Another of His disciples requested, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”
Parallel translations
- WEB Another of his disciples said to him, “Lord, allow me first to go and bury my father.”
- KJV And another of his disciples said unto him, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.
- NKJV Then another of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.”
- NASB And another of the disciples said to Him, “Lord, allow me first to go and bury my father.”
- NLT Another of his disciples said, “Lord, first let me return home and bury my father.”
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
Another disciple asks to first bury his father before following Jesus. The request seems reasonable but raises the question of what claims first place in a disciple's life.
Overview
Burial of one's father was a sacred duty in Jewish culture, so the request appears dutiful. The phrasing may mean waiting until an aging father eventually dies, implying indefinite delay. The verse sets up Jesus' striking demand that allegiance to him takes priority even over honored family obligations.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Luke 9:59–62Then He said to another man, “Follow Me.” The man replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”
- Matt 19:29And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for the sake of My name will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life.
- Lev 21:11–12He must not go near any dead body; he must not defile himself, even for his father or mother.
- Num 6:6–7Throughout the days of his separation to the LORD, he must not go near a dead body.
- 1 Kgs 19:20–21So Elisha left the oxen, ran after Elijah, and said, “Please let me kiss my father and mother goodbye, and then I will follow you.” “Go on back,” Elijah replied, “for what have I done to you?”
- Deut 33:9–10He said of his father and mother, ‘I do not consider them.’ He disregarded his brothers and did not know his own sons, for he kept Your word and maintained Your covenant.
- Hag 1:2that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “These people say, ‘The time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the LORD.’”
- 2 Cor 5:16So from now on we regard no one according to the flesh. Although we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer.
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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 8:21 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
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