Matthew 20:26

Matthew 20:26 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister;
• New International Version (NIV)Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant,
• English Standard Version (ESV)It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant,
• New King James Version (NKJV)Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant.

Context of Matthew 20:26

24When the other ten apostles heard about this, they were irritated with the two brothers. 25Jesus called the apostles and said, “You know that the rulers of nations have absolute power over people and their officials have absolute authority over people. But that’s not the way it’s going to be among you. Whoever wants to become great among you will be your servant. 27Whoever wants to be most important among you will be your slave. 28It’s the same way with the Son of Man. He didn’t come so that others could serve him. He came to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many people.”

Matthew 20:26 word by word

οὐχ οὕτως ἔσται ἐν ὑμῖν, ἀλλ᾽ ὃς ἐὰν θέλῃ ἐν ὑμῖν μέγας γενέσθαι, ἔσται ὑμῶν διάκονος·Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Butδέde · thenG1161
• it shallεἰμίeimi · to beG1510
• notοὐou · noG3756
• soοὕτωςhoutō · thus(-ly)G3779
• amongἐνen · in/on/amongG1722
• youσύsu · youG4771
• butἀλλάalla · butG235
• whosoeverὅςhos hē ho · whichG3739
• ·ἐάνean · ifG1437
• will beθέλωthelō ethelō · to will/desireG2309
• greatμέγαςmegas · greatG3173
• let himγίνομαιginomai · to beG1096
• ministerδιάκονοςdiakonos · servantG1249

Cross-references for Matthew 20:26

• Matthew 23:8But don’t make others call you Rabbi, because you have only one teacher, and you are all followers.
• Mark 9:35He sat down and called the twelve apostles. He told them, “Whoever wants to be the most important person must take the last place and be a servant to everyone else.”
• Mark 10:43But that’s not the way it’s going to be among you. Whoever wants to become great among you will be your servant.
• Luke 14:7Then Jesus noticed how the guests always chose the places of honor. So he used this illustration when he spoke to them:
• Luke 18:14“I can guarantee that this tax collector went home with God’s approval, but the Pharisee didn’t. Everyone who honors himself will be humbled, but the person who humbles himself will be honored.”
• John 18:36Jesus answered, “My kingdom doesn’t belong to this world. If my kingdom belonged to this world, my followers would fight to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. My kingdom doesn’t have its origin on earth.”
• 2 Corinthians 1:24It isn’t that we want to have control over your Christian faith. Rather, we want to work with you so that you will be happy. Certainly, you are firmly established in the Christian faith.
• 2 Corinthians 10:4The weapons we use in our fight are not made by humans. Rather, they are powerful weapons from God. With them we destroy people’s defenses, that is, their arguments
• 1 Peter 5:3Don’t be rulers over the people entrusted to you, but be examples for the flock to follow.
• 3 John 1:9I wrote a letter to the congregation. But Diotrephes, who loves to be in charge, won’t accept us.
• Revelation 13:11I saw another beast come from the earth, and it had two horns like a lamb. It talked like a serpent.
• Revelation 17:6I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of God’s holy people and of those who testify about Jesus. I was very surprised when I saw her.
• Matthew 25:44“They, too, will ask, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or as a stranger or in need of clothes or sick or in prison and didn’t help you?’
• Matthew 27:55Many women were there watching from a distance. They had followed Jesus from Galilee and had always supported him.
• Ezekiel 24:13I tried to clean you of your filthy lust, but you wouldn’t clean yourself from your filth. You will never be clean until I unleash my fury on you.
• Acts 13:5Arriving in the city of Salamis, they began to spread God’s word in the synagogues. John Mark had gone along to help them.

Commentaries on Matthew 20:26

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 26It shall not be so among you - Every kind of lordship and spiritual domination over the Church of Christ, like that exercised by the Church of Rome, is destructive and anti-christian. Your minister - Or, deacon, . I know no other word which could at once convey the meaning of the original, and make a proper distinction between it and , or servant, in Matthew 20:27. The office of a deacon, in the primitive Church, was to serve in the agapae, or love…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 20-28Verses 20-28 See also Mark 10:35-45. Matthew 20:20 Then came to him give mother of Zebedee‘s children … - This was probably Salome, Mark 15:40; Mark 16:1. With her sons - The names of these sons were James and John, Mark 10:35 Mark says they came and made the request. That is, they made it, as appears from Matthew, through the medium of their mother; they requested her to ask it for them. It is not improbable that she was an ambitious woman, and was…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 20-28Verses 20-28 The sons of Zebedee abused what Christ said to comfort the disciples. Some cannot have comforts but they turn them to a wrong purpose. Pride is a sin that most easily besets us; it is sinful ambition to outdo others in pomp and grandeur. To put down the vanity and ambition of their request, Christ leads them to the thoughts of their sufferings. It is a bitter cup that is to be drunk of; a cup of trembling, but not the cup of the wicked. It is…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 25-28Rulers who do not know God often desire power and control. But those who follow the Son of Man should not act this way (Matthew 18:1–5; 19:13–15; 23:1–12).Read the comment

Topics related to Matthew 20:26

• Commandments
• Fellowship
• Humility
• Jesus, the Christ
• Man
• Minister, Christian
• Pride

In the dictionaries

• Agree
• Choose
• Condemn
• Drink
• Idle
• Prepare
• Ransom
• Wrong
• Authority in Religion
• Bishop

Commentaries on Matthew 20

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Catena Aurea
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• John Lightfoot Commentary
• Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• The Fourfold Gospel and Commentary on Acts
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings