22
ButδὲJesusὁ Ἰησοῦςansweredἀποκριθεὶςand said,εἶπεν“You do notΟὐκknowοἴδατεwhatτίyou are asking.αἰτεῖσθεCan youδύνασθεdrinkπιεῖνthe cupτὸ ποτήριονthatὃIἐγὼam goingμέλλωto drink?”πίνεινThey sayλέγουσινto him,αὐτῷ“We can.”Δυνάμεθα
Matthew 20:22
Study it in the app“But Jesus answered and said, “You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup that I am going to drink?” They say to him, “We can.””
With the Greek beneath
Matthew 20:22, word by word
- JesusἸησοῦςIēsous
Jesus
Jesus, the Greek form of the Hebrew Yehoshua (Joshua), which means "YHWH saves". It is the name the angel told Joseph to give him (Matthew 1:21).
Where else “Iēsous” appears- answeredἀποκριθεὶςapokritheis
answer
To say something back to the one who spoke or asked.
Where else “apokritheis” appears- and saidεἶπενeipen
say
To express something in words to others.
Where else “eipen” appears- knowοἴδατεoidate
know
To hold a fact as certain, to be aware of it.
Where else “oidate” appears- you are askingαἰτεῖσθεaiteisthe
ask
Ask, ask for.
Where else “aiteisthe” appears- Can youδύνασθεdynasthe
can, be able
Can, be able.
Where else “dynasthe” appears- drinkπιεῖνpiein
soak up
To drink the cup of suffering, or take in deeply.
Where else “piein” appears- the cupποτήριονpotērion
lot
What someone has to suffer.
Where else “potērion” appears- am goingμέλλωmellō
be about to
Something on the point of happening.
Where else “mellō” appears
Translation note
“The cup”: in the prophets, an image of the suffering that God gives to drink (Isaiah 51:17); here, the passion of Jesus (26:39).
Parallel passages
Other books that tell the same thing or quote these words.
The request of Zebedee's sons
Luke 22 tells a similar dispute at the supper, not the same request.
See them side by side
Matthew 20:20-28
20Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to him with her sons, bowing down and asking something of him. 21And he said to her, “What do you want?” She says to him, “Say that these two sons of mine may sit, one at your right and one at your left, in your kingdom.” 22But Jesus answered and said, “You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup that I am going to drink?” They say to him, “We can.” 23He says to them, “My cup you will drink, but to sit at my right and at my left is not mine to give, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.” 24And when the ten heard it, they were indignant at the two brothers. 25But Jesus summoned them and said, “You know that the rulers of the nations lord it over them, and the great ones exercise authority over them. 26It will not be so among you; but whoever wants to become great among you will be your servant, 27and whoever wants to be first among you will be your slave; 28just as the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
35And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, come up to him, saying to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask you.” 36But he said to them, “What do you want me to do for you?” 37And they said to him, “Grant us that we may sit, one at your right and one at your left, in your glory.” 38But Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup that I drink, or be immersed with the immersion with which I am immersed?” 39And they said to him, “We can.” And Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink you will drink, and with the immersion with which I am immersed you will be immersed; 40but to sit at my right or at my left is not mine to grant; rather, it is for those for whom it has been prepared.” 41And when the ten heard it, they began to be indignant at James and John. 42And summoning them, Jesus says to them, “You know that those who are recognized as rulers of the nations lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. 43But it is not so among you; rather, whoever wants to become great among you will be your servant, 44and whoever wants to be first among you will be the slave of all. 45For even the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
24And there arose also a dispute among them as to which of them seemed to be the greatest. 25And he said to them, “The kings of the nations lord it over them, and those who exercise authority over them are called benefactors. 26But you are not so; rather let the greatest among you become like the youngest, and the one who leads like the one who serves. 27For who is greater, the one who reclines at table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at table? But I am among you as the one who serves.
The context
21And he said to her, “What do you want?” She says to him, “Say that these two sons of mine may sit, one at your right and one at your left, in your kingdom.”
22 · This verse (above)
23He says to them, “My cup you will drink, but to sit at my right and at my left is not mine to give, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.”
To study Matthew 20 in a group
1. What it says
How much did the vineyard owner pay the workers, both those hired in the morning and those in the evening (vv. 9–10)?
2. What it means
What does the owner's reply teach: “Is your eye evil because I am good?” (v. 15)?
3. How I live it
Jesus says whoever wants to be great must serve (vv. 26–28). Whom can you serve today expecting nothing back?