Matthew 11:13-14

11:13 For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John appeared. ¹  11:14 And if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah, who is to come.

Matthew 14:5

14:5 Although ²  Herod ³  wanted to kill John, ⁴  he feared the crowd because they accepted John as a prophet.

Matthew 17:12-13

17:12 And I tell you that Elijah has already come. Yet they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they wanted. In ⁵  the same way, the Son of Man will suffer at their hands.” 17:13 Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them about John the Baptist.

Matthew 21:24-26

21:24 Jesus ⁶  answered them, “I will also ask you one question. If you answer me then I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. 21:25 Where did John’s baptism come from? From heaven or from people?” ⁷  They discussed this among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’ 21:26 But if we say, ‘From people,’ we fear the crowd, for they all consider John to be a prophet.”

Mark 9:11-13

9:11 Then ⁸  they asked him, ⁹  “Why do the experts in the law ¹⁰  say that Elijah must come first?” 9:12 He said to them, “Elijah does indeed come first, and restores all things. And why is it written that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be despised? 9:13 But I tell you that Elijah has certainly come, and they did to him whatever they wanted, just as it is written about him.”

Luke 1:15-17

1:15 for he will be great in the sight of ¹¹  the Lord. He ¹²  must never drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even before his birth. ¹³  1:16 He ¹⁴  will turn ¹⁵  many of the people ¹⁶  of Israel to the Lord their God. 1:17 And he will go as forerunner before the Lord ¹⁷  in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers back to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, ¹⁸  to make ready for the Lord a people prepared for him.”

Luke 1:76

1:76 And you, child, ¹⁹  will be called the prophet ²⁰  of the Most High. ²¹ 

For you will go before ²²  the Lord to prepare his ways, ²³ 

¹ tn The word “appeared” is not in the Greek text, but is implied.

² tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

³ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Herod) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁴ tn Grk “him” (also in the following phrase, Grk “accepted him”); in both cases the referent (John) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

⁶ tn Grk “answering, Jesus said to them.” This is somewhat redundant and has been simplified in the translation. Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

⁷ tn The plural Greek term ἀνθρώπων (anqrwpwn) is used here (and in v. 26) in a generic sense, referring to both men and women (cf. NAB, NRSV, “of human origin”; TEV, “from human beings”; NLT, “merely human”).

⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

⁹ tn Grk “And they were asking him, saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant and has not been translated.

¹⁰ tn Or “Why do the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 1:22.

¹¹ tn Grk “before.”

¹² tn Grk “and he”; because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the conjunction καί (kai) has not been translated here. Instead a new English sentence is begun in the translation.

¹³ tn Grk “even from his mother’s womb.” While this idiom may be understood to refer to the point of birth (“even from his birth”), Luke 1:41 suggests that here it should be understood to refer to a time before birth.

¹⁴ tn Grk “And he.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

¹⁵ sn The word translated will turn is a good summary term for repentance and denotes John’s call to a change of direction (Luke 3:1-14).

¹⁶ tn Grk “sons”; but clearly this is a generic reference to people of both genders.

¹⁷ tn Grk “before him”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁸ sn These two lines cover all relationships: Turn the hearts of the fathers back to their children points to horizontal relationships, while (turn) the disobedient to the wisdom of the just shows what God gives from above in a vertical manner.

¹⁹ sn Now Zechariah describes his son John (you, child) through v. 77.

²⁰ tn Or “a prophet”; but since Greek nouns can be definite without the article, and since in context this is a reference to the eschatological forerunner of the Messiah (cf. John 1:17), the concept is better conveyed to the English reader by the use of the definite article “the.”

²¹ sn In other words, John is a prophet of God; see 1:32 and 7:22-23, 28.

²² tc Most mss, especially the later ones (A C D L Θ Ψ 0130 Ë^1,13 33 Ï sy), have πρὸ προσώπου κυρίου (pro proswpou kuriou, “before the face of the Lord”), but the translation follows the reading ἐνώπιον κυρίου (enwpion kuriou, “before the Lord”), which has earlier and better ms support (Ì⁴ א B W 0177 pc) and is thus more likely to be authentic.

²³ tn This term is often translated in the singular, looking specifically to the forerunner role, but the plural suggests the many elements in that salvation.