New Living Translation
Matthew 20:22
22But Jesus answered by saying to them, “You don’t know what you are asking! Are you able to drink from the bitter cup of suffering I am about to drink?” “Oh yes,” they replied, “we are able!”
Matthew 20:22 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)But Jesus answered and said, Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? They say unto him, We are able.
- New International Version (NIV)“You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said to them. “Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?” “We can,” they answered.
- English Standard Version (ESV)Jesus answered, "You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?" They said to him, "We are able."
- New King James Version (NKJV)But Jesus answered and said, “You do not know what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?” They said to Him, “We are able.”
Context of Matthew 20:22
20Then the mother of James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Jesus with her sons. She knelt respectfully to ask a favor. 21“What is your request?” he asked. She replied, “In your Kingdom, please let my two sons sit in places of honor next to you, one on your right and the other on your left.” But Jesus answered by saying to them, “You don’t know what you are asking! Are you able to drink from the bitter cup of suffering I am about to drink?” “Oh yes,” they replied, “we are able!” 23Jesus told them, “You will indeed drink from my bitter cup. But I have no right to say who will sit on my right or my left. My Father has prepared those places for the ones he has chosen.” 24When the ten other disciples heard what James and John had asked, they were indignant.
Read all of Matthew 20Matthew 20:22 word by word
Ἀποκριθεὶς δὲ ὁ Ἰησοῦς εἶπεν· οὐκ οἴδατε τί αἰτεῖσθε. δύνασθε πιεῖν τὸ ποτήριον ὃ ἐγὼ μέλλω πίνειν λέγουσιν αὐτῷ· δυνάμεθα.¶Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Butδέde · thenG1161
- Jesusὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
- JesusἸησοῦςIēsous · JesusG2424
- answeredἀποκρίνωapokrinomai · to answerG611
- and saidλέγωlegō · to sayG3004
- Ye knowεἴδωeidō · to perceive: understandG1492
- notοὐou · noG3756
- whatτίςtis · which?G5101
- ye askαἰτέωaiteō · to askG154
- Are ye ableδύναμαιdunamai · be ableG1410
- to drinkπίνωpinō piō poō · to drinkG4095
- of the cupποτήριονpotērion · cupG4221
- thatὅςhos hē ho · whichG3739
- Iἐγώegō · I/weG1473
- shallμέλλωmellō · to ensueG3195
- andκαίkai · andG2532
- to be baptizedβαπτίζωbaptizō · to baptizeG907
- with the baptismβάπτισμαbaptisma · baptismG908
- They sayλέγωlegō · to sayG3004
- unto himαὐτόςautos · it/s/heG846
Cross-references for Matthew 20:22
- Mark 10:38But Jesus said to them, “You don’t know what you are asking! Are you able to drink from the bitter cup of suffering I am about to drink? Are you able to be baptized with the baptism of suffering I must be baptized with?”
- Romans 8:26And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words.
- James 4:3And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure.
- Matthew 26:39He went on a little farther and bowed with his face to the ground, praying, “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”
- Psalms 75:3When the earth quakes and its people live in turmoil, I am the one who keeps its foundations firm. Interlude
- Jeremiah 25:15This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, said to me: “Take from my hand this cup filled to the brim with my anger, and make all the nations to whom I send you drink from it.
- Mark 14:36“Abba, Father,” he cried out, “everything is possible for you. Please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”
- Luke 22:42“Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”
- John 18:11But Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword back into its sheath. Shall I not drink from the cup of suffering the Father has given me?”
- Mark 10:39“Oh yes,” they replied, “we are able!” Then Jesus told them, “You will indeed drink from my bitter cup and be baptized with my baptism of suffering.
- Luke 12:50I have a terrible baptism of suffering ahead of me, and I am under a heavy burden until it is accomplished.
- Matthew 26:35“No!” Peter insisted. “Even if I have to die with you, I will never deny you!” And all the other disciples vowed the same.
- Proverbs 16:18Pride goes before destruction, and haughtiness before a fall.
Commentaries on Matthew 20:22
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 22Ye know not what ye ask - How strange is the infatuation, in some parents, which leads them to desire worldly or ecclesiastical honors for their children! He must be much in love with the cross who wishes to have his child a minister of the Gospel; for, if he be such as God approves of in the work, his life will be a life of toil and suffering; he will be obliged to sip, at least, if not to drink largely, of the cup of Christ. We know not what we ask…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. 22The cup refers to the duty duty, calling, and destiny of Jesus (see Matthew 26:39; John 18:11; also Psalm 75:8; Isaiah 51:17, 22; Revelation 16:19).Read the comment
Topics related to Matthew 20:22
In the dictionaries
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
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