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.
Ver. 17. In the spirit and power of Elias] There is a great agreement between the times of Elijah and John Baptist. Herod answereth to Ahab, Herodias to Jezebel, &c.
The disobedient to the wisdom of the just] i.e. By his preaching he shall turn the hearts of the Gentiles to the Jews, and by his baptism tie them up, as it were, together. He made them (according to the phrase that Josephus useth of him) to convent or knit together in baptism, εν βαπτισμω συνιεναι. (Joseph. Antiq., xviii. 7.)