Charles Ellicott Commentary Matthew 17:3

"And behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elijah talking with him." — Matthew 17:3 (ASV)

Moses and Elijah — We can well believe that the disciples' identification of the figures they saw was intuitive. In the state of consciousness to which they had been raised, they were capable of a spiritual illumination that would reveal who these figures were, as they recognized their Master’s work and paid homage to His majesty. There was, obviously, a unique appropriateness in each case. One was the great representative of the Law, which was a "schoolmaster" or "guardian" (see note on Galatians 3:24) leading people to Christ; the other was the representative of the entire noble fellowship of the prophets. Of one it had been said that a "Prophet like him" would come in the latter days (Deuteronomy 18:18), whom people should obey; of the other, that he would come again to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children (Malachi 4:5). The end of each one's ministry was not like the "common death of all men." No one knew of the tomb of Moses (Deuteronomy 34:6), and Elijah had passed away in the chariots and horses of fire (2 Kings 2:11). Both were associated in people's minds with the glory of the Messiah's kingdom. The Jerusalem Targum on Exodus 12 connects the coming of Moses with that of the Messiah. Another Jewish tradition predicts his appearance with that of Elijah. Their presence now was a testimony that their work was over and that the Messiah had come.

Talking with him — Luke (Luke 9:31) adds the subject of their conversation: They spoke of His decease which He was to accomplish at Jerusalem. To the extent that the disciples understood the meaning of what they heard at the time, or recalled it afterward, it was a testimony that the spirits of the lawgiver and the prophet accepted the sufferings and death—which had shaken the disciples' faith—as necessary conditions for the Messianic kingdom. It is significant that the word for "decease" (exodos) reappears in this sense only once in the New Testament, and then in close connection with a reference to the Transfiguration (2 Peter 1:15).