MAT 20:28 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, orange:accusative/object, pink:genitive/possessor, red:negative.
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 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom in exchange for many.”

UST You should be like me, the Son of Man. I am here to serve other people. I am not here so that other people will serve me. Indeed, I am going to die in order to free many people from their sins.”

BLB even as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many."

AICNT just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

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

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

WMBB (Same as above)

NET just as the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

LSV even as the Son of Man did not come to be ministered to, but to minister, and to give His life [as] a ransom for many.”

FBV In the same way the Son of man didn't come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

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

T4T You should imitate me. Even though I am the one who came from heaven, I did not come to be served {in order that people would serve me}. On the contrary, I came in order to serve others and to [IDM] allow myself to be killed {other people to kill me}, so that my dying would be like a payment to rescue many people from being punished for their sins.” [MTY]

LEB just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

BBE Even as the Son of man did not come to have servants, but to be a servant, and to give his life for the salvation of men.

Moff just as the Son of man has not come to be served but to serve,
⇔ and to give his life as a ransom for many."

Wymth just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as the redemption-price for many."

ASV even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.

DRA Even as the Son of man is not come to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a redemption for many.

YLT even as the Son of Man did not come to be ministered to, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.'

Drby as indeed the Son of man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.

RV even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.

SLT As the Son of man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his soul a ransom for many.

Wbstr Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered to, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.

KJB-1769 Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.

KJB-1611 Euen as the Sonne of man came not to be ministred vnto, but minister, and to giue his life a ransome for many.
(Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.)

Bshps Euen as the sonne of man came, not to be ministred vnto, but to minister, and to geue his lyfe a raunsome for many.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from capitalisation and punctuation)

Gnva Euen as the Sonne of man came not to be serued, but to serue, and to giue his life for the ransome of many.
(Even as the Son of man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life for the ransom of many. )

Cvdl Euen as the sonne of man came, not to be serued, but to do seruyce, and to geue his life to a redepcion for many.
(Even as the son of man came, not to be served, but to do service, and to give his life to a redepcion for many.)

TNT 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.
(even as the son of man came not to be ministered unto but to minister and to give his life for the redemption of many. )

Wycl As mannus sone cam not to be seruyd, but to serue, and to yyue his lijf redempcioun for manye.
(As man’s son came not to be seruyd, but to serve, and to give his life redemption for manye.)

Luth gleichwie des Menschen Sohn ist nicht kommen, daß er ihm dienen lasse, sondern daß er diene und gebe sein Leben zu einer Erlösung für viele.
(same_as the people son is not coming, that he him serve/be_of_service let, rather that he serve and give be life to/for one/a salvation/redemption for/in_favour_of many.)

ClVg Sicut Filius hominis non venit ministrari, sed ministrare, et dare animam suam redemptionem pro multis.
(Like Son of_man not/no he_came ministrari, but ministrare, and dare the_soul his_own redemption/buying_back for many. )

UGNT ὥσπερ ὁ Υἱὸς τοῦ Ἀνθρώπου οὐκ ἦλθεν διακονηθῆναι, ἀλλὰ διακονῆσαι καὶ δοῦναι τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ λύτρον ἀντὶ πολλῶν.
(hōsper ho Huios tou Anthrōpou ouk aʸlthen diakonaʸthaʸnai, alla diakonaʸsai kai dounai taʸn psuⱪaʸn autou lutron anti pollōn.)

SBL-GNT ὥσπερ ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου οὐκ ἦλθεν διακονηθῆναι ἀλλὰ διακονῆσαι καὶ δοῦναι τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ λύτρον ἀντὶ πολλῶν.
(hōsper ho huios tou anthrōpou ouk aʸlthen diakonaʸthaʸnai alla diakonaʸsai kai dounai taʸn psuⱪaʸn autou lutron anti pollōn.)

