Matthew 11:3

Mat 11:3. Ὁ ἐρχόμενος, he that should come) cf. Psa 40:7; Heb 10:37.—ἤ, κ.τ.λ., or, etc.) There was not at that time any other, for John excludes himself by this disjunctive particle.—ἕτερον, another) They recognise as a certain fact that there is some one who should come.—προσδοκῶμεν, must we await) sc. with longer delay.[510]

[510] The time of waiting in expectation was now by this time coming to an end; for the Seventieth week of Daniel was close at hand.—V. g.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mat_11:3. Σύ] Placed first for sake of emphasis. Comp. ἕτερον.

ὁ ἐρχόμενος] He who is coming (Heb_10:37), i.e. the Messiah, who, because His advent, as being certain and near, was the object of universal expectation, is called, κατʼ ἐξοχήν, the coming one (הַבָּא), perhaps in accordance with Psa_40:8. Olshausen, Hilgenfeld, Keim, suggest Psa_118:26; Hengstenberg suggests Mal_3:1; Hitzig, Dan_9:26.

ἕτερον] so that thou too wouldst, in that case, be only a forerunner.

προσδοκῶμεν] may be conjunctive (as commonly preferred) or indicative (Vulg. Erasmus, Beza, Calvin, Fritzsche). The idea of deliberation is, for psychological reasons, more appropriate. The we in the question is the expression of the popular expectation.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mat 11:3 . εἶπεν αὐτῷ , said to Jesus, by them, of course. Σὺ εἶ : the question a grave one and emphatically expressed: Thou , art Thou ὁ ἐρχόμενος ? Art Thou He whom I spoke of as the One coming after me when I was baptising in the Jordan (Mat 3:11 )? It is a question whether Jesus be indeed the Christ . Lutteroth, basing on the hypothesis that for popular Jewish opinion the Christ and the coming One (a prophet like Moses) were different persons, interprets the question thus: “Art Thou, Jesus, whom I know to be the Christ, also the coming Prophet, or must we expect another to fill that rôle?” ἢ ἕτερον , not ἄλλον , which would have been more appropriate on Lutteroth’s view = a numerically distinct person. ἕτ . suggests a different kind of person. προσδοκῶμεν : may be present indicative (for future) as Beza and Fritzsche take it, or present subjunctive deliberative = ought we to look? (Meyer-Weiss, Holtz., H.C.), the latter preferable. What was the animus or psychological genesis of the question? Doubt in John’s own mind, or doubt, bred of envy or jealousy, in the minds of his disciples, or not doubt on Baptist’s part, but rather incipient faith? Alternative (2), universal with the fathers (except Tertullian, vide de prœscrip. , 8, de baptis. , 10); (1) common among modern commentators; (3) favoured by Keim, Weizsäcker, and Holtz., H.C.: “beginnende Disposition zum Glauben an Jesu Messianität”. The view of the fathers is based on a sense of decorum and implicit reliance on the exact historical value of the statements in fourth Gospel; No. (3), the budding faith hypothesis, is based on too sceptical a view as to the historic value of even the Synoptical accounts of John’s early relations with Jesus; No. (1) has everything in its favour. The effect of confinement on John’s prophetic temper, the general tenor of this chapter which obviously aims at exhibiting the moral isolation of Jesus, above all the wide difference between the two men, all make for it. Jesus, it had now become evident, was a very different sort of Messiah from what the Baptist had predicted and desiderated ( vide remarks on chap. Mat 3:11-15 ). Where were the axe and fan and the holy wind and fire of judgment? Too much patience, tolerance, gentleness, sympathy, geniality, mild wisdom in this Christ for his taste.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Verse 3. Art thou he that should come] ο ερχομενος, he that cometh, seems to have been a proper name of the Messiah; to save or deliver is necessarily implied. See Clarke on Lu 7:19.

