and whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave—
Parallel translations
- WEB Whoever desires to be first among you shall be your bondservant,
- KJV And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant:
- NKJV And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave—
- NASB and whoever desires to be first among you shall be your slave;
- NLT and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Whoever wants to be first among Jesus' followers must be a bondservant of all. The path to true greatness is the lowest place of service.
Overview
Intensifying his point, Jesus says the one who would be first must become a 'bondservant'—a slave—to others. This deliberate use of the lowest social status redefines ambition entirely. Greatness in the Kingdom is measured by how fully one spends oneself in humble service for others' good, after the pattern of Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Luke 22:26But you shall not be like them. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who leads like the one who serves.
- Mark 9:33–35Then they came to Capernaum. While Jesus was in the house, He asked them, “What were you discussing on the way?”
- Matt 18:4Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
- 2 Cor 4:5For we do not proclaim ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.
- Acts 20:34–35You yourselves know that these hands of mine have ministered to my own needs and those of my companions.
- Rom 1:14I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish.
- 1 Cor 9:19–23Though I am free of obligation to anyone, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible.
- 2 Cor 12:15And for the sake of your souls, I will most gladly spend my money and myself. If I love you more, will you love me less?
- 2 Cor 11:5I consider myself in no way inferior to those “super-apostles.”
- 2 Cor 11:23–27Are they servants of Christ? I am speaking like I am out of my mind, but I am so much more: in harder labor, in more imprisonments, in worse beatings, in frequent danger of death.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Matthew presents Jesus as the promised King — son of David, son of Abraham — the new Moses and true Israel in whom every prophecy reaches 'that it might be fulfilled.'
How Matthew 20:27 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.