Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Matthew 20:21
And he said unto her, What wilt thou? She saith unto him, Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on thy right hand, and the other on the left, in thy kingdom.
21. may sit, the one on thy right hand ] Cp. for the thought ch. Mat 19:28.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 21. Grant that these my two sons] James and John. See Mr 15:40. In the preceding chapter, Mt 19:28, our Lord had promised his disciples, that they should sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes. Salome, probably hearing of this, and understanding it literally, came to request the chief dignities in this new government for her sons; and it appears it was at their instigation that she made this request, for Mark, Mr 10:35, informs us that these brethren themselves made the request, i.e. they made it through the medium of their mother.
One on thy right hand, and the other on (THY) left] I have added the pronoun in the latter clause on the authority of almost every MS. and version of repute.
That the sons of Zebedee wished for ecclesiastical, rather than secular honours, may be thought probable, from the allusion that is made here to the supreme dignities in the great Sanhedrin. The prince of the Sanhedrin (HA-NASI) sat in the midst of two rows of senators or elders; on his right hand sat the person termed AB (the father of the Sanhedrin;) and on his left hand the CHACHAM, or sage. These persons transacted all business in the absence of the president. The authority of this council was at some periods very great, and extended to a multitude of matters both ecclesiastical and civil. These appear to have been the honours which James and John sought. They seem to have strangely forgot the lesson they had learned from the transfiguration.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
And he said unto her, what wilt thou?…. Mark says, “he said unto them”; her two sons, James and John, “what would you that I should do for you?” Both is true; what is this singular favour? what business of moment and importance is it, you would have me do for you, you are so eager and pressing for, and so solicitous of? This he said, not as being ignorant of the matter; he knew the corruption of their hearts, the vanity of their minds, their carnal, worldly, and ambitious views; but to lead them on to say all they had to say upon this head; in which may be observed the goodness, humanity, and patience of Christ, in not upbraiding them with their pride and insolence, in bearing with their rashness and folly, and in giving them room to believe, that he should answer their request in every thing that was right and reasonable to be done,
She saith unto him, grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on the right hand, and the other the left in thy kingdom: or, as in Mark, “in thy glory” that is, in thy glorious kingdom; meaning a temporal one, which would outdo all the kingdoms of the world, in external glory, pomp, and splendour, as they imagined: to sit one on the right hand and the other on the left hand of Christ, when he should be seated, literally, on the throne of his father David, signifies to be nearest to his person; to be next to him in power and authority; to have the highest posts of honour, and places of trust and profit; to be his prime ministers; and, in a word, to have the greatest share next to him of worldly honour, riches, and power. To sit at the right hand, was, with the Jews, reckoned a great mark of honour and affection; see 1Ki 2:19 and so with other nations: with the Egyptians especially, it was accounted a great honour to be placed on the right hand, but the greatest to be in the middle: which was equally observed among the Romans, and the same with the Africans and Numidians; though Xenophon relates, that Cyrus, with a singular prudence, that he might receive his guests the more honourably, used to place them at the left hand, accounting that part, as nearest the heart, to be the more worthy. g These two, the best and most honourable places, this woman was for engrossing for her two sons, who joined with her in the request; for Mark says, that “they said unto him, grant unto us that we may sit, &c.” and Christ’s answer here, which follows, implies as much.
