What Did Moses and Elijah Tell Jesus on the Mountain? Only Luke Says

What Did Moses and Elijah Tell Jesus on the Mountain? Only Luke Says Matthew and Mark tell us that Moses and Elijah were talking with Jesus on the mountain. Neither of them tells us a word of what was said. Only Luke does, in one verse most people read straight past: "Who appeared in glory, and spake of his decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem." And the word Luke chose for "decease" is not the ordinary Greek word for death. In this video we read the Transfiguration in Matthew 17, Mark 9 and Luke 9, verse by verse. We look at the Greek word behind "decease," exodos, and why Ellicott, Vincent, Gill and the Cambridge Bible found it remarkable. We ask why Moses and Elijah came, and not Abraham or David, whose graves were known ("his sepulchre is with us unto this day"), when of Moses the Bible says "No man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day." We compare the mountain with Saul and the woman at Endor, since the Law forbids "a necromancer." We look at where the mountain was, Tabor or Hermon, and at the land Moses was told "thou shalt not go over thither." We follow the disciples who were "heavy with sleep," Peter's three tabernacles, and the voice from the cloud: "hear him." We hear John Chrysostom's reasons, Tertullian on Moses's request to see God's glory, and Origen's two readings of Peter's words. We read the letter that carries Peter's name, where the writer speaks of "this my tabernacle" and of his own "decease," the old manuscript reading that says "glory" instead, the road to Emmaus and "Moses and all the prophets," and the disciples' question on the way down: "Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come?" We separate what the text says from how it has been interpreted. Subscribe to the channel for more of the verses you already know, explained from the text itself, with the sources below. Turn on notifications so you don't miss the next one. And tell us in the comments: when you first read this story, did you ever notice that the disciples were asleep? Main sources The Holy Bible, King James Version, with its marginal notes: Genesis 25:8-10; Exodus 24:13-18; 33:18-23; 34:28-30; Leviticus 23:42-43; Numbers 20:12; Deuteronomy 18:10-18; 34:1-7; 1 Samuel 28:6-15; 1 Kings 2:10; 19:8-14; 2 Kings 2:1-11; Malachi 4:4-6; Matthew 16:13-23; 17:1-13; Mark 9:2-10; Luke 1:1-3, 1:17; 9:18-51; 13:31-33; 16:27-31; 22:43-46; 24:4-27, 24:44; John 1:19-21; Acts 1:1-11; 2:29; Hebrews 11:22; 2 Peter 1:12-18; Jude 1:9; Revelation 11:3-6. The Greek New Testament (Textus Receptus): Luke 9:31-32, 9:51; 2 Peter 1:13-15; Hebrews 11:22. Strong's Exhaustive Concordance, via Bible Hub (exodos, pleroo, analempsis, skenoma). Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers; Barnes' Notes on the Bible; John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible; Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary; Vincent's Word Studies (quoting Henry Alford and John Ruskin); Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament; The Pulpit Commentary; Meyer's NT Commentary; The Expositor's Greek Testament; Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament. John Chrysostom, Homily 56 on the Gospel of Matthew (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 10; translated by George Prevost, revised by M. B. Riddle). Tertullian, Against Marcion, book 4, chapter 22 (Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 3; translated by Peter Holmes). Origen, Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew, book 12 (Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 9; translated by John Patrick). Background (the Assumption of Moses): Wikipedia. Visual credits Archive images (Wikimedia Commons / Internet Archive): "Transfiguration of Christ Hajdudorog Frame" — Jojojoe, CC BY-SA 3.0 "St. John Chrysostom Church (Angelci) (11)" — Тиверополник, CC BY-SA 4.0 "Mount Nebo, Jordan. View into the Promised or Holy Land" — Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin FRCP(Glasg), CC BY-SA 4.0 "Mount Nebo (2007-05-824)" and "Mt. Nebo, Jordan (2007-05-822)" — Vyacheslav Argenberg, CC BY 2.0 "The Transfiguration by Raphael" — Humanity (Internet Archive), CC BY-SA 4.0 "Fra Angelico, Transfiguration, ca. 1436-45; Convent of San Marco, Florence" — Prof. Mortel, CC BY 2.0 "Mount Hermon Qalaat al-Jandal snow landscape" — Nunusandio, CC BY-SA 4.0 "Monasterboice South Cross East Face Shaft Panel – Moses strikes water" — Andreas F. Borchert, CC BY-SA 4.0 "Ashkenazi Torah Scroll" and "Sephardic Torah Scroll" — Humanity (Internet Archive), CC BY-SA 4.0 Stock photos and footage: Pexels and Pixabay. The narration voice and many of the images are AI-generated. AI images are conceptual reconstructions, not historical records. Thumbnail: AI-generated illustration with a King James Bible page of Luke 9. #Bible #Jesus #Transfiguration #Moses #Elijah #BibleStudy #WhatTheBibleReallyMeans