SEV Biblia, Chapter 16:14
Y ellos dijeron: Unos, Juan el Bautista; y otros, Elías; y otros, Jeremías, o alguno de los profetas.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 14. And they said, some say that thou art John the Baptist , etc.] It was the opinion of some of the Jews, that he was John the Baptist risen from the dead. This notion was spread, and prevailed in Herods court, and he himself, at last, gave into it. Some Elias ; the Tishbite, because an extraordinary person was prophesied of by Malachi, under the name of Elias; and who was to come in his power and spirit before the great day of the Lord; and it being a prevailing notion with the Jews, that Elias was to come before the Messiah; See Gill Matthew 11:14 they concluded that he was now come: and others Jeremias ; this is omitted both by Mark and Luke; the reason why he is mentioned, is not because of what is said of him, in ( Jeremiah 1:5,10,18) but because the Jews thought he was that prophet spoken of, in ( Deuteronomy 18:15) that should be raised up from among them, like unto Moses: and this is the sense of some of their writers f924 : and in their very ancient writings a parallel is run between Moses and Jeremy f925 . R. Judah, the son of R. Simon, opened ( Deuteronomy 18:18, 34:10) thus: as thee, this is Jeremiah, who was, as he, in reproofs; you will find all that is written of the one, is written of the other; one prophesied forty years, and the other prophesied forty years; the one prophesied concerning Judah and Israel, and the other prophesied concerning Judah and Israel; against the one those of his own tribe stood up, and against the other those of his own tribe stood up; the one was cast into a river, and the other into a dungeon; the one was delivered by means of an handmaid, and the other by the means of a servant; the one came with words of reproof, and the other came with words of reproof. Now they fancied, either that the soul of Jeremy was transmigrated into another body, or that he was risen from the dead. Or one of the prophets ; one of the ancient ones, as Hosea, or Isaiah, or some other: they could not fix upon the particular person who they thought was risen from the dead, and did these wondrous works among them.
From the whole it appears, that these persons, whose different sentiments of Christ are here delivered, were not his sworn enemies, as the Scribes and Pharisees, who could never speak respectfully of him; saying, that he was a gluttonous man, a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners, a very wicked man, and far from being one, or like one of the prophets: they sometimes represent him as beside himself, and mad, yea, as being a Samaritan, and having a devil, as familiar with the devil, and doing his miracles by his assistance; but these were the common people, the multitude that followed Christ from place to place, and had a great opinion of him on account of his ministry, and miracles: wherefore, though they could not agree in their notions concerning him, yet each of them fix upon some person of note and worth, whom they took him for; they all looked upon him as a great and good man, and as a prophet, as John the Baptist was accounted by all the people, and as one of the chief of the prophets, as Elias and Jeremiah; and they that could not fix on any particular person, yet put him into the class of the prophets: but still they came short of the true knowledge of him; they did not know him to be a divine person, which his works and miracles proved him to be: nor to be that prophet Moses had spoken of, who was alone to be hearkened unto, though his ministry was a demonstration of it: nor that he was the Messiah, so much spoken of in prophecy, and so long expected by the Jewish nation, though he had all the characters of the Messiah meeting in him. The chief reason why they could not entertain such a thought of him, seems to be the mean figure he made in the world, being of a low extract, in strait circumstances of life, regarded only by the poorer sort; and there appearing nothing in him promising, that he should deliver them from the Roman yoke, and set up a temporal kingdom, which should be prosperous and flourishing, which was the notion of the Messiah that then generally obtained: and since they could not, by any means, allow of this character as belonging to Jesus, though otherwise they had an high opinion of him; hence they could not agree about him, but formed different sentiments of him; which is usually the case in everything, where the truth is not hit upon and received.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 13-20 - Peter, for himself and his brethren, said that they were assured of ou Lord's being the promised Messiah, the Son of the living God. Thi showed that they believed Jesus to be more than man. Our Lord declare Peter to be blessed, as the teaching of God made him differ from his unbelieving countrymen. Christ added that he had named him Peter, i allusion to his stability or firmness in professing the truth. The wor translated "rock," is not the same word as Peter, but is of a simila meaning. Nothing can be more wrong than to suppose that Christ mean the person of Peter was the rock. Without doubt Christ himself is the Rock, the tried foundation of the church; and woe to him that attempt to lay any other! Peter's confession is this rock as to doctrine. I Jesus be not the Christ, those that own him are not of the church, but deceivers and deceived. Our Lord next declared the authority with whic Peter would be invested. He spoke in the name of his brethren, and thi related to them as well as to him. They had no certain knowledge of the characters of men, and were liable to mistakes and sins in their ow conduct; but they were kept from error in stating the way of acceptanc and salvation, the rule of obedience, the believer's character an experience, and the final doom of unbelievers and hypocrites. In suc matters their decision was right, and it was confirmed in heaven. But all pretensions of any man, either to absolve or retain men's sins, ar blasphemous and absurd. None can forgive sins but God only. And thi binding and loosing, in the common language of the Jews, signified to forbid and to allow, or to teach what is lawful or unlawful.
Greek Textus Receptus
οι 3588 T-NPM δε 1161 CONJ ειπον 2036 5627 V-2AAI-3P οι 3588 T-NPM μεν 3303 PRT ιωαννην 2491 N-ASM τον 3588 T-ASM βαπτιστην 910 N-ASM αλλοι 243 A-NPM δε 1161 CONJ ηλιαν 2243 N-ASM ετεροι 2087 A-NPM δε 1161 CONJ ιερεμιαν 2408 N-ASM η 2228 PRT ενα 1520 A-ASM των 3588 T-GPM προφητων 4396 N-GPM
Robertson's NT Word Studies
16:14 {And they said} (hoi de eipan). They were ready to respond for they knew that popular opinion was divided on that point (#14:1f.). They give four different opinions. It is always a risky thing for a pastor to ask for people's opinions of him. But Jesus was not much concerned by their answers to this question. He knew by now that the Pharisees and Sadducees were bitterly hostile to him. The masses were only superficially following him and they looked for a political Messiah and had vague ideas about him. How much did the disciples understand and how far have they come in their development of faith? Are they still loyal?