g Alex. ab. Alex. Genial. Dier. l. 2. c. 19.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Grant [] . Lit., speak; i e., with authority. Compare “command these stones,” Mt 4:3; “bid you,” Mt 23:3. Rev., command.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
21. In the kingdom. It was worthy of commendation in the sons of Zebedee, that they expected some kingdom of Christ, of which not even the slightest trace was then visible. They see Christ exposed to contempt under the mean aspect of a servant; nay more, they see him despised and loaded with many reproaches by the world; but they are convinced that he will soon become a magnificent king, for so he had taught them. It is unquestionably a noble specimen of faith; but hence we perceive how easily the pure seed is no sooner implanted in our hearts than it becomes degenerate and corrupted; for they imagined to themselves a kingdom which had no existence, and presently committed the folly of desiring the highest places. Since, therefore, this wicked ambition flowed from a general principle of faith, which in itself was highly commendable, we ought to pray, not only that the Lord would open the eyes of our mind, but that he would give us continual direction, and keep our minds fixed on the proper object. We ought also to pray, not only that he would bestow faith upon us, but that he would keep it pure from all mixture.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(21) The one on thy right hand.The favour which had already been bestowed might, in some degree, seem to warrant the petition. John was known emphatically as the disciple whom Jesus loved (Joh. 13:23; Joh. 19:26; Joh. 20:2), and if we may infer a general practice from that of the Last Supper (Joh. 13:23), he sat near Him at their customary meals. James was one of the chosen three who had been witnesses of the Transfiguration (Mat. 17:1). Both had been marked out for special honour by the new name of the Sons of Thunder (Mar. 3:17). The mother might well think that she was but asking for her sons a continuance of what they had hitherto enjoyed. The sternness of our Lords words to Peter (Mat. 16:23) might almost justify the thought that his position had been forfeited.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
21. My two sons James and John, with Peter, had been permitted to witness the transfiguration, and justly understood it to be an exhibition of Jesus in his royal glory as Messiah. They now perceive that he is going up to Jerusalem, and that the final crisis is approaching. They understand that somehow, through some terrible ordeal, he is to attain to the glorified kingdom which the transfiguration exhibited. Now, then, is the proper time to secure their elevated position in that new coming kingdom of glory. And who should more properly aspire to that position than those two disciples who had on so many occasions been distinguished by the Saviour’s particular preferences? Sit right hand left Just as in the Sanhedrim, on each side of the high priest there sat the next highest dignitaries. In thy kingdom In that transfiguration kingdom which thou art now going up to Jerusalem to assume. One at least of these brethren saw the Lord on his cross on his right and left hand the crucified thieves. Bitter indeed must the remembrance of this ambitious prayer have been at that moment!
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And he said to her, ‘What is your wish?’ She says to him, ‘Command that these my two sons may sit, one on your right hand, and one on your left hand, in your kingly rule.” ’
When Jesus indicates His willingness to hear what she has to say she asks Him to ‘command’ that her two sons have the places of privilege when He takes up His kingship, one on the right hand and the other on the left. She assumes that He will have autonomous power, and will be able to command what He wants. This suggestion fits well with Jesus having mentioned twelve thrones, for it indicates that she is not seeking a unique position for them, only one of special privilege among ‘equals’, which even now they appear partly to enjoy (and John will have the favoured place at the Last Supper). After all someone has to have them, why not then her sons? Her very request brings out the growing sense that was permeating the wider group that Jesus was planning something special when He arrived at Jerusalem.
For the idea of being on the right hand and on the left hand compare Neh 8:4. See also Psa 16:11; Psa 45:9; Psa 110:1; Mat 26:64; Act 7:55-56. In Josephus there is an example of a king whose eldest son sits on his right hand, and his army commander sits on his left. Matthew probably intends his readers to compare these words with his words in Mat 27:38, where those who are on His right hand and His left may be seen as sharing in His sufferings. No wonder Jesus says, ‘you do not know what you are asking’.
The request indicates that at this stage at least, the Apostles had no conception of Peter as being in a settled position as their official leader, and the two might well have felt that his gaffes (Mat 16:22-23; Mat 17:4; Mat 19:27) had opened up the way for them.
Note the mention of ‘two sons’ which parallels in the section chiasmus the later parable of the ‘two sons’ (Mat 21:28), and in the local chiasmus the ‘two brothers’ (Mat 20:24). While possibly a little embarrassed they are standing by hoping for the best. And it is therefore to them that Jesus turns in order to dispose of the question once for all. For He knows that they have been very much involved in their mother coming to Him.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Mat 20:21 . She thus designates the two most distinguished positions in the Messiah’s kingdom. For among Orientals the foremost place of honour was considered to be immediately on the right, and the next immediately on the left of the king, Joseph. Antt. vi. 11.9; Wetstein and Paulus on this passage. She desired to see her sons not merely in the position of ordinary and (Rev 3:21 ), but in that of the most distinguished proceres regni .
