Elijah And Moses

Kαὶ ὤφθη αὐτοῖς Ἠλίας σὺν Μωϋσεῖ, καὶ ἦσαν συλλαλοῦντες τῷ Ἰησοῦ. Ἠλίας καὶ Μωσῆς φαίνονται συλλαλοῦντες, διὰ πολλὰς αἰτίας· δύο δὲ ἀρκοῦσιν. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἔφησαν οἱ μαθηταὶ, ὅτι οἱ ὄχολοι, οἱ μὲν Ἠλίαν αὐτὸν λέγουσιν, οἱ δὲ, ἕνα τῶν προφητῶν, δείκνυσιν αὐτοῖς τοὺς κορυφαίους τῶν προφητῶν, ἵνα κὰντεῦθεν μάθωσι τὸ μέστον τῶν δούλων καὶ τοῦ Δεσπότου· μία μὲν αὕτη αἰτία. Ἑτέρα δὲ, ἐπειδὴ ἀντίθεον οἱ πολλοὶ αὐτὸν ἐνόμιζον, ὡς λύοντα τὸ Σάββατον, καὶ τὸν νόμον παραβαίνοντα, δείκνυσιν ἐν τῷ ὄρει τοὺς προφήτας· ὦν ὁ μὲν νομοθέτης ἦν, ὁ δὲ ζηλωτής. Οὐκ ἂν οὖν ὡμίλουν οἱ τοιοῦτοι προφῆται τῷ τὸν νόμον λύειν δοκοῦντι, εἰ μὴ ἤρεσκεν αὐτοῖς ἃ λέγει. Θεοφύλακτος Αχρίδος, Ἑρμηνεία Εἰς Τὸ Κατά Μάρκον Εὐαγγέλιον, Κεφ' Θ' Source: Migne PG 123.580c-d

And Elijah and Moses appeared to them, and they spoke with Jesus... 1 Elijah and Moses appeared speaking for many reasons, but let two suffice. Because the disciples reported that people said that Christ might be Elijah, or one of the number of the prophets, 2 He shows to them certain eminent ones among the prophets, that they might learn the great distance between the servant and the Lord. This is certainly one of the reasons. But another is that since many thought He was an opponent of God, and that he would end the Sabbath and that He discounted the Law, He showed the prophets on the mount, one who was a legislator and the other one a zealot. For such prophets would not converse with Him who was seen to make an end of the Law, unless they had been pleased with the things He had said. Theophylact of Ochrid, Commentary On The Gospel Of Saint Mark, Chapter 9 1 Mk 9.4 2 Mt 16.13-14