Prior Book | Prior Chapter | Prior Verse | Next Verse | Next Chapter | Next Book | Viewing NASB and Amplified 2015 | |
NASB | Matthew 11:11 "Truly I say to you, among those born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist! Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Matthew 11:11 "I assure you and most solemnly say to you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater [in privilege] than he. |
Bible Question: Jesus declared that John the Babtist is the greatest AND He added "Yet the ONE who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he." (John the Baptist) Is Jesus saying that HE HIMSELF is the least in the kingdom of heaven, or is He speaking of some ONE else? |
Bible Answer: Hi TommyS, I am happy to see that you are studying pronouns to determine who it is that is being spoken of, for since there is no way to determine capitalization in the Greek itself, that is very important. Since you wonder if HE HIMSELF is the least in the kingdom of heaven, you are wondering if the "he", "the one", NASB, should be capitalized in Matthew 11:11. You may be aware that I have expressed on the forum that I capitalize in my personal copy the pronoun in Matthew 11:10, "This is the One about whom it is written,..." In verse 11 Jesus continues, "Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not arisen [anyone] greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he." For my study of Jesus being the One spoken of rather than this man John the baptist, I contrast Matthew 11:10 and 11 with a literal translation of John 6:14, "This [One] is of a truth the Prophet, the One who is to come into the world." I compare Matthew 11:10,11 with John 6:29, "Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him [sic] whom He has sent." The gospel of John was written to downplay John the baptist, in favor of the importance of Christ. I believe that Matthew does the same, so I am happy that you were considering capitalizing the "he" of Matthew 11:11. In considering leaving the pronoun in the lower case, (and I believe that it is rightfully in the lower case) I think of other verses where Jesus speaks about the "least" ones. Luke 9:46, "And an argument arose among them as to which of them might be the greatest. 47 But Jesus, knowing what they were thinking in their heart, took a child and stood him by His side, 48 and said to them, "Whoever receives this child in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me; for he [sic] who is least among you, this is the one [sic] who is great." Luke 9:48c, NKJ, "For he who is least among you all will be great." Here Jesus is claiming equality with the One who sent Him. And if we leave the "he" in lower case we recognize that He came in the likeness of men and that He humbled Himself. Jesus continued on in Luke 9:50 and said, NKJ, "Do not forbid him, for he who is not against us is on our side." Or in the NASB, "...for he who is not against you, is for you." So, again, I believe we can see His humanity here. Yet see also Luke 11:23, "He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me scatters." I was going to contrast Luke 9:48 with Luke 22:47, but this post is long enough as it is. Hope it helps. From the heart, Ray |