] as in Mat 4:3 . The fact that the gentle and humble John should also have shared this wish (for both the disciples, in whose name also the mother is speaking, are likewise to be regarded as joining in the request, Mat 20:22 , so that there cannot be said to be any essential difference between the present passage and Mar 10:35 ), shows how much his character must subsequently have been changed. Comp. Introduction to John, 3.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
21 And he said unto her, What wilt thou? She saith unto him, Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on thy right hand, and the other on the left, in thy kingdom.
Ver. 21. What wilt thou? ] We may not overly hasty engage ourselves by promise of this or that to our best friends, but hold off and deliberate. Alioqui saliens antequam videat, casurus est ante quam debeat. Bernard.
The one on thg right hand ]
” Quid voveat dulci nutricula maius alumno? ” Horat.
Our Saviour had promised in the former chapter that the twelve should sit upon twelve thrones, &c. These men’s suit was for the first and second seat. Self-love makes men ambitious, and teacheth them to turn the glass, to see themselves bigger, others lesser than they are; Paul, on the contrary, was least of saints, last of apostles.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
21. ] The places close to the throne were those of honour , as in Josephus, speaking of Saul (Antt. vi. 11. 9), , In the Rabbinical work Midrasch Tehillim, cited by Wetstein, God, it is said, will seat the King Messiah at His right hand, and Abraham at his left.
One of these brethren , John, the beloved disciple, had his usual place close to the Lord, Joh 13:23 ; the other was among the chosen Three (this request hardly can imply in their minds any idea of the rejection of Peter from his peculiar post of honour by the rebuke in ch. Mat 16:23 , for since then had happened the occurrences in ch. Mat 17:1-8 , and especially ib. Mat 17:24-27 ). Both were called Boanerges, or the sons of thunder, Mar 3:17 .
They thought the kingdom of God was immediately to appear , Luk 19:11 .
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Mat 20:21 . : vide on Mat 4:3 . , etc. = let them have the first places in the kingdom, sitting on Thy right and left hand respectively. After , , is understood = on the right and left parts. Vide Bos, Ellipses Graecae , p. 184, who cites an instance of the latter phrase from Diod. Sic. So this was all that came out of the discourse on child-likeness! (Mat 18:3 ff.). But Jesus had also spoken of thrones in the new Genesis, and that seems to have fired their imagination and stimulated their ambition. And “the gentle and humble” John was in this plot! Conventional ideas of apostolic character need revision.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Grant = Bid, as in Mat 4:3; or Mat 23:3 (“bid”).
the left = [Thy] left.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
21.] The places close to the throne were those of honour, as in Josephus, speaking of Saul (Antt. vi. 11. 9), , In the Rabbinical work Midrasch Tehillim, cited by Wetstein,-God, it is said, will seat the King Messiah at His right hand, and Abraham at his left.
One of these brethren, John, the beloved disciple, had his usual place close to the Lord, Joh 13:23; the other was among the chosen Three (this request hardly can imply in their minds any idea of the rejection of Peter from his peculiar post of honour by the rebuke in ch. Mat 16:23, for since then had happened the occurrences in ch. Mat 17:1-8, and especially ib. Mat 17:24-27). Both were called Boanerges, or the sons of thunder, Mar 3:17.
They thought the kingdom of God was immediately to appear, Luk 19:11.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Mat 20:21.[887] , that they may sit) She seems to refer to the promise of the twelve thrones mentioned in ch. Mat 19:28, and to have taken occasion to apply the promise more especially to her own sons from the appellation, sons of thunder, which our Lord had bestowed upon them; see Gnomon on Mar 3:17.-[888] , my sons) Natural relationship had nothing to do with this.- , on Thy right hand) The words signify, passim the right hand, foot, and side. Before then, Jesus would have others on His right and left; see ch. Mat 27:38.[889]-, one) It may be supposed that the order of the disciples in their glory will correspond to the order in their office.
[887] , what wilt thou) The Saviour does not act hastily in promising.-V. g.
[888] ) She seemed to herself at the time to be speaking altogether seasonably.-V. g.
[889] Sc. The two thieves who were crucified with Him.-(I. B.)
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
kingdom
(See Scofield “Mat 3:2”).
