Luke 9:18

18 One day when He was praying by Himself the disciples were present; and He asked them, "Who do the people say that 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 Then He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to Heaven He blessed them and broke them into portions which He gave to the disciples to distribute to the people.

17 So they ate and were fully satisfied, all of them; and what they had remaining over was gathered up, twelve baskets of fragments.

18 One day when He was praying by Himself the disciples were present; and He asked them, "Who do the people say that I am?"

19 "John the Baptist," they replied; "but others say Elijah; and others that some one of the ancient Prophets has come back to life."

20 "But you," He asked, "who do you say that I am?" "God's Anointed One," replied Peter.