Acts 3:19

3:19 Therefore repent and turn back so that your sins may be wiped out,

Isaiah 1:26

1:26 I will reestablish honest judges as in former times,

wise advisers as in earlier days. ¹ 

Then you will be called, ‘The Just City,

Faithful Town.’”

Malachi 3:3-4

3:3 He will act like a refiner and purifier of silver and will cleanse the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then they will offer the Lord a proper offering. 3:4 The offerings ²  of Judah and Jerusalem ³  will be pleasing to the Lord as in former times and years past.

Malachi 4:5-6

4:5 Look, I will send you Elijah ⁴  the prophet before the great and terrible day of the Lord arrives. 4:6 He will encourage fathers and their children to return to me, ⁵  so that I will not come and strike the earth with judgment.” ⁶ 

Matthew 17:11-12

17:11 He ⁷  answered, “Elijah does indeed come first and will restore all things. 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 ⁸  the same way, the Son of Man will suffer at their hands.”

Mark 9:11-13

9:11 Then ⁹  they asked him, ¹⁰  “Why do the experts in the law ¹¹  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.”

[1:26]  ¹ tn Heb “I will restore your judges as in the beginning; and your counselors as in the beginning.” In this context, where social injustice and legal corruption are denounced (see v. 23), the “judges” are probably government officials responsible for making legal decisions, while the “advisers” are probably officials who helped the king establish policies. Both offices are also mentioned in 3:2.

[3:4]  ² tn Or “gift.”

[3:4]  ³ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[4:5]  ⁴ sn I will send you Elijah the prophet. In light of the ascension of Elijah to heaven without dying (2 Kgs 2:11), Judaism has always awaited his return as an aspect of the messianic age (see, e.g., John 1:19-28). Jesus identified John the Baptist as Elijah, because he came in the “spirit and power” of his prototype Elijah (Matt 11:14; 17:1-13; Mark 9:2-13; Luke 9:28-36).

[4:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “he will turn the heart[s] of [the] fathers to [the] sons, and the heart[s] of [the] sons to their fathers.” This may mean that the messenger will encourage reconciliation of conflicts within Jewish families in the postexilic community (see Mal 2:10; this interpretation is followed by most English versions). Another option is to translate, “he will turn the hearts of the fathers together with those of the children [to me], and the hearts of the children together with those of their fathers [to me].” In this case the prophet encourages both the younger and older generations of sinful society to repent and return to the Lord (cf. Mal 3:7). This option is preferred in the present translation; see Beth Glazier-McDonald, Malachi (SBLDS), 256.

[4:6]  ⁶ tn Heb “[the] ban” (חֵרֶם, kherem). God’s prophetic messenger seeks to bring about salvation and restoration, thus avoiding the imposition of the covenant curse, that is, the divine ban that the hopelessly unrepentant must expect (see Deut 7:2; 20:17; Judg 1:21; Zech 14:11). If the wicked repent, the purifying judgment threatened in 4:1-3 will be unnecessary.

[17:11]  ⁷ tn Grk “And answering, he said.” This has been simplified in the translation.

[17:12]  ⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[9:11]  ⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[9:11]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “And they were asking him, saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant and has not been translated.

[9:11]  ¹¹ tn Or “Why do the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 1:22.