Matthew 23:11
in Matthew 23The greatest among you shall be your servant.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant.
KJV
But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant.
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This verse in Matthew 23
Commentary
15 notes on this verseSince those who have arrived teaching new beliefs for the most part do so from conceit and arrogance, I will say something concerning the value of the teaching. The Lord cuts short this opinion and way as leading to destruction. He says, "You love glory and the places of first importance." Meanwhile he desires the servant's role and cultivates humility.
This site's exposition
greatest among you shall be your servant
on Matthew 23:11-12
He that is greatest among you shall be your servant restates the standard Jesus has already set at the request of James and John's mother, greatness measured by service rather than rank, directly opposing the chief seats just condemned. Whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased, and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted states the rule as a law of the kingdom rather than a suggestion, the same reversal that runs through the Beatitudes. These two verses close the chapter's introduction and turn its full weight toward the seven woes that follow.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
I wish everyone might hear this, and most of all deacons, priests and bishops, especially those who think to themselves that these were not the words written: "He who exalts himself will be humbled." On this basis, they then act as if they do not know that he said, "He who has humbled himself will be exalted." They do not hear him who said, "Learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly of heart." They thought themselves to be self-inspired and through this inspiration fell "into the judgment of the devil." They had not thought of critically examining their false humility. They would have done better to have remembered the word of wisdom that says, "The greater you are, the more you must humble yourself, and you will find grace before God." It was the Lord who provided the pattern for this process. No matter how great he was, he humbled himself. For "though he was in the form of God, [he] did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name."
Or otherwise; And if one minister the divine word, knowing that it is Christ that makes it to be fruitful, such a one professes himself a minister and not a master; whence it follows, He that is greatest among you, let him be your servant. As Christ Himself, who was in truth our Master, professed Himself a minister, saying, I am in the midst of you as one that ministers. (Luke 22:27.) And well does He conclude this prohibition of all vain-glory with the words, And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.
A commentator
John ChrysostomHomily on the Gospel of Matthew 72 · Written in the 5th century.
proposed
Having warned them therefore against this grievous pest, and amended them, He instructs also how they may escape it; by humility. Wherefore He adds also, "He that is greatest among you shall be your servant. For whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased, and whosoever shall abase himself shall be exalted." For nothing is equal to the practice of modesty, wherefore He is continually reminding them of this virtue, both when He brought the children into the midst, and now. And, when on the mount, beginning the beatitudes, He began from hence. And in this place, He plucks it up by the roots hereby, saying, "He that abaseth himself shall be exalted." Seest thou how He draws off the hearer right over to the contrary thing. For not only doth He forbid him to set his heart upon the first place, but requires him to follow after the last. For so shalt thou obtain thy desire, He saith. Wherefore he that pursues his desire for the first, must follow after the last place. "For he that abaseth himself shall be exalted."
The Medieval Church2 voices
He that is the greatest among you shall be your servant. After he has drawn them back from pride, he exhorts them to humility. And first he sets forth the exhortation; secondly, he assigns the reason. And this can be continued as follows. Chrysostom says: …
Showing them what is to be gained by humility, He says that he who is great among you should be your servant and the least.
8 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
But he that is greatest among you,.... Either who really is so, having more grace, and greater gifts bestowed upon him, than others; which doubtless was the case of some of the disciples, or who desired to be the greatest, was ambitious of, and affected a superiority over others, and to be in the highest post and place, as it is certain some of them did.
"He that is advanced to any place of dignity, trust, and honour, in the church, let him be your servant " (some copies read esto for estai ), "let him not think that his patent of honour is a writ of ease; no; he that is greatest is not a lord, but a minister." St. Paul, who knew his privilege as well as duty, though free from all, yet made himself servant unto all ( 1 Cor. ix.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
He exhibits a charge against them for divers high crimes and misdemeanors, corrupting the law, opposing the gospel, and treacherous dealing both with God and man; and to each article he prefixes a woe,
The Nineteenth Century5 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant--This plainly means, "shall show that he is so by becoming your servant"; as in Mt 20:27, compared with Mr 10:44.
We are now beginning a chapter which in one respect is the most remarkable in the four Gospels: it contains the last words which the Lord Jesus ever spoke within the walls of the temple. Those last words consist of a withering exposure of the scribes and Pharisees, and a sharp rebuke of their doctrines and practices. Knowing full well that his time on earth was drawing to a close, our Lord no longer keeps back his opinion of the leading teachers of the Jews.
