MAT 17:3 Parallel Verse View

Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible—click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed as a tool for doing comparisons of different translations—the older translations are further down the page (so you can read up from the bottom to trace the English translation history). The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible—please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.

Text critical issues=small word differences Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)

Key: khaki:verbs, light-green:nominative/subject, pink:genitive/possessor, cyan:dative/indirect object.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

UST After that, Moses and Elijah, who were prophets from long ago, appeared to the three apprentices! These prophets were speaking to Jesus.

AICNT And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with him.

OEB All at once Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Jesus.

WEBBE Behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them talking with him.

WMBB (Same as above)

NET Then Moses and Elijah also appeared before them, talking with him.

LSV and behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking together with Him.

FBV Then suddenly Moses and Elijah appeared before them, talking together with Jesus.

TCNT And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with him.

T4T Suddenly Moses and Elijah, who were important prophets many years ago, appeared and started talking with him.

LEB And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with him.

BBE And Moses and Elijah came before their eyes, talking with him.

Moff There appeared to them Moses and Elijah, who conversed with Jesus.

Wymth And suddenly Moses and Elijah appeared to them conversing with Him.

ASV And behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elijah talking with him.

DRA And behold there appeared to them Moses and Elias talking with him.

YLT and lo, appear to them did Moses and Elijah, talking together with him.

Drby and lo, Moses and Elias appeared to them talking with him.

RV And behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elijah talking with him.

SLT And, behold, Moses and Elias were seen to them, conversing with him.

Wbstr And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah talking with him.

KJB-1769 And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him.
(And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias/Elijah talking with him. )

KJB-1611 And behold, there appeared vnto them Moses, and Elias, talking with him.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from punctuation)

Bshps And beholde, there appeared vnto them, Moyses, and Elias talkyng with hym.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from punctuation)

Gnva And beholde, there appeared vnto them Moses, and Elias, talking with him.
(And behold, there appeared unto them Moses, and Elias/Elijah, talking with him. )

Cvdl And beholde, there appeared vnto the Moses and Elias talkinge with him.
(And behold, there appeared unto the Moses and Elias/Elijah talking with him.)

TNT And beholde ther appered vnto the Moses and Helyas talkinge with him.
(And behold there appeared unto the Moses and Elias/Elijah talking with him. )

Wycl And lo! Moises and Elie apperiden to hem, and spaken with hym.
(And lo! Moses and Elye/Elijah appeared to hem, and spoke with him.)

Luth Und siehe, da erschienen ihnen Mose und Elia, die redeten mit ihm.
(And see/look, there appeared to_them Moses and Elia, the talked with him.)

ClVg Et ecce apparuerunt illis Moyses et Elias cum eo loquentes.[fn]
(And behold they_appeared to_them Moyses and Elias when/with by_him speaking. )

17.3 Et ecce. Quales vel quid locuti, Lucas dicit: Visi in majestate, et dicebant excessum ejus quem completurus erat in Jerusalem Luc. 9., id est, passionem et resurrectionem. Significant oracula, etc., usque ad quod si Petrus, videns glorificatam humanitatem, tanto afficitur gaudio, ut nunquam velit ab ejus intuitu secerni, quid putandum est de his qui Divinitatem videre meruerunt.

17.3 And ecce. What_kinds or what spoke, Lucas he_says: Visi in/into/on majesty, and they_said excessm his which completurus was in/into/on Yerusalem Luc. 9., that it_is, passion and resurrection. Significant oracula, etc., until to that when/but_if Peter, seeing glorifiedm humanity, so_much afficitur with_joy, as never/certainly_not wants away his intuitu secerni, what putandum it_is from/about his who/which Divinitatem to_see they_deserved.

UGNT καὶ ἰδοὺ, ὤφθη αὐτοῖς Μωϋσῆς καὶ Ἠλείας συνλαλοῦντες μετ’ αὐτοῦ.
(kai idou, ōfthaʸ autois Mōusaʸs kai Aʸleias sunlalountes met’ autou.)

SBL-GNT καὶ ἰδοὺ ⸀ὤφθη αὐτοῖς Μωϋσῆς καὶ Ἠλίας ⸂συλλαλοῦντες μετʼ αὐτοῦ⸃.
(kai idou ⸀ōfthaʸ autois Mōusaʸs kai Aʸlias ⸂sullalountes metʼ autou⸃.)

RP-GNT Καὶ ἰδού, ὤφθησαν αὐτοῖς Μωσῆς καὶ Ἠλίας, μετ' αὐτοῦ συλλαλοῦντες.
(Kai idou, ōfthaʸsan autois Mōsaʸs kai Aʸlias, met' autou sullalountes.)