There is some difficulty in what is here spoken of John. Some have thought he was utterly ignorant of our Lord's Divine mission, and that he sent merely for his own information; but this is certainly inconsistent with his own declaration, Lu 3:15, c. Joh 1:15; Joh 1:26; Joh 1:33; Joh 3:28, c. Others suppose he sent the message merely for the instruction of his disciples that, as he saw his end approaching, he wished them to have the fullest conviction that Jesus was the Messiah, that they might attach themselves to him.

A third opinion takes a middle course between the two former, and states that, though John was at first perfectly convinced that Jesus was the Christ, yet, entertaining some hopes that he would erect a secular kingdom in Judea, wished to know whether this was likely to take place speedily. It is very probable that John now began, through the length of his confinement, to entertain doubts, relative to his kingdom, which perplexed and harassed his mind; and he took the most reasonable way to get rid of them at once, viz. by applying to Christ himself.

Two of his disciples] Instead of δυο, two, several excellent MSS., with both the Syriac, Armenian, Gothic, and one copy of the Itala, have δια, by; he sent by his disciples.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(3) Art thou he that should come?—There are no adequate grounds for assuming, as some have done, that the Baptist sent the disciples only to remove heir doubts. The question comes from him; the answer is sent to him. No difficulty in conceiving how the doubt which the question seems to imply could enter into the mind of the Baptist after the testimony which he had borne and that which he had heard, can warrant us in doing violence to what would seem to be the plain meaning of the history. And the meaning of the question is not far to seek. The sickness of deferred hope turns the full assurance of faith into something like despair. So of old Jeremiah had complained, in the bitterness of his spirit, that Jehovah had deceived him (Jer_20:7). So now the Baptist, as week after week passed without the appearance of the kingdom as he expected it to appear, felt as if the King was deserting the forerunner and herald of His kingdom. The very wonders of which he heard made the feeling more grievous, for they seemed to give proof of the power, and to leave him to the conclusion that the will was wanting. And so he sends his disciples with the question, which is one of impatience rather than doubt, “Art Thou the coming One of whom the prophets spoke” (Psa_40:7; Psa_118:26; Mal_3:1)? but if so, why tarry the wheels of Thy chariot? Are we still to look for another and a different Christ?”

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

3. he that should come] Literally, He that cometh. One of the designations of the Messiah; in every age the prophet said “He cometh.”

It is often disputed whether John sent this message (1) from a sense of hope deferred and despondency in his own soul; he would ask himself: (a) Is this the Christ whom I knew and whom I baptized? (b) Are these works of which I hear, the works of the promised Messiah? or (2) to confirm the faith of his disciples, or (3) to induce Jesus to make a public profession of His Messiahship. (1) The first motive is the most natural and the most instructive. In the weariness and misery of the prison the faith of the strongest fails for a moment. It is not doubt, but faith wavering: “Lord, I believe; help Thou mine unbelief.” (2) The second has been suggested and found support rather from the wish to uphold the consistency of the Baptist’s character than because it is the clearest inference from the text. (3) The third motive would have been hardly less derogatory to John’s faith than the first. And would not our Lord’s rebuke Mat_11:6 have taken a different form, as when He said to Mary, “Mine hour is not yet come”?

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And said unto him,.... By the disciples he sent; this was the message they came with, and this the question they were to ask, and did,

art thou he that should come? A "periphrasis" of the Messiah, well known to the Jews; for he had been spoken of frequently in the prophecies of the Old Testament, as the Shiloh, the Redeemer, the Prophet, and King that should come; particularly, by this circumlocution, reference seems to be had to Hab 2:3. "It shall surely come", , which may be rendered, "for he that cometh", or "is to come, shall come". So that the question in plain terms is, whether he was the Messiah? John could not be ignorant of this, who had seen the Spirit of God descending on him at his baptism, heard a voice from heaven, declaring him the Son of God; and had so often pointed him out to others, and had borne frequent testimonies that he was the Lamb of God, and bridegroom of his church: wherefore this question was put, not upon his own account, but his disciples, that they might have from the mouth of Christ a full and satisfactory answer, which would remove all their doubts and scruples, and attach them to Christ, now he was about to die, and leave them, than which nothing was more desirable to him. Though some have thought, that John's faith was somewhat slackened; and through his long imprisonment, he began to doubt whether he was the Messiah or not: and others have been of opinion, as particularly Dr. Lightfoot, that the reason of this message was, neither the ignorance and unbelief of John, or his disciples; but that John, with the rest of the Jews, having a notion of a temporal kingdom, and hearing of the mighty works of Christ, wonders that he himself was not delivered out of prison by him, grows impatient upon it, and asks, if he was the Messiah? And if he was, why did he suffer his forerunner and chief minister to lie in prison?

or do we look for another, to release me, and set up this kingdom?

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

3 And said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?

Ver. 3. Art thou he that should come, &c.] This question the Baptist moved not for his own sake (for he was well assured, and had sufficiently testified, Joh 3:27-36), but for his disciples’ better settlement and satisfaction. This, while Tertullian observed not, he hath done the Baptist palpable injury in three different places; as if himself had doubted of the person of Christ. Let not us be troubled to be in like manner mistaken and misjudged.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Art thou he that should come? - That is, Art thou the Messiah, or the Christ? The Jews expected a Saviour. His coming had been long foretold, Gen 49:10; Isa 9:1-6; Isa 11:1-5; Isa 35:4-6; Isa 53:1-12; Dan 9:24-27. See also Joh 6:14. Compare Deu 18:18-19. In common language, therefore, he was familiarly described as “he that was to come.” Luke adds here Luk 7:21, that at the time when the messengers came to him, Jesus “cured many of their infirmities, and plagues, and of evil spirits.” An answer was therefore ready to the inquiries of John.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Art thou he that is to come?{1] (Greek, who cometh?) i.e. the Messias. John the Baptist had already, on several occasions, declared that Jesus was the Messias. (John i). He could not then doubt of it himself, but sent his disciples to take away their doubt. (Witham) --- St. John the Baptist sent his disciples not to satisfy his own doubts, but for the sake of his disciples, who, blinded by the love they bore their Master, and by some emulation, would not acknowledge Christ to be the Messias. (St. John Chrysostom in Baradius) --- This expression of St. John is much taken notice of, as conveying with it a very particular question. "Tell me, says St. John, now that I am departing out of this world, whether thou art coming to redeem the patriarchs and holy fathers; or wilt thou send another?" (St. Thomas Aquinas) --- And St. Chrysostom also explains it thus, Art thou he that art to come to limbo? but the Baptist omitting this last word, sufficiently indicated to our Saviour what was the purport of this question. St. Jerome and St. Gregory say, that by his death, he was going to preach to the holy fathers that Christ, the Messias, was come. John does not here propose this question as ignorant of the real case, but in the same manner as Christ asked where Lazarus was laid. So John sends his disciples to Jesus, that seeing the signs and miracles he performed, they might believe in him. As long, therefore, as John remained with his disciples, he constantly exhorted them to follow Jesus; but not that he is going to leave them, he is more earnest for their belief in him. (St. Thomas Aquinas)

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[BIBLIOGRAPHY]

Qui venturus es, Greek: o erchomenos, qui venit, who cometh.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

