Matthew 17:2
Translations
King James Version (KJV)
And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.
American King James Version (AKJV)
And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.
American Standard Version (ASV)
and he was transfigured before them; and his face did shine as the sun, and his garments became white as the light.
Basic English Translation (BBE)
And he was changed in form before them; and his face was shining like the sun, and his clothing became white as light.
Webster's Revision
And he was transfigured before them: and his face shone as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.
World English Bible
He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his garments became as white as the light.
English Revised Version (ERV)
and he was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his garments became white as the light.
Definitions for Matthew 17:2
Clarke's Matthew 17:2 Bible Commentary
Was transfigured - That fullness of the Godhead, which dwelt bodily in Christ, now shone forth through the human nature, and manifested to his disciples not only that Divinity which Peter had before confessed, Matthew 16:16, but also the glorious resurrection body, in which they should exist in the presence of God to eternity.
White as the light - But the Cod. Bezae, some of the ancient versions, and several of the fathers, read ως χιων, as snow; and this is the reading in Mark 9:3.
Barnes's Matthew 17:2 Bible Commentary
And was transfigured before them - The word "transfigure" means to change the appearance or form. It does not denote the change of the substance of a thing, but simply of its appearance. It puts on a new aspect. What this change was we are expressly told.
1. His face shone as the sun; that is, with a special brightness. A similar appearance is described respecting Moses when he came down from the mount, Exodus 34:29-30. See also Hebrews 1:3, where Christ is called the brightness of the glory of God: in the original, the splendor or shining, like the brightness of the sun.
2. The second change was that of his garments. They were white as the light. Mark says, "exceeding white as snow; so as no fuller on earth could white them." The word "fuller" means, commonly, one who dresses cloth or fulls it, so as to make it more thick and strong. Here it means one who bleaches cloth or makes it white; one who cleanses garments when by wearing they become soiled. Among the Greeks that was a distinct trade. Luke says, "white and glistering," that is, resplendent, shining, or a very bright white. There is no evidence here that what is commonly said of him is true, that his body was so changed as to show what his glorified body is. His body, so far as the sacred writers inform us, underwent no change. All this splendor and glory was a change in appearance only. The Scriptures should be taken just as they are, without any attempt to affix a meaning to them which the sacred writers did not intend.
Raiment - Clothing. John may refer to this transfiguration in John 1:14, as Peter does in 2 Peter 1:16-17.
Wesley's Matthew 17:2 Bible Commentary
17:2 And was transfigured - Or transformed. The indwelling Deity darted out its rays through the veil of the flesh; and that with such transcendent splendour, that he no longer bore the form of a servant. His face shone with Divine majesty, like the sun in its strength; and all his body was so irradiated by it, that his clothes could not conceal its glory, but became white and glittering as the very light, with which he covered himself as with a garment.
