Matthew Chapter 27 verse 47 Holy Bible
And some of them stood there, when they heard it, said, This man calleth Elijah.
read chapter 27 in ASV
And some of those who were near by, hearing it, said, This man is crying to Elijah.
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And some of those who stood there, when they heard [it], said, This [man] calls for Elias.
read chapter 27 in DARBY
Some of them that stood there, when they heard that, said, This man calleth for Elias.
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read chapter 27 in WBT
Some of them who stood there, when they heard it, said, "This man is calling Elijah."
read chapter 27 in WEB
And certain of those standing there having heard, said -- `Elijah he doth call;'
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Pulpit Commentary
Pulpit CommentaryVerse 47. - Some of them that stood there. These could not have been the Roman soldiers, for they would not have understood the Saviour's language, and could have known nothing about Elias. Edersheim supposes that the guards were provincial soldiers, and not necessarily of Latin extraction. At any rate, the speakers are Jews standing near enough to the cross to catch more or less the words uttered by Jesus. This man (οῦτος, he, pointing at him) calleth for Elias. Whether they wilfully misinterpreted the half-heard cry, "Eli, Eli!" or whether they really misunderstood it, is an undecided question. In the first case, we must suppose that they spoke in cruel mockery - the last of the brutal insults vented on the meek Sufferer. He cannot save himself; he appeals to the old prophet to come to rescue him; was there ever such presumption? There are two considerations which militate against this supposition. The time of ribaldry and abuse is now past; the supernatural darkness has had a calming and terrifying effect; and there is no spirit of mockery left in the awed bystanders. Besides this, it is not likely that Jews, who with all their errors and vices paid an outward respect to holy things, would have presumed to make a play on the sacred name of God. Therefore it is no more reasonable to hold that, misunderstanding Christ's words, they spoke seriously, with some vague, superstitious idea that Elijah might appear at this crisis, and rescue the Sufferer (see ver. 49).
Ellicott's Commentary
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(47) This man calleth for Elias.--There is no ground for looking on this as a wilful, derisive misinterpretation. The words may have been imperfectly understood, or some of those who listened may have been Hellenistic Jews. The dominant expectation of the coming of Elijah (see Notes on Matthew 16:14; Matthew 17:10) would predispose men to fasten on the similarity of sound, and the strange unearthly darkness would intensify the feeling that looked for a supernatural manifestation of His presence.