“They said.

‘Some say

John the Baptist!

But others say

Elijah!

Still others say

Jeremiah!

Or others say

One of the prophets!’”

 

οἱ δὲ εἶπαν Οἱ μὲν Ἰωάνην τὸν Βαπτιστήν, ἄλλοι δὲ Ἡλείαν, ἕτεροι δὲ Ἱερεμίαν ἢ ἕνα τῶν προφητῶν.

 

This same response can be found in Mark, chapter 8:28, and Luke, chapter 9:19, but there are slight differences.  Matthew is the only one who explicitly mention Jeremiah, who was a Judean prophet active from 626 BCE to 587 BCE, around the time of the destruction of the Temple.  You can find out more about him in the Book of Jeremiah, one of the 3 major prophetic books of the Old Testament.  Mark and Luke only had the more generic as here, “one of the prophets.”  The disciples responded (οἱ δὲ εἶπαν) that some people said John the Baptist (Οἱ μὲν Ἰωάνην τὸν Βαπτιστήν) was the Son of Man.  Others said Elijah (ἄλλοι δὲ Ἡλείαν) was the Son of Man.  This Elijah was a 9^th century BCE northern Israel prophet whose work can be found in the Old Testament Books of 1 Kings, 2 Kings, and 1 Chronicles.  Still others said that Jeremiah (ἕτεροι δὲ Ἱερεμίαν) was the Son of Man.  Finally, other people said that one of the many prophets (ἢ ἕνα τῶν προφητῶν) was the Son of Man.  No one mentioned Jesus.