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Yes, he was Elijah.
"For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. And if ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come."
Matthew 11:13-14
"But I say unto you, That Elias is come already.... then the disciples understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist."
Matthew 17:12-13
"But I say unto you, That Elias is indeed come, and they have done unto him whatsoever they listed, as it is written of him."
Mark 9:13
No, he was not Elijah.
"And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias [Elijah]? And he saith, I am not." John 1:21
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In the passage in the Gospel of John, where John the Baptist disowns himself to be Elijah, it is a response to a carnally-minded
people who expected a physical appearance of Elijah, when the prophet Malachi is elucidating on a man with the spirit
of him only. The commentator Matthew Henry has a very satisfying explanation to this problem:
“He[John] disowns himself to be Elias[Elijah]. The Jews expected the person of Elias to return from heaven. Hearing
of John’s character, doctrine, and baptism, and observing that he appeared as one dropped from heaven, it is no wonder
they were ready to take him for Elijah. He was indeed prophesied of under the name of Elijah, and he came in the spirit and
power of Elias, and was the Elias that was to come, but he was not the person of Elias. He was the Elias that God had promised,
not the Elias that they foolishly dreamed of. He was not that which Moses said the Lord would raise up to them of their brethren.
He was not such a prophet as they expected and wished for, who would rescue them from under the Roman yoke. He was not one
of the old prophets raised from the dead.”
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