Charles Ellicott Commentary Luke 7:16

"And fear took hold on all: and they glorified God, saying, A great prophet is arisen among us: and, God hath visited his people." — Luke 7:16 (ASV)

A great prophet.—This, we must remember, was the first instance of our Lord’s power being exercised to raise the dead, with the raising of Jairus’s daughter following in Luke 8:40-56. In the history of the Old Testament, there were examples of such wonders having been performed by Elijah (1 Kings 17:22) and Elisha (2 Kings 4:34), and the people naturally inferred that here there was at least a prophet of the same order.

That God has visited his people.—This is the same word as in Luke 1:68 and Luke 1:78 (see the notes on these verses).