Word Pictures in the New Testament - David Cox

Word Pictures in the NT [Luke: Chapter 9].
(\pl•roun\). To fulfil. Moses had led the Exodus from Egypt.
Jesus will accomplish the exodus of God's people into the
Promised Land on high. See on Mark and Matthew for discussion of
significance of the appearance of Moses and Elijah as
representatives of law and prophecy and with a peculiar death.
The purpose of the Transfiguration was to strengthen the heart of
Jesus as he was praying long about his approaching death and to
give these chosen three disciples a glimpse of his glory for the
hour of darkness coming. No one on earth understood the heart of
Jesus and so Moses and Elijah came. The poor disciples utterly
failed to grasp the significance of it all.
9:32 {Were heavy with sleep} (\•san bebar•menoi hupn•i\).
Periphrastic past perfect of \bare•\, a late form for the ancient
\barun•\ (not in N.T. save Textus Receptus in Lu 21:34). This
form, rare and only in passive (present, aorist, perfect) in the
N.T., is like \barun•\, from \barus\, and that from \baros\,
weight, burden (Ga 6:2). \Hupn•i\ is in the instrumental case.
They had apparently climbed the mountain in the early part of the
night and were now overcome with sleep as Jesus prolonged his
prayer. Luke alone tells of their sleep. The same word is used of
the eyes of these three disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane
(Mt 26:43) and of the hearts of many (Lu 21:34). {But when
they were fully awake} (\diagr•gor•santes de\). First aorist
active participle of this late (Herodian) and rare compound verb
(here alone in the N.T.), \diagr•gore•\ (Luke is fond of
compounds with \dia\). The simple verb \gr•gore•\ (from the
second perfect active \egr•gora\) is also late, but common in the
LXX and the N.T. The effect of \dia\ can be either to remain
awake in spite of desire to sleep (margin of Revised Version) or
to become thoroughly awake (ingressive aorist tense also) as
Revised Version has it. This is most likely correct. The Syriac
Sinaitic has it "When they awoke." Certainly they had been
through a strain. {His glory} (\t•n doxan autou\). See also verse
26 in the words of Jesus.
9:33 {As they were departing from him} (\en t•i diach•rizesthai
autous ap' autou\). Peculiar to Luke and another instance of
Luke's common idiom of \en\ with the articular infinitive in a
temporal clause. This common verb occurs here only in the N.T.
The present middle voice means to separate oneself fully (direct
middle). This departing of Moses and Elijah apparently
accompanied Peter's remark as given in all three Gospels. See for
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