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Whoeverὅστιςthenοὖνhumblesταπεινώσειhimselfἑαυτὸνlikeὡςthisτοῦτοchild,τὸ παιδίονthis oneοὗτόςisἐστινthe greatestὁ μείζωνinἐνthe kingdomτῇ βασιλείᾳof heaven.τῶν οὐρανῶν
Matthew 18:4
Study it in the app“Whoever then humbles himself like this child, this one is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”
Asked who is greatest, he puts a child in the middleThe Kingdom of God
With the Greek beneath
Matthew 18:4, word by word
- humblesταπεινώσειtapeinōsei
humble oneself
To make oneself small before God and others.
Where else “tapeinōsei” appears- childπαιδίονpaidion
child
A child of few years, boy or girl.
Where else “paidion” appears- isἐστινestin
be
To be: says who or what something is.
Where else “estin” appears- the greatestμείζωνmeizōn
greater
Of greater importance or rank than the rest.
Where else “meizōn” appears- the kingdomβασιλείᾳbasileiai
kingdom of God
God's rule, which comes with Jesus.
Where else “basileiai” appears- of heavenοὐρανῶνouranōn
heaven
God's dwelling, above all that is created.
Where else “ouranōn” appears
Parallel passages
Other books that tell the same thing or quote these words.
Who is the greatest?
See them side by side
Matthew 18:1-5
1At that hour the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” 2And calling to him a child, he set him in their midst 3and said, “Truly I tell you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter into the kingdom of heaven. 4Whoever then humbles himself like this child, this one is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5And whoever receives one such child in my name receives me.
33And they came to Capernaum. And when he was in the house, he was asking them, “What were you discussing on the way?” 34But they were silent; for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest. 35And sitting down, he called the Twelve and says to them, “If anyone wants to be first, he will be last of all and servant of all.” 36And taking a child, he set it in the middle of them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, 37“Whoever receives one of such children in my name receives me; and whoever receives me receives not me but the one who sent me.”
46And a reasoning arose among them as to which of them might be the greatest. 47But Jesus, knowing the reasoning of their heart, took a child and set it beside himself, 48and said to them, “Whoever receives this child in my name receives me; and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me. For the one who is least among you all, this one is great.”
The context
3and said, “Truly I tell you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter into the kingdom of heaven.
4 · This verse (above)
5And whoever receives one such child in my name receives me.
To study Matthew 18 in a group
1. What it says
What did Jesus put in the middle of the disciples when they asked who is greatest (vv. 1–3)?
2. What it means
Why does Jesus tell the parable of the slave who was forgiven a huge debt (vv. 23–35)?
3. How I live it
Peter asked how many times to forgive (v. 21). Whom do you find hard to forgive, and what small first step can you take?