We are now beginning a chapter which in one respect is the most remarkable in the four Gospels: it contains the last words which the Lord Jesus ever spoke within the walls of the temple. Those last words consist of a withering exposure of the scribes and Pharisees, and a sharp rebuke of their doctrines and practices. Knowing full well that his time on earth was drawing to a close, our Lord no longer keeps back his opinion of the leading teachers of the Jews. Knowing that he would soon leave his followers alone, like sheep among wolves, he warns them plainly against the false shepherds by whom they were surrounded. The whole chapter is a signal example of boldness and faithfulness in denouncing error. It is a striking proof that it is possible for the most loving heart to use the language of stern reproof: above all, it is an awful evidence of the guilt of unfaithful teachers. So long as the world stands, this chapter ought to be a warning and a beacon to all ministers of religion: no sins are so sinful as theirs in the sight of Christ. In the twelve verses which begin the chapter we see firstly the duty of distinguishing between the office a false teacher and his example. “The scibes and Pharisees sat in Moses’ seat” rightly or wrongly, they occupied the position of the chief public teachers of religion among the Jews; however unworthily they filled the place of authority, their office entitled them to respect. But while their office was respected, their bad lives were not to be copied. Although their teaching was to be adhered to so long as it was scriptural, it was not to be observed when it contradicted the Word of God. To use the words of a great divine, “They were to be heard when they taught what Moses taught,” but no longer.
Your servant - Διακονος, deacon. See on Mat 20:26 (note).
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
See the notes at Mat 20:26. He that shall humble himself ... - God will exalt or honor him that is humble, and that seeks a lowly place among people. That is true religion, and God will reward it.
How the passage was read
On Matthew 23:1-39On Matthew 23:1-39
The woes, read from inside Israel's own tradition
Read the chapter's own frame before its fire. Jesus opens by AFFIRMING the teaching office: the scribes and Pharisees “sit in Moses' seat,” the expositor's chair of the synagogue (stone seats of honor survive in excavated synagogues), “so practice and observe whatever they tell you” (23:2-3). And in the sharpest woe He still says of the tithe, “these you ought to have done” (23:23). The target throughout is hypocrisy in practice, never Torah observance itself. Each image is concrete: tefillin (the small Scripture boxes bound on arm and forehead in prayer, still worn today) made extra broad to be seen; tzitzit (the commanded tassels, Numbers 15:38, which Jesus Himself wore, Matthew 9:20) made extra long; the oath casuistry of Temple versus gold; herbs tithed while justice goes unweighed.
“Whited sepulchres” is seasonal and local: before Passover, graves were freshly marked with white lime so that pilgrims would not contract corpse impurity unawares; the Mishnah schedules the grave-marking in the month of Adar, a month before the feast (Shekalim 1:1). The pilgrim crowds hearing Jesus had just walked roads lined with newly whitened tombs. And the register of the speech is one Israel's own tradition could use of itself: the Talmud preserves a list of seven types of Pharisee, most of them bad, and warns against the “plague of Pharisees” (Sotah 22b), a self-critique sharper than most sermons. The chapter is a woe-oracle in the prophets' own tradition (Isaiah 1, Malachi 1-2), spoken in the Temple, and it ends not in triumph but in a lament that aches: “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem... how often would I have gathered thy children together” (23:37).
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Sources: Mishnah Shekalim 1:1 (graves marked in Adar, before Passover) · Sotah 22b (Babylonian Talmud, the seven types of Pharisee) · Mishnah Menachot 4:1 (tefillin and tzitzit in practice)
The words behind it
7 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ὁ | ho | <the> | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| δὲ | de | And | G1161 → | 2765 times |
| μείζων | meizon | the greatest | G3173 → | 243 times |
| ὑμῶν | humon | among you | G4771 → | 2973 times |
| ἔσται | estai | will be | G1510 → | 2333 times |
| ὑμῶν | humon | your | G4771 → | 2973 times |
| διάκονος. | diakonos | servant. | G1249 → | 29 times |
ὁ<the>
hoG3588 →19766 times
δὲAnd
deG1161 →2765 times
μείζωνthe greatest
meizonG3173 →243 times
ὑμῶνamong you
humonG4771 →2973 times
ἔσταιwill be
estaiG1510 →2333 times
ὑμῶνyour
humonG4771 →2973 times
διάκονος.servant.
diakonosG1249 →29 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Galatians 5:13For you, brothers, were called to freedom; but do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh. Rather, serve one another in love.
it leads to
- 1 Peter 2:16
Live in freedom, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God.
- 1 Corinthians 9:19
Though I am free of obligation to anyone, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible.
- 1 Corinthians 8:9
Be careful, however, that your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak.
- Romans 15:1–2
We who are strong ought to bear with the shortcomings of the weak and not to please ourselves.
- Galatians 5:14
The entire law is fulfilled in a single decree: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
- 1 Peter 2:16
Through
1 Corinthians 9:19Though I am free of obligation to anyone, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible.
it leads to
- Galatians 5:13
For you, brothers, were called to freedom; but do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh. Rather, serve one another in love.
- Matthew 18:15
If your brother sins against you, go and confront him privately. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over.
- 1 Corinthians 10:33
as I also try to please everyone in all I do. For I am not seeking my own good, but the good of many, that they may be saved.
- Galatians 5:13
Where this verse is studied
About Matthew
This page draws on 12 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Cyril of Alexandria, FRAGMENT 255; J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Matthew; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, Homily on the Gospel of Matthew 72; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Origen of Alexandria, COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 12; Origen of Alexandria, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Matthew and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Matthew.