The Meaning of Matthew 27:49 Explained

Matthew 27:49

KJV: The rest said, Let be, let us see whether Elias will come to save him.

YLT: but the rest said, 'Let alone, let us see if Elijah doth come -- about to save him.'

Darby: But the rest said, Let be; let us see if Elias comes to save him.

ASV: And the rest said, Let be; let us see whether Elijah cometh to save him.

What is the context of Matthew 27:49?

KJV Reverse Interlinear

The  rest  said,  Let be,  let us see  whether  Elias  will come  to save  him. 

What does Matthew 27:49 Mean?

Context Summary

Matthew 27:45-56 - The Broken Heart And The Rent Veil
With hushed hearts we stand in the presence of "that sight." It is the tragedy of time; the one supreme act of self-surrender; the unique unapproachable sacrifice and satisfaction for the sins of the whole world. It is here that myriads of sin-sick, terror-stricken souls, in every century, have found refuge. It is here that martyrs have been made strong to endure. It is here that Jacob's ladder rested, in the lower places of the earth, for He that ascended is the same also that first "descended into the lower parts of the earth." He became "obedient even unto death, yea, the death of the cross. Wherefore"¦." See Philippians 2:8.
The centurion had seen other crucified ones die, but never one like this. He recognized the superhuman elements of the scene. But for us, the emotions of this hour are not those of wonder, but of loving gratitude and faith. He "loved me" He "gave Himself up for me," Galatians 2:20. [source]

Chapter Summary: Matthew 27

1  Jesus is delivered bound to Pilate
3  Judas hangs himself
19  Pilate, admonished of his wife,
20  and being urged by the multitude, washes his hands, and releases Barabbas
27  Jesus is mocked and crowned with thorns;
33  crucified;
39  reviled;
50  dies, and is buried;
62  his tomb is sealed and watched

Greek Commentary for Matthew 27:49

Whether Elijah cometh to save him [ει ερχεται Ελειας σωσων αυτον]
The excuse had a pious sound as they misunderstood the words of Jesus in his outcry of soul anguish. We have here one of the rare instances (σωσων — sōsōn) of the future participle to express purpose in the N.T. though a common Greek idiom. Some ancient MSS. add here what is genuine in John 19:34, but what makes complete wreck of the context for in Matthew 27:50 Jesus cried with a loud voice and was not yet dead in Matthew 27:49. It was a crass mechanical copying by some scribe from John 19:34. See full discussion in my Introduction to the Textual Criticism of the N.T. [source]

Reverse Greek Commentary Search for Matthew 27:49

Matthew 27:49 Whether Elijah cometh to save him [ει ερχεται Ελειας σωσων αυτον]
The excuse had a pious sound as they misunderstood the words of Jesus in his outcry of soul anguish. We have here one of the rare instances (σωσων — sōsōn) of the future participle to express purpose in the N.T. though a common Greek idiom. Some ancient MSS. add here what is genuine in John 19:34, but what makes complete wreck of the context for in Matthew 27:50 Jesus cried with a loud voice and was not yet dead in Matthew 27:49. It was a crass mechanical copying by some scribe from John 19:34. See full discussion in my Introduction to the Textual Criticism of the N.T. [source]
Mark 15:36 To take him down [κατελειν αυτον]
Matthew 27:49 has “to save him” (σωσων — sōsōn), which see for discussion. [source]
John 12:7 Let her alone: against the day of my burying hath she kept this [ἄφες αὐτήν εἰς τὴν ἡμέραν τοῦ ἐνταφιασμοῦ]
This passage presents great difficulty. According to the reading just given, the meaning is that Mary had kept the ointment, perhaps out of the store provided for Lazarus' burial, against the day of Christ's preparation for the tomb. The word ἐνταφιασμοῦ is wrongly rendered burial. It means the preparation for burial, the laying out, or embalmment. It is explained by John 19:40, as the binding in linen cloths with spices, “as the manner of the Jews is ἐνταφιάζειν toprepare for burial,” not to bury. It is the Latin pollingere, to wash and prepare a corpse for the funeral pile. Hence the name of the servant to whom this duty was committed was pollinctor. He was a slave of the libitinarius, or furnishing undertaker. Mary, then, has kept the ointment in order to embalm Jesus with it on this day, as though He were already dead. This is the sense of the Synoptists. Matthew (Matthew 26:12) says, she did it with reference to my preparation for burial. Mark, she anticipated to anoint. The reading of the Received Text is, however, disputed. The best textual critics agree that the perfect, τετήρηκεν , she hath kept, was substituted for the original reading τηρήσῃ , the aorist, she may keep, or may have kept, by some one who was trying to bring the text into harmony with Mark 14:8; not understanding how she could keep for His burial that which she poured out now. Some, however, urge the exact contrary, namely, that the perfect is the original reading, and that the aorist is a correction by critics who were occupied with the notion that no man is embalmed before his death, or who failed to see how the ointment could have been kept already, as it might naturally be supposed to have been just purchased. (So Godet and Field.)-DIVIDER-
According to the corrected reading, ἵνα , in order that, is inserted after ἄφες αὐτὴν , let her alone, or suffer her; τετήρηκεν , hath kept, is changed to τηρήσῃ , may keep, and the whole is rendered, suffer her to keep it against the day of my burying. So Rev. -DIVIDER-
-DIVIDER-
But it is difficult to see why Christ should desire to have kept for His embalmment what had already been poured out upon Him. Some, as Meyer, assume that only a part of the ointment was poured out, and refer αὐτό , it, to the part remaining. “Let her alone, that she may not give away to the poor this ointment, of which she has just used a portion for the anointing of my feet, but preserve it for the day of my embalmming.” Canon Westcott inclines to this view of the use of only a part. But the inference from the synoptic narratives can be only that the whole contents of the flask were used, and the mention of the pound by John, and the charge of waste are to the same effect. There is nothing whatever to warrant a contrary supposition. -DIVIDER-
-DIVIDER-
Others explain, suffer her to have kept it, or suffer that she may have kept it. So Westcott, who says: “The idiom by which a speaker throws himself into the past, and regards what is done as still a purpose, is common to all languages.”-DIVIDER-
Others, again, retain the meaning let her alone, and render ἵνα , in order that, with an ellipsis, thus: “Let her alone: (she hath not sold her treasure) in order that she might keep it,” etc. -DIVIDER-
-DIVIDER-
The old rendering, as A.V., is the simplest, and gives a perfectly intelligible and consistent sense. If, however, this must be rejected, it seems, on the whole, best to adopt the marginal reading of the Rev., with the elliptical ἵνα : let her alone: it was that she might keep it. This preserves the prohibitory force of ἄφες αὐτήν , which is implied in Matthew 26:10, and is unquestionable in Mark 14:6. Compare Matthew 15:14; Matthew 19:14; Matthew 27:49. -DIVIDER-
-DIVIDER-
Note that the promise of the future repute of this act (Matthew 26:13; Mark 14:9) is omitted by the only Evangelist who records Mary's name in connection with it. -DIVIDER-
-DIVIDER-
[source]

What do the individual words in Matthew 27:49 mean?

- And the rest were saying Let be Let us see whether comes Elijah to save Him more moreover having taken a spear pierced of him the side and flowed water blood
Οἱ δὲ λοιποὶ ἔλεγον Ἄφες ἴδωμεν εἰ ἔρχεται Ἠλίας σώσων αὐτόν (ἄλλος δὲ λαβὼν λόγχην ἔνυξεν αὐτοῦ τὴν πλευράν καὶ ἐξῆλθεν ὕδωρ αἷμα)

Οἱ  - 
Parse: Article, Nominative Masculine Plural
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
λοιποὶ  the  rest 
Parse: Adjective, Nominative Masculine Plural
Root: λοιπός  
Sense: remaining, the rest.
ἔλεγον  were  saying 
Parse: Verb, Imperfect Indicative Active, 3rd Person Plural
Root: λέγω  
Sense: to speak, say.
Ἄφες  Let  be 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Imperative Active, 2nd Person Singular
Root: ἀφίημι 
Sense: to send away.
ἴδωμεν  Let  us  see 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Subjunctive Active, 1st Person Plural
Root: εἶδον 
Sense: to see with the eyes.
εἰ  whether 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: εἰ  
Sense: if, whether.
ἔρχεται  comes 
Parse: Verb, Present Indicative Middle or Passive, 3rd Person Singular
Root: ἔρχομαι  
Sense: to come.
Ἠλίας  Elijah 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: Ἠλίας  
Sense: a prophet born at Thisbe, the unflinching champion of the theocracy in the reigns of the idolatrous kings Ahab and Ahaziah.
σώσων  to  save 
Parse: Verb, Future Participle Active, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: ἐκσῴζω 
Sense: to save, keep safe and sound, to rescue from danger or destruction.
(ἄλλος  more 
Parse: Adjective, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: ἄλλος  
Sense: another, other.
δὲ  moreover 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: δέ  
Sense: but, moreover, and, etc.
λαβὼν  having  taken 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Participle Active, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: λαμβάνω  
Sense: to take.
λόγχην  a  spear 
Parse: Noun, Accusative Feminine Singular
Root: λόγχη  
Sense: the iron point or head of a spear.
ἔνυξεν  pierced 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Indicative Active, 3rd Person Singular
Root: νύσσω  
Sense: pierce.
αὐτοῦ  of  him 
Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Genitive Masculine 3rd Person Singular
Root: αὐτός  
Sense: himself, herself, themselves, itself.
πλευράν  side 
Parse: Noun, Accusative Feminine Singular
Root: πλευρά  
Sense: the side of the body.
ἐξῆλθεν  flowed 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Indicative Active, 3rd Person Singular
Root: ἐξέρχομαι 
Sense: to go or come forth of.
ὕδωρ  water 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Neuter Singular
Root: ὕδωρ  
Sense: water.
αἷμα)  blood 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Neuter Singular
Root: αἷμα  
Sense: blood.

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