A common misinterpretation is to take this literally as predicting the physical return of the prophet Elijah before Jesus' first coming, ignoring Jesus' immediate clarification in the next verses that John the Baptist already fulfilled this role; others erroneously apply it exclusively to a future end-times Elijah preceding Christ's second coming, neglecting the historical context of John's preparatory mission, or claim John was Elijah reincarnated, which contradicts John's own denial and the symbolic nature of prophetic fulfillment.
Matthew 17:11
King James Version (1769)
11 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things.
Jesus affirms the prophecy from Malachi that Elijah must come first to restore all things before the Messiah's arrival, confirming its validity while revealing its fulfillment in John the Baptist, who came in the spirit and power of Elijah to prepare the people's hearts for Jesus' ministry through repentance and moral restoration, thus bridging Old Testament expectation with New Testament reality.