heard in the prison. John's arrest had been mentioned in Matthew 4:12.
Christ. the Messiah. See App-98.
he sent. Greek. pempo. Sent as envoys. See notes on Luke 7:3 and Luke 7:6. This is not the same mission as that in Luke 7.
(1) In this (the former) no number of those sent is given (see note on "two" below): in the latter there were "two" (Luke 7:19). The antecedents and consequents are different.
(2) In the former, the Twelve had just been appointed, which may have raised questions in John's mind; in the latter, the antecedent was the raising of the widow's son, before the calling of the Twelve.
(3) In the former case, the Lord called them to see and note what He was then doing, "which ye are hearing and seeing" (Matthew 11:4).
(NB., the tenses are all Present. See Matthew 11:5.) In the latter case, they are to te11 John "what ye have seen and heard" (Matthew 11:22). The consequents are repetitions suited to the different circumstances. See App-97.
two. All the texts read dia. by means of (App-104.Matthew 11:1; Matthew 11:1), instead of duo. two, as in Luke 7:18.