Expositor's Bible Commentary 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)

The “cloud” (GK 3749) signifies the presence of God, as it did in the OT (Exodus 13:21–22; Exodus 40:34–38): it was also associated with the future (Isaiah 4:5; Ezekiel 30:3; Zephaniah 1:15). Jesus is now succeeding Moses as the coming prophet (Dt. 18:15, 18) and is the messianic King whose kingdom is dawning. What the Voice from the cloud says is largely a repetition of 3:17, an apparent mingling of Ps 2:7 and Isa 42:1, stressing that Jesus is both Son and Suffering Servant. This is the high point of the story.

The additional words “Listen to him”—an allusion to Dt 18:15—confirm Jesus is the Prophet like Moses (cf. Acts 3:22–23; 7:37). Jesus is not another prophet of Moses’ stature but the eschatological Prophet patterned on Moses as a type. Jesus so far outstrips him that when Moses is put next to him, people must “listen” to Jesus. The climax of biblical revelation is Jesus, the Son and Servant God loves and with whom God is well pleased.