Who Is the Greatest?

33 And (A)they came to Capernaum. And when he was in the house (B)he asked them, “What were you discussing on the way?” 34 But they kept silent, for on the way (C)they had argued with one another about who was the greatest. 35 And he sat down and called the twelve. And he said to them, (D)“If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.” 36 And he took a child and put him in the midst of them, and (E)taking him in his arms, he said to them, 37 (F)“Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, and (G)whoever receives me, receives not me but him who sent me.”

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The Question About Who Is Greatest

33 And they came to Capernaum. And after he[a] was in the house, he asked them, “What were you discussing on the way?” 34 But they were silent, because they had argued with one another on the way about who was greatest. 35 And he sat down and[b] called the twelve and said to them, “If anyone wants to be first, he will be last of all and servant of all.” 36 And he took a young child and[c] had him stand among them.[d] And taking him in his arms, he said to them, 37 “Whoever welcomes one of the young children such as these in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me, but the one who sent me.”

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Footnotes

  1. Mark 9:33 Here “after” is supplied as a component of the participle (“was”) which is understood as temporal
  2. Mark 9:35 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“sat down”) has been translated as a finite verb
  3. Mark 9:36 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“took”) has been translated as a finite verb
  4. Mark 9:36 Literally “in the midst of them”