Luke 9:18

18 And it came about that when he was in prayer, by himself, and the disciples were with him, he put a question to them, saying, Who do the people say I am?

Luke 9:18 Meaning and Commentary

Luke 9:18

And it came to pass, as he was alone praying
To his God and Father, for himself as man, and mediator; for the success of his Gospel, and the increase of his interest; and for his disciples, that they might have a clearer revelation of him; and which they had, as appears in their after confession of him by Peter, as the mouth of them all. The place where he now retired for private devotion, was somewhere in the coasts of Caesarea Philippi; for he was now gone from the desert of Bethsaida, as appears from ( Matthew 16:13 ) and when he is said to be alone, the meaning is, that he was retired from the multitude, but not from his disciples; for it follows,

his disciples were with him,
in this solitary place:

and he asked them,
being with them alone;

saying, Whom say the people that I am?
what are the sentiments of the common people, or of the people in general concerning me? The Alexandrian copy, and the Arabic version read, "men", as in ( Matthew 16:13 ) . (See Gill on Matthew 16:13).

Luke 9:18 In-Context

16 And he took the five cakes of bread and the two fishes and, looking up to heaven, he said words of blessing over them, and when they had been broken, he gave them to the disciples to give to the people.

17 And they all took the food and had enough; and they took up of the broken bits which were over, twelve baskets full.

18 And it came about that when he was in prayer, by himself, and the disciples were with him, he put a question to them, saying, Who do the people say I am?

19 And they, answering, said, John the Baptist; but others say Elijah; and others, that one of the old prophets has come back.

20 And he said, But who do you say that I am? And Peter, answering, said, The Christ of God.