What Does Matthew 17:11 Mean in the King James?
And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
Elijah’s coming is described as restoring what has been displaced, not introducing an unrelated reality.
THE MEANING
Elijah’s coming is presented as the movement that restores all things. The word carries the sense of setting something back in place, so restoration reaches beyond one isolated repair. The verse holds that return to order as what comes first.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
What is broken is beyond repair and can only be replaced.
THE ROOT
ἀποκαταστήσει
apokatastēsei
GROWS FROM
ἀποκαθίστημι
apokathistēmi
To restore or set back into place.
The verb is ἀποκαθίστημι (apokathistēmi, restore), built on καθίστημι (kathistēmi, set or place). Its noun ἀποκατάστασις (apokatastasis, restoration) appears in Acts 3:21 beside the same phrase “all things,” giving this promise the shape of a comprehensive setting back in place.
ALSO GROWS
apokatastasis: Restoration; restitution.
ἀποκατάστασις
Acts 3:21 uses this related noun for the “restitution of all things,” echoing the scope of the restoration promised here.
kathistēmi: Set, place, appoint.
καθίστημι
This verb forms the base of the compound: the promise is expressed as setting things back into place.
THE PATTERN
Restoration brings what has been disordered back into right relation.
And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.THE THREAD
Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.“Restitution” translates ἀποκατάστασις (apokatastasis, restoration), a noun from the same word family as “restore” here. The shared phrase “all things” makes the connection especially direct: both verses describe restoration with a comprehensive scope.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us