And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so?
Parallel translations
- WEB If you only greet your friends, what more do you do than others? Don’t even the tax collectors do the same?
- KJV And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?
- BSB And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even Gentiles do the same?
- NASB And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Even the Gentiles, do they not do the same?
- NLT If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that.
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
Greeting only your friends is no more than the pagans do. It again presses disciples to a love that exceeds the world's norm.
Overview
Even outsiders to God's covenant show kindness to their own. If disciples do no more, they display nothing of God's distinctive grace. Jesus calls His people to a wider, costlier love that bears witness to the Father's character.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- Luke 6:32If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them.
- Matt 5:20For I tell you that unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, there is no way you will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.
- 1 Pet 2:20For what glory is it if, when you sin, you patiently endure beating? But if, when you do well, you patiently endure suffering, this is commendable with God.
- Luke 10:4–5Carry no purse, nor wallet, nor sandals. Greet no one on the way.
- Matt 10:12As you enter into the household, greet it.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Commentaries & study tools
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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 5:47 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.