MAT 18:1 Parallel Verse View

Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible—click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed as a tool for doing comparisons of different translations—the older translations are further down the page (so you can read up from the bottom to trace the English translation history). The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible—please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.

Text critical issues=small word differences Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)

Key: khaki:verbs, light-green:nominative/subject, pink:genitive/possessor, cyan:dative/indirect object.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

ULT At that hour the disciples approached Jesus, saying, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of the heavens?”

UST Immediately after that, the apprentices came to Jesus. They asked him, “So then, who will be the most important people in God’s heavenly kingdom?”

BSB At that time the disciples came to Jesus [and] asked, “Who then is [the] greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”

BLB In that hour the disciples came to Jesus, saying, "Who then is the greatest in the kingdom of the heavens?"

AICNT At that time the disciples approached Jesus, saying, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of the heavens?”

OEB On the same occasion the disciples came to Jesus, and asked him, ‘Who is really the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’

WEBBE In that hour the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who then is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?”

WMBB In that hour the disciples came to Yeshua, saying, “Who then is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?”

NET At that time the disciples came to Jesus saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”

LSV At that hour the disciples came near to Jesus, saying, “Who, now, is greater in the kingdom of the heavens?”

FBV Around that time the disciples came to Jesus, and asked, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”

TCNT In that hour the disciples came to Jesus and said, “Who is greater in the kingdom of heaven?”

T4T About that time we disciples approached Jesus and said, “Who among us will be the most important when God [MTY/EUP] makes you king?”

LEB At that time the disciples came up to Jesus, saying, “Who then is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”

BBE In that hour the disciples came to Jesus, saying, Who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?

Moff At that hour the disciples came and asked Jesus, "Who is greatest in the Realm of heaven?"

Wymth Just then the disciples came to Jesus and asked, "Who ranks higher than others in the Kingdom of the Heavens?"

ASV In that hour came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?

DRA At that hour the disciples came to Jesus, saying: Who thinkest thou is the greater in the kingdom of heaven?

YLT At that hour came the disciples near to Jesus, saying, 'Who, now, is greater in the reign of the heavens?'

Drby In that hour the disciples came to Jesus saying, Who then is greatest in the kingdom of the heavens?

RV In that hour came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?

SLT In that hour came the disciples to Jesus, saying, Who is the greater in the kingdom of the heavens?

Wbstr At the same time came the disciples to Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?

KJB-1769 At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?

KJB-1611 ¶ At the same time came the Disciples vnto Iesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the Kingdome of heauen?
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from capitalisation and punctuation)

Bshps At the same time, came the disciples vnto Iesus, saying: Who is the greatest in ye kyngdome of heauen?
(At the same time, came the disciples unto Yesus/Yeshua, saying: Who is the greatest in ye/you_all kingdom of heaven?)

Gnva The same time the disciples came vnto Iesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdome of heauen?
(The same time the disciples came unto Yesus/Yeshua, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? )

Cvdl At the same tyme came the disciples vnto Iesus, and sayde: Who is the greatest in the kyngdome of heauen?
(At the same time came the disciples unto Yesus/Yeshua, and said: Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?)

TNT The same tyme the disciples came vnto Iesus saying: who is the greatest in the kyngdome of heven?
(The same time the disciples came unto Yesus/Yeshua saying: who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? )

Wycl In that our the disciplis camen to Jhesu, and seiden, Who, gessist thou, is gretter in the kyngdom of heuenes?
(In that our the disciples came to Yhesu, and said, Who, gessist thou/you, is greater in the kingdom of heavens?)

Luth Zu derselbigen Stunde traten die Jünger zu JEsus und sprachen: Wer ist doch der Größte im Himmelreich?
(To/For the_same hour occurred the disciple to/for Yesus and said: Who is though/but the/of_the Größte in_the heaven_riches/kingdom?)

ClVg In illa hora accesserunt discipuli ad Jesum, dicentes: Quis, putas, major est in regno cælorum?[fn]
(In that hour they_came students to Yesus, saying: Who, you_think, major/greater it_is in/into/on kingdom of_the_heavens? )

18.1 Quis putas, etc. Ex æqualitate pretii qua in tributi redditione Domino fuerat comparatus, arbitrati sunt Petrum omnibus apostolis prælatum. In regno cœlorum. Vel regnum Dei, doctrina est Evangelii, cui obedire simpliciter et sine ulla retractatione debemus, sicut puer non contradicit doctoribus.

18.1 Who you_think, etc. From equaltate pretii which in/into/on tributi returnsione Master had_been comparesus, arbitrati are Peter to_all apostles beforelatum. In kingdom of_the_heavens. Or kingdom of_God, teaching/instruction it_is of_the_Gospels, to_whom to_obey simply and without any retractatione we_must, like child not/no contradicts to_teachers.

UGNT ἐν ἐκείνῃ τῇ ὥρᾳ προσῆλθον οἱ μαθηταὶ τῷ Ἰησοῦ λέγοντες, τίς ἄρα μείζων ἐστὶν ἐν τῇ Βασιλεία τῶν Οὐρανῶν?
(en ekeinaʸ taʸ hōra prosaʸlthon hoi mathaʸtai tōi Yaʸsou legontes, tis ara meizōn estin en taʸ Basileia tōn Ouranōn?)

SBL-GNT Ἐν ἐκείνῃ τῇ ὥρᾳ προσῆλθον οἱ μαθηταὶ τῷ Ἰησοῦ λέγοντες· Τίς ἄρα μείζων ἐστὶν ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ τῶν οὐρανῶν;
(En ekeinaʸ taʸ hōra prosaʸlthon hoi mathaʸtai tōi Yaʸsou legontes; Tis ara meizōn estin en taʸ basileia tōn ouranōn;)

RP-GNT Ἐν ἐκείνῃ τῇ ὥρᾳ προσῆλθον οἱ μαθηταὶ τῷ Ἰησοῦ, λέγοντες, Τίς ἄρα μείζων ἐστὶν ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ τῶν οὐρανῶν;
(En ekeinaʸ taʸ hōra prosaʸlthon hoi mathaʸtai tōi Yaʸsou, legontes, Tis ara meizōn estin en taʸ basileia tōn ouranōn;)

TC-GNT Ἐν ἐκείνῃ τῇ ὥρᾳ προσῆλθον οἱ μαθηταὶ τῷ Ἰησοῦ, λέγοντες, Τίς ἄρα μείζων ἐστὶν ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ τῶν οὐρανῶν;
(En ekeinaʸ taʸ hōra prosaʸlthon hoi mathaʸtai tōi Yaʸsou, legontes, Tis ara meizōn estin en taʸ basileia tōn ouranōn; )

Key for above GNTs: yellow:punctuation differs, orange:accents differ (from our SR-GNT base).

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 18:1–4: Jesus’ disciples must be humble

Jesus’ disciples were sometimes concerned about their own reputations. They were also concerned about what their roles would be in the kingdom that Jesus announced. In this section, they asked Jesus directly about this concern. (The parallel passage in Mark 9:34 shows that the twelve disciples were arguing among themselves about which one of them would be the greatest in God’s kingdom.) Jesus answered them in a way that showed that the greatest person in the kingdom was not whom they thought. Jesus told them that the greatest person in the kingdom is the person who humbles himself and becomes like a child.

Here are some other possible headings for this section:

The Greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven (NIV)

Who is the greatest?

There are parallel passages for this section in Mark 9:33–37 and Luke 9:46–48.

18:1a

At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked,

¶ About that time, the disciples approached Jesus and asked,
¶ Soon after that, Jesus’ disciples came/went to him and asked,

At that time: The Greek phrase that the BSB translates as At that time is more literally “at that hour.” This phrase indicates that the events in this section happened shortly after the events at the end of chapter 17. It does not necessarily mean that this story happened an hour after the previous one.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

About that time (NLT)

Shortly/soon after that

Then/Later

the disciples came to Jesus: The words came to refer to the disciples “approaching” Jesus. They approached him with a question.

The disciples did not come to Jesus from a great distance. They were already with him in Capernaum. But the previous section talked about only Jesus and Peter. In this section, all the disciples are together with Jesus.

Here is another way to translate this clause:

the disciples approached Jesus

the disciples: For help in translating the word disciples, see the note at 5:1c.

18:1b

“Who then is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”

“Who is the most important person in God’s kingdom?”
“Who has the biggest name/status under God’s rule?”

Who then is the greatest: The word greatest refers to the most important person. It is the person with the highest rank or status. It is the person whose name is above everyone else’s name.

In this question, the disciples were asking about themselves. They wanted to know which one of them would be the greatest. They were not asking about Jesus himself or God.

Here are some other ways to translate this question:

Who is the most important person

Who among us is the most honored/respected person

Who has a name that exceeds every other name

in the kingdom of heaven: The phrase kingdom of heaven has the same meaning as the phrase “kingdom of God.” Both phrases refer to God’s activity of ruling and caring for his people as their king. Both refer to the relationship that God has with his people. He leads, protects, and cares for them. They obey, trust, and submit to him as their king. The phrase kingdom of heaven does not refer to a land or country that he rules over.

Here are some other ways to translate this expression:

As a noun. For example:
the kingdom of God
God’s kingship
God’s rule over people
the rule of the one/Lord who lives in heaven
As a verbal expression. For example:
The way that God rules his people
The way that God cares for his people as king.

See kingdom of heaven in the Glossary for more information.

This same phrase occurs in 4:17c and 5:3b.

UTN uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: writing-newevent

ἐν ἐκείνῃ τῇ ὥρᾳ

in (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Ἐν ἐκείνῃ τῇ ὥρᾳ προσῆλθον οἱ μαθηταί τῷ Ἰησοῦ λέγοντες Τίς ἄρα μείζων ἐστίν ἐν τῇ Βασιλείᾳ τῶν Οὐρανῶν)

Here, the phrase At that hour introduces the next major event in the story. The phrase clarifies that this new event happened immediately after the previous event. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use a word or phrase that introduces the next event that happened immediately after the previous one. Alternate translation: [Right after that,]

Note 2 topic: writing-quotations

λέγοντες

saying

Consider natural ways of introducing direct quotations in your language. Alternate translation: [and they said]

Note 3 topic: grammar-connect-logic-result

τίς ἄρα

(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Ἐν ἐκείνῃ τῇ ὥρᾳ προσῆλθον οἱ μαθηταί τῷ Ἰησοῦ λέγοντες Τίς ἄρα μείζων ἐστίν ἐν τῇ Βασιλείᾳ τῶν Οὐρανῶν)

Here, the word then could: (1) indicate that the disciples are asking the question because of something that just happened. That could be Jesus implying that the disciples are important enough to be exempt from paying taxes, or it could be Jesus singling out Peter as an important disciple, or it could be something else that the disciples have experienced. Alternate translation: [Because of what just happened, we want to ask this: Who] (2) make the question stronger or more urgent. Alternate translation: [Who is it who] or [Tell us! Who]

Parallel MAT 18:1

Section 18:1–4: Jesus’ disciples must be humble

18:1a

18:1b