The greatest among you shall be your servant.
Parallel translations
- WEB But he who is greatest among you will be your servant.
- KJV But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant.
- NKJV But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant.
- NASB But the greatest of you shall be your servant.
- NLT The greatest among you must be a servant.
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
The greatest among Jesus' followers is the one who serves. It overturns worldly notions of greatness with the standard of humble service.
Overview
In God's kingdom, status is measured not by rank or honor but by self-giving service to others. This reverses the values the Pharisees cherished. Jesus himself is the supreme example, the Lord who came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- 1 Cor 9:19Though I am free of obligation to anyone, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible.
- Gal 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.
- John 13:14–15So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet.
- Mark 10:43–44But it shall not be this way among you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant,
- 2 Cor 4:5For we do not proclaim ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.
- Luke 22:26–27But 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.
- Phil 2:5–8Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus:
- Matt 20:26–27It shall not be this way among you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant,
- 2 Cor 11:23Are 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
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 23:11 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.