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Matthew 20:26-28

It shall not be so among you, but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. Whoever desires to be first among you shall be your bondservant, even as the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

World English Bible · Public Domain
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Matthew 20:26-28 sits inside this longer paragraph.

But Jesus summoned them, and said, “You know that the rulers of the nations lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you, but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. Whoever desires to be first among you shall be your bondservant, even as the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

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Parallel Translations

  • WEB World English Bible

    It shall not be so among you, but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant.

    Whoever desires to be first among you shall be your bondservant,

    even as the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

  • TYNDALE Tyndale New Testament (1534)

    It shall not be so amonge you. But whosoever wyll be greate amonge you let him be youre minister:

    and whosoever wilbe chefe let him be youre servaut

    even as the sonne of man came not to be ministred vnto but to minister and to geve his lyfe for the redempcion of many.

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  • GNV Geneva Bible (1599)

    But it shall not be so among you: but whosoeuer will be great among you, let him be your seruant.

    And whosoeuer will be chiefe among you, let him be your seruant.

    Euen as the Sonne of man came not to be serued, but to serue, and to giue his life for the ransome of many.

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Contradictions (2)

Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.

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Cross-references (60)

  • Luke 22:27 (v28) For who is greater, one who sits at the table, or one who serves? Isn’t it he who sits at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.
  • Hebrews 9:28 (v28) so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, without sin, to those who are eagerly waiting…
  • Titus 2:14 (v28) who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify for himself a people for his own possession, zealous for…
  • Mark 10:43 (v26) But it shall not be so among you, but whoever wants to become great among you shall be your servant.
  • Mark 9:35 (v26) He sat down, and called the twelve; and he said to them, “If any man wants to be first, he shall be last of all, and servant of all.”
Show all 60 cross-references
  • 1 Peter 3:18 (v28) Because Christ also suffered for sins once, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring you to God, being put to death in the…
  • Mark 10:45 (v26) For the Son of Man also came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
  • 1 Peter 5:3 (v26) not as lording it over those entrusted to you, but making yourselves examples to the flock.
  • Philippians 2:4-8 (v28) each of you not just looking to his own things, but each of you also to the things of others. Have this in your mind, which was also in…
  • 1 Timothy 2:6 (v28) who gave himself as a ransom for all, the testimony in its own times,
  • Luke 18:14 (v26) I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who…
  • 2 Corinthians 8:9 (v28) For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that you through his poverty…
  • 1 Peter 2:24 (v28) He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live to righteousness. You were healed by his wounds.
  • Revelation 1:5 (v28) and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us, and…
  • Ephesians 1:7 (v28) in whom we have our redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,
  • 1 Peter 1:18-19 (v28) knowing that you were redeemed, not with corruptible things, with silver or gold, from the useless way of life handed down from your…
  • Revelation 5:8-9 (v28) Now when he had taken the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each one having a harp, and…
  • Matthew 26:28 (v28) for this is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many for the remission of sins.
  • Mark 14:24 (v28) He said to them, “This is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many.
  • John 13:4-17 (v28) arose from supper, and laid aside his outer garments. He took a towel and wrapped a towel around his waist. Then he poured water into the…
  • Hebrews 5:8 (v28) though he was a Son, yet learned obedience by the things which he suffered.
  • Romans 4:25 (v28) who was delivered up for our trespasses, and was raised for our justification.
  • Romans 5:15-19 (v28) But the free gift isn’t like the trespass. For if by the trespass of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God, and the gift by…
  • Galatians 3:13 (v28) Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us. For it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree,”
  • Ephesians 5:2 (v28) Walk in love, even as Christ also loved us and gave himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling fragrance.
  • 1 John 2:2 (v28) And he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the whole world.
  • Isaiah 53:5 (v28) But he was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. The punishment that brought our peace was on him; and by his…
  • Isaiah 53:10-11 (v28) Yet it pleased Yahweh to bruise him. He has caused him to suffer. When you make his soul an offering for sin, he will see his offspring. He…
  • Luke 14:7-11 (v26) He spoke a parable to those who were invited, when he noticed how they chose the best seats, and said to them, “When you are invited by…
  • John 10:15 (v28) even as the Father knows me, and I know the Father. I lay down my life for the sheep.
  • John 11:50-52 (v28) nor do you consider that it is advantageous for us that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation not perish.” Now he…
  • Hebrews 2:10 (v28) For it became him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many children to glory, to make the author of…
  • 1 Peter 4:11 (v26) If anyone speaks, let it be as it were the very words of God. If anyone serves, let it be as of the strength which God supplies, that in…
  • Psalms 49:7 (v28) none of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give God a ransom for him.
  • Isaiah 53:8 (v28) He was taken away by oppression and judgment. As for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living and…
  • Daniel 9:24-26 (v28) “Seventy weeks are decreed on your people and on your holy city, to finish disobedience, and to make an end of sins, and to make…
  • Job 33:24 (v28) then God is gracious to him, and says, ‘Deliver him from going down to the pit, I have found a ransom.’
  • Matthew 8:20 (v28) Jesus said to him, “The foxes have holes, and the birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”
  • Luke 22:26 (v27) But not so with you. But one who is the greater among you, let him become as the younger, and one who is governing, as one who serves.
  • Romans 3:24-26 (v28) being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus; whom God sent to be an atoning sacrifice, through faith…
  • Mark 9:33-35 (v27) He came to Capernaum, and when he was in the house he asked them, “What were you arguing among yourselves on the way?” But they were…
  • Matthew 18:4 (v27) Whoever therefore humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.
  • Matthew 23:8-12 (v26) But don’t you be called ‘Rabbi,’ for one is your teacher, the Christ, and all of you are brothers. Call no man on the earth your father,…
  • Matthew 25:44 (v26) “Then they will also answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and…
  • 2 Corinthians 4:5 (v27) For we don’t preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake,
  • Acts 20:34-35 (v27) You yourselves know that these hands served my necessities, and those who were with me. In all things I gave you an example, that so…
  • Romans 1:14 (v27) I am debtor both to Greeks and to foreigners, both to the wise and to the foolish.
  • 3 John 1:9-10 (v26) I wrote to the assembly, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first among them, doesn’t accept what we say. Therefore if I come, I will call…
  • John 18:36 (v26) Jesus answered, “My Kingdom is not of this world. If my Kingdom were of this world, then my servants would fight, that I wouldn’t be…
  • 1 Corinthians 9:19-23 (v27) For though I was free from all, I brought myself under bondage to all, that I might gain the more. To the Jews I became as a Jew, that I…
  • 2 Corinthians 10:4-10 (v26) for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but mighty before God to the throwing down of strongholds, throwing down imaginations…
  • 2 Timothy 1:18 (v26) (the Lord grant to him to find the Lord’s mercy in that day); and in how many things he served at Ephesus, you know very well.
  • Philemon 1:13 (v26) whom I desired to keep with me, that on your behalf he might serve me in my chains for the Good News.
  • Hebrews 1:14 (v26) Aren’t they all serving spirits, sent out to do service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?
  • Ezekiel 24:13 (v26) “ ‘ “In your filthiness is lewdness. Because I have cleansed you and you weren’t cleansed, you won’t be cleansed from your filthiness any…
  • Acts 13:5 (v26) When they were at Salamis, they proclaimed God’s word in the Jewish synagogues. They also had John as their attendant.
  • 2 Corinthians 1:24 (v26) We don’t control your faith, but are fellow workers with you for your joy. For you stand firm in faith.
  • 2 Corinthians 11:5 (v27) For I reckon that I am not at all behind the very best apostles.
  • 2 Corinthians 11:23-27 (v27) Are they servants of Christ? (I speak as one beside himself.) I am more so: in labors more abundantly, in prisons more abundantly, in…
  • 2 Corinthians 12:15 (v27) I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls. If I love you more abundantly, am I loved the less?

Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)

Explain this passage (15 sources)

Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.

John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv26–28 26 But it shall not be so among you:…

26 But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister;

Ver. 26. But it shall not be so among you] How express is that against Papal primacy and lordly prelacy. When the duke shall be damned, what will become of the bishop? said the clown to the Bishop of Cullen. Mr Whitehead refused a bishopric, because he liked not to be lorded. And Mr Coverdale being deprived of his bishopric in Queen Mary’s days, would not (for the same cause) be reinvested in Queen Elizabeth’s, but taught a school. Mr Knox would not have a bishopric, because it had aliquid commune cum antichristo somewhat with the common antichrist.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On v28 So saith Mark, Mar 10:45. The apostle saith, Phi…
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain On v28 To encourage his disciples to the forementioned condescending humility…
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv26–28 And whosoever will be chief among you,.... Or first,…
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On v26 Your minister - That is, your servant. Matt. xxiii,…
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv26–28 Verse 26. It shall not be so among you]…
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On v28 A redemption for many; i.e. for all, as it…
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv26–28 26. Shall not be so among you — Our…
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On v28 28. a ransom]=the price paid for the redemption of…
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv26–28 (26) Whosoever will be great.—Better, whosoever wisheth to be…
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv26–28 It shall not be so among you. There is…
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv26, 28 And whosoever will be chief among you, let him…
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain On vv26–28 26. It shall not be so among you. No…
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On v28 Son of man (See Scofield "Mat 8:20") Also, Php…
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv27–28 20:27 The word slave is a common metaphor for…
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