3. Art thou he that should come — Here is no doubt a reference to Mal_3:1, where it is said: “Jehovah whom ye seek shall suddenly come to his temple.” The slowness of our Lord to develope the glory of his kingdom seemed to John not to agree with the suddenness ascribed to the Messiah. Do we look for another — John here seems to be running into the same train of reasoning as that which induced the later Jews to adopt the theory of two Messiahs, one of whom (called by them the Son of Joseph) should fulfil the humiliations described by the prophets as belonging to the Messiah; and the other (whom they called the Son of David) should fulfil the glorious part of the prophecies. I do not mean that John adopted or was acquainted with this Jewish theory; but that the same idea (namely, the contrast lying between the humble suffering Messiah and the glorious Messiah, Prince of the kingdom of God) which prompted that theory prompted his question.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And said unto him. The question was brought from John; the answer is sent back to him (ver. 4). This points to the cause of the question lying ultimately, not with his disciples, but with himself. Although John might justly fear that they would follow him rather than Jesus, (cf. Mat_9:14, note) yet he seems to have made this inquiry for his own sake. He who stood on the Jewish side of the threshold of the kingdom (ver. 11) did not understand the methods by which the King was acting, and thus his faith was tried (comp. Tertullian, "Adv. Marc.," 4:18). In this he recalls his great prototype, whose plans seemed to have failed and his boldness to have done no good. (1Ki_19:13, 1Ki_19:14) To both the answer implied that success was assured to quiet spiritual work. Art thou (emphatic) he that should come? he that cometh (Revised Version); oo ercomenov . (comp. Mat_3:11, note) The title was probably derived from Psa_118:26, and would become the more known from the LXX of Hab_2:3, (comp. Heb_10:37) and perhaps also from a directly Messianic interpretation of Gen_49:10. Or do we look for. The word (prosdokwmen) contains no thought of looking about for, but only of earnest expectation. Another? Eteron , and so in Luk_7:19; but allon in Luk_7:20 (where, however, Westcott and Heft margin reads eteron). Observe that in both records the evangelist"s own summary of John"s message speaks of a difference in kind, but that in the form given by the messengers (Luk_7:20) it is only a matter of a second person coming. (comp. Gal_1:6, 7 1Co_12:8, etc.; 1Co_15:39, etc.) John"s disciples, that is to say, are represented as failing to catch the point of their master"s question whether he must look, after all, for a Messiah who acts differently from the way in which Jesus acts.

HOMILIES BY W.F. ADENEY Ver. 3. A prophet"s doubt.

What is most remarkable about this question is that it was put by John the Baptist, the forerunner of Christ. Let us look at the doubt in relation to the prophet who felt it.

I THE SUBJECT OF THE DOUBT. This was most fundamental. Was Jesus the Christ or not? No doubt can be more serious than this. There are many questions which cannot be answered, and people are not to be called sceptics because they do not see all truth. It is impossible to think on the great problems of existence without the most perplexing surmises, and yet while all these unsettled ideas may pass through the mind, it is still possible for faith to be fixed on a rock with a deep conviction of God, and a calm trust in Christ. But we must be clear and decided on these two points not theoretically, but practically. We cannot understand the Trinity, and we may be quite unable to comprehend the Incarnation. Still, it is of vital importance to know whether indeed Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the Saviour of the world, whether we can come to God through him and trust him as our eternal Redeemer.

II THE RECEPTION OF THE DOUBT. A doubt as to the end of his work is in the mind of the Baptist. Had he made a mistake in pointing to Christ? Consider this man who entertains such a thought.

1. A prophet. Inspiration does not prevent personal weakness. Advanced knowledge will not secure us against the invasions of doubt. An apostle was a doubter. (Joh_20:25)

2. A good man. John the Baptist was no deceiver of the people. His heart was right with God. Yet he doubted. Doubt is not sinful in itself.

3. A privileged man. John had known Christ, had baptized him. Yet he doubted. It is not enough to know Christ after the flesh.

4. A religious leader. It is possible for a great religious teacher to be in error. Does the pope ever have a doubt? Certainly it is foolish for preachers to assume infallibility. Sympathy with doubters by confession of difficulties would be a tie of union between teacher and learner. Yet the pulpit is not a place in which to air one"s doubts. If the teacher is in serious uncertainty as to his message, is he not a blind leader of the blind?

III THE CAUSES OF THE DOUBT. How dared the black thought venture to roost in the mind of the great prophet?

1. In disappointment. Jesus had not developed into the Messiah John had expected. The promising career of the Nazarene seemed to be passing into a simple ministry of preaching and healing. But John had a mistaken idea of the Messiahship. Sometimes doubts arise from the disappointment of erroneous religious notions.

2. In adversity. John lay in prison he who all his life had lived in the wilderness! We need not be astonished that he was depressed.

3. Without full grounds of assurance. John never had been exactly a Christian. There is much doubt infecting the border-land of Christian faith.

IV THE TREATMENT OF THE DOUBT.

1. Confession. John did not deny it; he did not hide it in shame; on the contrary, he clearly expressed it. We have half conquered our doubts when we have distinctly stated them.

2. Inquiry. John did not rest satisfied with doubt. He sought a solution of his difficulty.

3. Resorting to Christ. John sent to Christ. We can best learn about Christ by going straight to Christ. It is wise to bring our doubts to him. He meets doubt by showing his great works. To-day the answer to doubt is the work of Christ in the world. W.F.A.

The way to deal with our doubts.

Whether the doubts were John"s own, or such as he knew disturbed the minds of his disciples, he certainly took the wisest and most hopeful way in which to secure their removal. If a man is an intelligent man he is sure to have doubts; doubts come in the process of thinking; but everything depends on the way in which a man deals with his doubts. He may foster them; he may indulge them; or he may make earnest effort to secure their removal. He may keep them to himself, and grow proud of them; or he may take them to Jesus, and get them solved and dissipated.

I JOHN DEALING WITH HIS OWN DOUBTS.

1. Thinking them over in his own heart. It is certain that John had occasional glimpses, at least, of the higher and more spiritual aspects of Messiah"s mission; but it is equally certain that he never shook himself quite free from those temporal notions of Messiah which were the characteristic of his age. The teaching and healing, and the very gentle ways, of Jesus, did not at all match the idea of Messiah which he had formed. The Jewish nation was not likely to be delivered from Roman bondage by such a man. Perhaps, after all, the work of Jesus was only preparing work, like his own had been.

2. Talking them over with his disciples. They might well be more puzzled than he, for they had none of those prophetical visions which had been vouchsafed to him. Evidently the talk did not mend matters. It even seemed to increase the uncertainty, and it made John feel that something must at once be done. Neither thinking doubts over, nor talking doubts over, ever helps us very much. Too often they grow big by brooding; and so much de ends on the friends whom we choose for the talk.

II JOHN TAKING HIS DOUBTS TO THE LORD JESUS. He would have actually gone himself, but he could not. So he sent two disciples, that he might see through their eyes and hear through their ears. Our Lord solved the doubts by, in effect, saying, "You find a difficulty in recognizing me because you are hindered by wrong ideas concerning the character of Messiah"s mission." A Messiah who heals, delivers, and saves, exactly fits a forerunner who called to repentance. John"s doubts fled when he learned to say, "He is the Messiah, he must be the Messiah, for I see that his moral and spiritual work is precisely the carrying on, the completion, of that moral work of mine. R.T.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

He that is to come - The Messiah.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

3. Art thou he that should come? John the Baptist had predicted the coming One (Matt. 3:11). Perhaps John, impatient of the long delay, hoped to incite Jesus to proclaim his Messiahship.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

3. ὁ ἐρχόμενος. Hebr. Habba, one of the designations of the Messiah; in every age the prophet said ‘He cometh.’ See note ch. Mat 1:18.

ἕτερον, another—a different Messiah, whose ‘works’ shall not be those of love and healing. προσδοκῶμεν, probably conjunctive, ‘are we to expect.’

It is often disputed whether John sent this message (1) from a sense of hope deferred and despondency in his own soul; he would ask himself: (a) Is this the Christ whom I knew and whom I baptized? (b) Are these works of which I hear, the works of the promised Messiah? or (2) to confirm the faith of his disciples, or (3) to induce Jesus to make a public confession of His Messiahship. (1) The first motive is the most natural and the most instructive. In the weary constraint and misery of the prison the faith of the strongest fails for a moment. It is not doubt, but faith wavering: ‘Lord, I believe; help Thou mine unbelief.’ (2) The second has been suggested, and found support rather from the wish to uphold the consistency of the Baptist’s character than because it is the clearest inference from the text; note especially the words ἀπαγγείλατε, Ἰωάννῃ. (3) The third motive would have been hardly less derogatory to John’s faith than the first. And would not our Lord’s rebuke, Mat 11:6, have taken a different form, as when he said to Mary, ‘Mine hour is not yet come?’

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Thou. Emphatic. Art thou "the Coming One?" - a current phrase for the Messiah.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.