Charles Ellicott Commentary Matthew 17:5

"While he was yet speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold, a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him." — Matthew 17:5 (ASV)

A bright cloud overshadowed them—that is, our Lord, Moses, and Elijah. To the disciples, this would undoubtedly recall the “cloudy pillar” that had descended on the first tabernacle (Exodus 33:9) and the “cloud that filled the house of the Lord on the dedication of the Temple” (1 Kings 8:10).

In later Jewish language, this cloud was the Shechinah, or the abiding presence of Jehovah. The very form of the word connects it with both the Hebrew (mishkan) and the Greek (skené) words for "tabernacle," which was the symbol that God was with His people. The Targums, or Aramaic paraphrases of the Law and Prophets that were then current, had used the word as a synonym for the divine name. For instance, where the Hebrew text has, I will dwell in thee, the Targum of Jonathan has, “I will make my Shechinah to dwell” (Zechariah 2:10; Zechariah 8:3).

The cloud's appearance at this moment, followed by the voice from it, was a witness that no tabernacle made with hands was now needed. It testified that the humanity of Christ was the true tabernacle of God . In this sense, it was true that the tabernacle of God was with men (Revelation 21:3), and that He would dwell with them.

This is my beloved Son—The words were substantially the same as those heard at our Lord's baptism (Matthew 3:17), but the difference in their form is suggestive. At His baptism, they were addressed to the human consciousness of the Son of Man, declaring to Him the greatness of His being. Now, they are addressed to the disciples and are closely connected with the decease He was to accomplish at Jerusalem.

It was, if we may say so, because the Son of Man became obedient to death that He was showing Himself worthy of the Father’s love. In the hour of darkness, apparent failure, agony, and death, He was satisfying His Father’s good pleasure and was accepted by Him as the one perfect sacrifice. And so the command, Hear Him, gained a new significance.

From now on, not the traditions of the elders, the doctrines of the scribes and Pharisees, or even the teaching of Moses and Elijah—of the Law and the Prophets—were to command their allegiance. Instead, the words of the Son of Man were to be the guide for their faith and their lives. For it is true of His words alone that the Father is fully revealed in them (Hebrews 1:1–2) and that they will never pass away (Matthew 24:35).