1:21 Are you Elijah. In Matt. 11:14 Jesus, clearly referring to Mal. 4:5, tells the crowd that John is “Elijah who is to come.” John comes in the “spirit and power of Elijah” (Luke 1:17), but the Baptist here affirms that he is not Elijah himself.

the Prophet. There were different expectations among first-century Jews concerning the “prophet like me” that Moses announced in Deut. 18:15. Here the priests and Levites want to know whether John considers himself to be this Prophet.