TC-GNT Καὶ ἰδού, [fn]ὤφθησαν αὐτοῖς [fn]Μωσῆς καὶ [fn]Ἠλίας, [fn]μετ᾽ αὐτοῦ συλλαλοῦντες.
(Kai idou, ōfthaʸsan autois Mōsaʸs kai Aʸlias, meta autou sullalountes. )

17:3 ωφθησαν ¦ ωφθη CT

17:3 μωσης ¦ μωυσης CT

17:3 ηλιας ¦ ηλειας WH

17:3 μετ αυτου συλλαλουντες ¦ συλλαλουντες μετ αυτου NA SBL ¦ συνλαλουντες μετ αυτου TH WH

Key for above GNTs: yellow:punctuation differs, red:words differ (from our SR-GNT base).

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 17:1–13: Three disciples saw Jesus’ glory

In this section, Jesus changed his appearance. He made his face and his clothes shine very brightly. He did this in front of Peter, James and John. At the same time, the disciples saw Moses and Elijah. Then they heard the voice of God. When the disciples saw and heard all this, they understood that Jesus was not an ordinary teacher. They better understood that he really was the Messiah.

This section immediately follow 16:28 which says, “Truly, I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.” This section begins to fulfill that verse.

Here are some other possible headings for this section:

The disciples saw Jesus’ appearance change

Jesus’ glory was revealed on the mountain

There are parallel passages for this section in Mark 9:2–12 and Luke 9:28–36.

17:3

Suddenly Moses and Elijah appeared before them, talking with Jesus.

Suddenly, Moses and Elijah appeared. They were talking with him.
All at once, they saw the prophets Moses and Elijah talking with him/Jesus.

Suddenly: The Greek word that the BSB translates as Suddenly literally means “look” or “see.” It focuses attention on what follows and indicates that it is important, unexpected, or amazing. In this passage, Moses and Elijah unexpectedly appeared.

Here are some other ways to translate this word:

Behold (ESV)

All of a sudden

unexpectedly

Translate this word in a way that you would ordinarily use to describe something sudden or startling.

Moses and Elijah: Moses and Elijah were both Old Testament prophets who lived many years before Jesus. But God brought them to the mountain to talk with Jesus.

If people in your area will not know that Moses and Elijah lived long before Jesus, you may want to include some implied information. For example:

Moses and Elijah, prophets of long ago

Moses: The name Moses first occurs in 8:4c. You should spell his name here as you did there.

Elijah: The name Elijah first occurs in 11:14b. You should spell his name here as you did there.

appeared before them: The Greek verb that the BSB translates as appeared is literally “was seen.” This form of the verb is often used to describe beings who appear in a supernatural manner. Here, this verb indicates that the disciples suddenly saw Elijah and Moses. The disciples did not see them coming from a distance.

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

Elijah and Moses appeared to them

Moses and Elijah were there (CEV)

They saw Elijah and Moses

before them: These words indicate that all three disciples saw the same thing.

In some languages, it will not be necessary to add this phrase. For example:

Moses and Elijah appeared (NLT)

talking with Jesus: In Greek, the grammar probably indicates that Moses and Elijah were already talking with Jesus when the disciples saw them. The grammar could also indicate that Moses, Elijah and Jesus were still talking when Peter interrupted them (17:4). Try to translate in a way that allows for either of those two meanings.

Matthew does not suggest that the disciples were close enough to hear what they were talking about. Matthew just indicates that the disciples could see from where they were standing that Jesus was talking with these two prophets.

UTN uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

ἰδοὺ

(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί ἰδού ὤφθη αὐτοῖς Μωϋσῆς καί Ἠλίας συλλαλοῦντες μετʼ αὐτοῦ)

The word behold draws the attention of the audience and asks them to listen carefully. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express behold with a word or phrase that asks the audience to listen, or you could draw the audience’s attention in another way. Alternate translation: [listen] or [suddenly]

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / activepassive

ὤφθη αὐτοῖς Μωϋσῆς καὶ Ἠλείας

˓was˒_seen ˱to˲_them Moses (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί ἰδού ὤφθη αὐτοῖς Μωϋσῆς καί Ἠλίας συλλαλοῦντες μετʼ αὐτοῦ)

If your language does not use this passive form, you could express the idea in active form or in another way that is natural in your language. Alternate translation: [they saw Moses and Elijah]

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

συνλαλοῦντες

(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί ἰδού ὤφθη αὐτοῖς Μωϋσῆς καί Ἠλίας συλλαλοῦντες μετʼ αὐτοῦ)

Matthew means that Moses and Elijah were talking with Jesus. You could include this information if that would be helpful to your readers. Alternate translation: [and the two of them were talking]

Note 4 topic: writing-pronouns

αὐτοῦ

him

The pronoun him refers to Jesus. If this is not clear for your readers, you could use the person's name here. Alternate translation: [Jesus]

Parallel MAT 17:3

Section 17:1–13: Three disciples saw Jesus’ glory

17:3