And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he saith, (i) I am not. Art thou (k) that prophet? And he answered, No.
(i) The Jews thought that Elias would come again before the days of the Messiah, and they took as the basis of their opinion (Malachi 4:5), which is to be understood as referring to John, see (Matthew 11:14). And yet John denies that he is Elias, answering their question just as they meant it.
(k) They are inquiring about some great prophet, and not about Christ, for John denied before that he is Christ, for they thought that some great prophet would be sent like Moses, using to support this position (Deuteronomy 18:15), which is to be understood to refer to all the company of the prophets and ministers, which have been and shall be to the end, and especially of Christ who is the head of all prophets.