Charles Ellicott Commentary Matthew 27:47

"And some of them stood there, when they heard it, said, This man calleth Elijah." — Matthew 27:47 (ASV)

This man calleth for Elias — There is no ground for viewing this as a willful, derisive misinterpretation. The words may have been imperfectly understood, or some of those who listened may have been Hellenistic Jews. The dominant expectation of the coming of Elijah (see Notes on Matthew 16:14; Matthew 17:10) would predispose people to fasten on the similarity of sound, and the strange, unearthly darkness would intensify the feeling that looked for a supernatural manifestation of his presence.