RP-GNT ὥσπερ ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου οὐκ ἦλθεν διακονηθῆναι, ἀλλὰ διακονῆσαι, καὶ δοῦναι τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ λύτρον ἀντὶ πολλῶν.
(hōsper ho huios tou anthrōpou ouk aʸlthen diakonaʸthaʸnai, alla diakonaʸsai, kai dounai taʸn psuⱪaʸn autou lutron anti pollōn.)

TC-GNT ὥσπερ ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου οὐκ ἦλθε διακονηθῆναι, ἀλλὰ διακονῆσαι, καὶ δοῦναι τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ λύτρον ἀντὶ πολλῶν.
(hōsper ho huios tou anthrōpou ouk aʸlthe diakonaʸthaʸnai, alla diakonaʸsai, kai dounai taʸn psuⱪaʸn autou lutron anti pollōn. )

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

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 20:20–28: The mother of James and John asked Jesus for something

In this section, Jesus again dealt with the issue of who is important. In 18:1–4, the disciples had asked Jesus “Who then is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” Jesus had answered them there. Here, the mother of James and John asked Jesus to give her two sons the most important positions in his kingdom. Jesus again responded to the disciples’ concern to become important people.

Jesus said that the most important person in his kingdom is the person who behaves like a servant rather than like someone in charge. He finished by saying that he himself came to help other people rather than to ask other to help him. He showed that the values in his kingdom are different than the values here on earth.

Here are some other possible headings for this section:

The Request of the Mother of James and John (NRSV)

The mother of James and John asks Jesus to make her sons the most people in his kingdom

Jesus Teaches about Serving Others (NLT)

There is a parallel passage for this section in Mark 10:35–45.

20:28a

just as the Son of Man did not come to be served,

just as the Son of Man did not come to be helped by others,
In the same way, I, the Son of Man, did not come in order that others work for me/him.

just as: The Greek word that the BSB translates as just as means “in just the same way as.” This word indicates that what follows in 20:28 is similar in some way to what precedes. Jesus said that his followers should serve others just as he came to serve others.

Here are some other ways to translate this word:

even as (ESV)

like (GNT)

In some languages, it will be natural to start a new sentence here. For example:

In the same way (NCV)

It’s the same way with the Son of Man (GW)

the Son of Man: Jesus used the phrase the Son of Man to refer to himself. In some languages, it may be necessary to add the pronoun “I” or “me” to show that Jesus was referring to himself. For example:

I, the Son of Man

In Matthew, this phrase first occurs in 8:20b. See the Note there for more information on translating it. This phrase last occurred in 20:18b.

did not come: The verb come refers to Jesus coming into the world. It does not refer to coming to the location near Jericho where he was when he spoke these words. In some languages, it may be necessary to make this explicit. For example:

came not into this world

did not become a human being

to be served: The Greek verb that the BSB translates to be served is based on the same word used in 20:26c that means “servant.” This verb means “to be given assistance/help.”

This is a passive clause. Here are some other ways to translate it:

Use a passive verb. For example:
to be served (RSV)
to be helped
to have servants
Use an active verb in a purpose clause. For example:
so that others would serve him
so that people work for him/me
so that people be his servants/helpers

20:28b

but to serve,

rather/instead he came to help other people,
I/He came in order to work for others/people,

but: This is the same contrasting conjunction as in 20:26b. It indicates a contrast between the negative clause “did not come to be served” (20:28a) and a positive clause “to serve” (here in 20:28b).

In some languages, it is more natural to use “rather” or “instead” here. In other languages, no conjunction is necessary (as in the NCV).

to serve: Some words from the previous clause are implied but not repeated here. In some languages, it may be necessary to make some of those words explicit. For example:

he came to serve others/people

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

to work for others

to help other people

he came to be the servant of other people

20:28c

and to give His life as a ransom for many.”

and to die in order to pay to free many people from sin.”
and to redeem/rescue many people with my his life.”

and to give His life: The phrase to give His life means “to die willingly for others” or “to voluntarily die to benefit others.” Jesus willingly and freely came to die as a sacrifice for people’s sins.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

to give himself to be killed

to allow himself to be killed

to willingly die

as a ransom: The Greek word that the BSB translates as ransom means “the price of release.” This kind of payment was made either (a) to free prisoners captured in war or (b) to free slaves. Similarly, Jesus gave his life in order to pay to free people from their sin. His death was the ransom that released or redeemed people from their sin.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

as the way to buy/pay the freedom

to redeem (GNT)

to rescue (CEV)

to free

for many: The phrase for many means “on behalf of many people.”

