“Et respondens Petrus, ait Jesu : Rabbi, bonum est nos hic esse : et faciamus tria tabernacula, tibi unum, et Moysi unum, et Eliæ unum.”
“And there appeared unto them Elias with Moses: and they were talking with Jesus.”
“And Elijah and Moses appeared before them, talking with Jesus.”
“Elijah and Moses appeared to them, and they were talking with Jesus.”
“And there appeared unto them Elijah with Moses: and they were talking with Jesus.”
The law and the prophets were signified by Moses and Elias; both bear testimony to the divinity of Jesus Christ’s mission, which was effectually to close the old, and open the new dispensation. By the apparitions of these two illustrious personages, we learn also that sometimes, though not often, there is, by the permission of heaven, a certain intercourse between the living and the dead. (Bristow)
4. His companions in this glory were Moses and Elias (v. 4); They appeared talking with him, not to teach him, but to testify to him, and to be taught by him; by which it appears that there are converse and intercourse between glorified saints, they have ways of talking one with another, which we understand not. Moses and Elias lived at a great distance of time one from another, but that breaks no squares in heaven, where the first shall be last, and the last first, that is, all one in Christ.
Verses 1-13 Here is a prediction of the near approach Christ's kingdom. A glimpse of that kingdom was given in the transfiguration of Christ. It is good to be away from the world, and alone with Christ: and how good to be with Christ glorified in heaven with all the saints! But when it is well with us, we are apt not to care for others, and in the fulness of our enjoyments, we forget the many wants of our brethren. God owns Jesus, and accepts him as his beloved Son, and is ready to accept us in him. Therefore we must own and accept him as our beloved Saviour, and must give up ourselves to be ruled by him. Christ does not leave the soul, when joys and comforts leave it. Jesus explained to the disciples the prophecy about Elias. This was very suitable to the ill usage of John Baptist.