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
What: Mat 20:32, 1Ki 3:5, Est 5:3, Mar 6:22, Mar 10:36, Mar 10:51, Luk 18:41, Joh 15:7
Grant: Mat 18:1, Mat 19:28, Jer 45:5, Mar 10:37, Luk 22:24, Rom 12:10, Phm 1:2, Phm 1:3
the one: 1Ki 2:19, Psa 45:9, Psa 110:1, Mar 16:19, Rom 8:34, Col 3:1
in thy: Luk 17:20, Luk 17:21, Luk 19:11, Act 1:6
Reciprocal: Num 16:10 – and seek 1Ki 1:16 – And the 1Ki 2:20 – I desire 1Ki 3:11 – hast not Job 35:13 – God Mat 4:21 – other Mat 23:6 – General Mat 27:56 – the mother Mar 9:34 – they had Mar 10:38 – Ye know not Rom 12:16 – Mind 2Co 12:8 – I besought
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
A MOTHERS PRAYER
Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on Thy right hand, and the other on the left, in Thy kingdom. But Jesus answered and said, Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?
Mat 20:21-22
This mother of the two sons who had such high expectations for her boys was the type of many a mother before and since,
I. The purpose of life is character.The purpose of life is not what the world calls happiness, but character. The real purpose, then, of the training of the boys on whom we think to-day is far higher than appears at first sight. To be successful barristers, brave soldiers, useful administrators is one thing: to be characters fitted to live for ever with God and the holy angels is not contradictory to the first, but is quite another.
II. Christ the pattern.Having once grasped the first truth, it is not very difficult to grasp the second. Christ was the Pattern for all ages of the training of a perfect son for a deathless future. He learned obedience, we are told, by the things that He suffered. He was perfected through suffering. For their sakes I sanctify myself, He said Himself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth; and here is the second great truth of life. In not a single instance is a son to-day asked to drink any cup which the Perfect Son did not drink first Himself.
III. Heaven-sent discipline.There must be, then, some connection between drinking of cups and sitting on the right hand of God, and good reason for our belief that the mothers prayer was not disregarded but answered, as so often happens, in a different way; and the connection is this: If heaven is formed by character, character is formed by discipline, and the drinking of the cups is heaven-sent discipline which perfects the character. O mother at thy prayers, O father whose heart is set upon the future of your boy, look not thou down but up! Leave him in the Lords hand to mould him.
And what is the spirit of that prayer as applied to our own time? Surely it is, that our boys may have grace given to them that they may day by day live near to Jesus Christ. The storms of temptation may break upon them, but if they are living in the realised Presence of Jesus all will be well with themwell with them here and well with them hereafter.
Bishop A. F. Winnington-Ingram.
Illustration
None of the mothers of to-day need fear to pray the Lord to let their boys be as near Him as they can, and as high up in the Kingdom of Grace, and afterwards of Glory, as it is possible for them to be. He gives the mothers love, He hears the mothers prayers, and knows that nine-tenths of the goodness among men in the world to-day is due to the faith, and prayer, and influence of their mothers who have made them what they are.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
0:21
Since Jesus knew what, was in man’s mind it was not necessary for him to ask this question for information. However, it is the will of the Lord for his creatures to show their confidence in Him by asking, although he knows what they need before they ask (see chapter 6:8). The woman’s request was based on the same erroneous idea of the kingdom of heaven that people generally had while Jesus was on earth. She thought it was to be in the nature of an earthly kingdom, and that the persons who were permitted to occupy seats nearest the king would have some special advantages.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Mat 20:21. One on thy right hand, and one on thy left hand in thy kingdom. The highest places of honor, implying special authority also, as is indicated by the answer (Mat 20:25). The request was based upon ignorance (comp. Mat 20:22), and prompted by ambition (comp. Mat 20:25-27), however natural it may have been.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
The request evidently grew out of what Jesus had said about the Son of Man sitting on His throne of glory and the disciples judging the 12 tribes of Israel (Mat 19:28). The right and left hand positions alongside Jesus suggest positions of prestige and power in His kingdom. Note that the disciples viewed the messianic kingdom as still future. The fact that they would make this request shortly after Jesus had again announced His death shows how little they understood about His death preceding the establishment of the kingdom. They did not understand the need for the Cross much less Jesus’ resurrection, ascension, and an inter-advent period.