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

for the sake of many people

so that many people may be saved

UTN uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / 123person

ὁ Υἱὸς τοῦ Ἀνθρώπου & αὐτοῦ

the (Some words not found in SR-GNT: ὥσπερ ὁ Υἱός τοῦ Ἀνθρώπου οὐκ ἦλθεν διακονηθῆναι ἀλλά διακονῆσαι καί δοῦναι τήν ψυχήν αὐτοῦ λύτρον ἀντί πολλῶν)

Here Jesus speaks about himself in the third person. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use the first person. Alternate translation: [I, who am the Son of Man, … my]

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / infostructure

οὐκ ἦλθεν διακονηθῆναι, ἀλλὰ διακονῆσαι καὶ δοῦναι τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ λύτρον ἀντὶ πολλῶν

not came ˓to_be˒_served (Some words not found in SR-GNT: ὥσπερ ὁ Υἱός τοῦ Ἀνθρώπου οὐκ ἦλθεν διακονηθῆναι ἀλλά διακονῆσαι καί δοῦναι τήν ψυχήν αὐτοῦ λύτρον ἀντί πολλῶν)

If your language would not naturally put the negative statement before the positive statement, you could reverse the two clauses here. Alternate translation: [came to serve, and to give his life as a ransom in exchange for many, not to be served]

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / activepassive

διακονηθῆναι

˓to_be˒_served

If your language does not use this passive form, you could express the idea in active form or in another way that is natural in your language. If you need to say who did the action, you could use an indefinite subject. Alternate translation: [for people to serve him]

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / ellipsis

ἀλλὰ διακονῆσαι

(Some words not found in SR-GNT: ὥσπερ ὁ Υἱός τοῦ Ἀνθρώπου οὐκ ἦλθεν διακονηθῆναι ἀλλά διακονῆσαι καί δοῦναι τήν ψυχήν αὐτοῦ λύτρον ἀντί πολλῶν)

Jesus is leaving out some of the words that in many languages a sentence would need in order to be complete. You could supply these words from earlier in the sentence if it would be clearer in your language. Alternate translation: [but he came to serve]

Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

δοῦναι τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ λύτρον ἀντὶ πολλῶν

˓to˒_give (Some words not found in SR-GNT: ὥσπερ ὁ Υἱός τοῦ Ἀνθρώπου οὐκ ἦλθεν διακονηθῆναι ἀλλά διακονῆσαι καί δοῦναι τήν ψυχήν αὐτοῦ λύτρον ἀντί πολλῶν)

Here Jesus speaks as if his life were a price or ransom he would give to free many from someone or something that owned or controlled them. He means that he will obtain forgiveness for his people’s sins and will keep those sins from controlling them. This is an important biblical image, so if possible preserve the figure of speech or express the idea in simile form. Alternate translation: [to offer his life as if it were a ransom to set many free from sin]

Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns

δοῦναι τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ

If your language does not use an abstract noun for the idea of life, you could express the same idea in another way. Alternate translation: [to allow himself to die]

Note 7 topic: figures-of-speech / nominaladj

πολλῶν

many

Jesus is using the adjective many as a noun to mean many people. Your language may use adjectives in the same way. If not, you could translate this word with an equivalent phrase. Alternate translation: [many men and women]

Parallel MAT 20:28

Section 20:20–28: The mother of James and John asked Jesus for something

20:28a

20:28b

20:28c