KJV: Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
YLT: Verily I say to you, there hath not risen, among those born of women, a greater than John the Baptist, but he who is least in the reign of the heavens is greater than he.
Darby: Verily I say to you, that there is not arisen among the born of women a greater than John the baptist. But he who is a little one in the kingdom of the heavens is greater than he.
ASV: Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not arisen a greater than John the Baptist: yet he that is but little in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
| Ἀμὴν | Truly |
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Parse: Hebrew Word Root: ἀμήν Sense: firm. |
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| λέγω | I say |
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Parse: Verb, Present Indicative Active, 1st Person Singular Root: λέγω Sense: to say, to speak. |
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| ὑμῖν | to you |
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Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Dative 2nd Person Plural Root: σύ Sense: you. |
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| ἐγήγερται | there has risen |
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Parse: Verb, Perfect Indicative Middle or Passive, 3rd Person Singular Root: ἐγείρω Sense: to arouse, cause to rise. |
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| ἐν | among [those] |
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Parse: Preposition Root: ἐν Sense: in, by, with etc. |
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| γεννητοῖς | born |
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Parse: Adjective, Dative Masculine Plural Root: γεννητός Sense: begotten, born. |
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| γυναικῶν | of women |
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Parse: Noun, Genitive Feminine Plural Root: γυνή Sense: a woman of any age, whether a virgin, or married, or a widow. |
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| μείζων | one greater |
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Parse: Adjective, Nominative Masculine Singular, Comparative Root: μέγας Sense: great. |
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| Ἰωάννου | than John |
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Parse: Noun, Genitive Masculine Singular Root: Ἰωάννης Sense: John the Baptist was the son of Zacharias and Elisabeth, the forerunner of Christ. |
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| Βαπτιστοῦ | Baptist |
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Parse: Noun, Genitive Masculine Singular Root: βαπτιστής Sense: a baptiser. |
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| ὁ | - |
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Parse: Article, Nominative Masculine Singular Root: ὁ Sense: this, that, these, etc. |
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| δὲ | Yet |
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Parse: Conjunction Root: δέ Sense: but, moreover, and, etc. |
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| μικρότερος | the least |
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Parse: Adjective, Nominative Masculine Singular, Comparative Root: μικρός Sense: small, little. |
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| βασιλείᾳ | kingdom |
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Parse: Noun, Dative Feminine Singular Root: βασιλεία Sense: royal power, kingship, dominion, rule. |
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| τῶν | of the |
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Parse: Article, Genitive Masculine Plural Root: ὁ Sense: this, that, these, etc. |
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| οὐρανῶν | heavens |
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Parse: Noun, Genitive Masculine Plural Root: οὐρανός Sense: the vaulted expanse of the sky with all things visible in it. |
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| μείζων | greater |
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Parse: Adjective, Nominative Masculine Singular, Comparative Root: μέγας Sense: great. |
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| αὐτοῦ | than he |
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Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Genitive Masculine 3rd Person Singular Root: αὐτός Sense: himself, herself, themselves, itself. |
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Greek Commentary for Matthew 11:11
The Authorized Version here has it better, “he that is least.” The article with the comparative is a growing idiom in the vernacular Koiné for the superlative as in the modern Greek it is the only idiom for the superlative (Robertson, Grammar of the Greek N.T., p. 668). The papyri and inscriptions show the same construction. The paradox of Jesus has puzzled many. He surely means that John is greater (μειζων meizōn) than all others in character, but that the least in the kingdom of heaven surpasses him in privilege. John is the end of one age, “until John” (Matthew 11:14), and the beginning of the new era. All those that come after John stand upon his shoulders. John is the mountain peak between the old and the new. [source]
Reverse Greek Commentary Search for Matthew 11:11
Rev., stand up. Come forward as witnesses. Compare Mark 14:57. There is no reference to rising from the dead. Similarlyshall rise up, Matthew 12:42. Compare Matthew 11:11; Matthew 24:11. [source]
No one exists, this means. Matthew 11:11 has ουκ εγηγερται ouk egēgertai (hath not arisen). See note on Matthew 11:11 for discussion of “but little” and “greater.” [source]
Hebrew, caused thee to stand. Sept., διετηρήθης thouwast preserved alive. Only once elsewhere in the New Testament, 1 Corinthians 6:14, of raising from the dead. The meaning here is general, allowed thee to appear; brought, thee forward on the stage of events, as Zechariah 11:16. So the simple verb in Matthew 11:11; John 7:52. Other explanations are, preserved thee alive, as Sept., excited thee to opposition, as Habakkuk 1:6; created thee. [source]
Predicative adjective and so no article. The form of μειζων meizōn is comparative, but it is used as superlative, for the superlative form μεγιστος megistos had become rare in the Koiné{[28928]}š (Robertson, Grammar, pp. 667ff.). See this idiom in Matthew 11:11; Matthew 18:1; Matthew 23:11. The other gifts pass away, but these abide forever. Love is necessary for both faith and hope. Does not love keep on growing? It is quite worth while to call attention to Henry Drummond‘s famous sermon The Greatest Thing in the World and to Dr. J.D. Jones‘s able book The Greatest of These. Greatest, Dr. Jones holds, because love is an attribute of God. [source]