabriel to the virgin Mary prove; Luke 1:17. And he (John) shall go before him (Christ) in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, etc.; and that his ministry was powerfully effectual for this purpose, we have already seen.
Other Adam Clarke entries containing Matthew 17:11:
Matthew 27:47
Luke 3:15
Luke 9:28
John 1:21
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