The Cost of Discipleship
Matthew 8:18-22
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Matt.8.18 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- Ιδων: VERB,aor,act,part,nom,sg,m
- δε: CONJ
- ο: ART,nom,sg,m
- Ιησους: NOUN,nom,sg,m
- πολλους: ADJ,acc,pl,m
- οχλους: NOUN,acc,pl,m
- περι: PREP
- αυτον: PRON,acc,sg,m
- εκελευσεν: VERB,aor,act,ind,3,sg
- απελθειν: VERB,aor,act,inf
- εις: PREP
- το: ART,nom,sg,n
- περαν: PREP
Parallels
- Mark 4:1 (verbal): Reports a great multitude gathered as Jesus teaches by the sea and takes a boat—language and setting closely parallel Matthew's 'saw great multities' and departure.
- Mark 4:35 (verbal): Narrative parallel: Jesus instructs his disciples to 'pass over to the other side,' echoing Matthew's command to depart unto the other side.
- Luke 8:22 (structural): Luke recounts Jesus embarking with the disciples to cross to the other side (leading into the same boat/storm pericope), paralleling Matthew's movement across the lake.
- Matt.13:1-2 (verbal): Within Matthew's Gospel a similar scene: great multitudes gather and Jesus sits in a boat to teach—near-duplicate wording and setting in the same evangelist.
- John 6:1 (thematic): After large crowds gather Jesus crosses the Sea of Galilee to the other side; thematically linked by crowd, teaching/signs, and a crossing to the opposite shore.
Alternative generated candidates
- When Jesus saw the crowd around him, he gave orders to go to the other side.
- When Jesus saw the crowds pressing about him, he gave orders that they should cross to the other side.
Matt.8.19 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- και: CONJ
- προσελθων: VERB,aor,act,part,nom,sg,m
- εις: PREP
- γραμματευς: NOUN,nom,sg,m
- ειπεν: VERB,aor,act,ind,3,sg
- αυτω·Διδασκαλε: PRON,dat,sg,m;NOUN,voc,sg,m
- ακολουθησω: VERB,fut,act,ind,1,sg
- σοι: PRON,dat,sg,2
- οπου: ADV,rel
- εαν: CONJ
- απερχη: VERB,pres,mid,subj,3,sg
Parallels
- Luke 9:57 (verbal): Near-identical report of a person saying 'I will follow you wherever you go' — direct narrative parallel in Luke's Gospel.
- Matthew 4:19 (verbal): Jesus' initial call to discipleship 'Follow me' — shares the same imperative and theme of commitment to Jesus' path.
- Matthew 9:9 (thematic): The call of Matthew and his immediate following illustrates the model of responding to Jesus' summons to follow him.
- Luke 9:23 (thematic): Jesus' teaching on the cost of discipleship ('If anyone would come after me...') provides the ethical/theological context for claims to follow him.
Alternative generated candidates
- And a scribe came up and said to him, "Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go."
- A scribe came up and said to him, 'Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.'
Matt.8.20 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- και: CONJ
- λεγει: VERB,pres,act,ind,3,sg
- αυτω: PRON,dat,sg,m
- ο: ART,nom,sg,m
- Ιησους·Αι: NOUN,nom,sg,m
- αλωπεκες: NOUN,nom,pl,f
- φωλεους: NOUN,acc,pl,m
- εχουσιν: VERB,pres,act,ind,3,pl
- και: CONJ
- τα: ART,acc,pl,neut
- πετεινα: NOUN,acc,pl,n
- του: ART,gen,sg,m
- ουρανου: NOUN,gen,sg,m
- κατασκηνωσεις: NOUN,nom,pl,f
- ο: ART,nom,sg,m
- δε: CONJ
- υιος: NOUN,voc,sg,m
- του: ART,gen,sg,m
- ανθρωπου: NOUN,gen,sg,m
- ουκ: PART,neg
- εχει: VERB,pres,act,ind,3,sg
- που: ADV
- την: ART,acc,sg,f
- κεφαλην: NOUN,acc,sg,f
- κλινη: VERB,pres,act,subj,3,sg
Parallels
- Luke 9:58 (verbal): Nearly identical wording in Luke's Gospel — Jesus' saying about foxes, birds, and the Son of Man having nowhere to lay his head (direct synoptic parallel).
- Matthew 10:9-10 (thematic): Jesus' instruction to the Twelve to take no purse, bag, or sandals emphasizes the same itinerant, hospitality‑dependent mode of ministry and lack of a permanent home.
- Mark 6:8-9 (thematic): Mark's sending of the Twelve with minimal provisions (take nothing but a staff) underscores the itinerant, homeless character of Jesus' mission reflected in Matt 8:20.
- Hebrews 13:14 (thematic): The author observes that 'we have no lasting city here,' echoing the theme of not having an earthly home and pointing to a heavenly orientation similar to Jesus' homelessness.
Alternative generated candidates
- And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head."
- Jesus answered, 'Foxes have dens, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.'
Matt.8.21 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ετερος: ADJ,nom,sg,m
- δε: CONJ
- των: ART,gen,pl,f
- μαθητων: NOUN,gen,pl,m
- ειπεν: VERB,aor,act,ind,3,sg
- αυτω·Κυριε: PRON,dat,sg,m
- επιτρεψον: VERB,aor,act,imp,2,sg
- μοι: PRON,dat,sg,1
- πρωτον: ADV
- απελθειν: VERB,aor,act,inf
- και: CONJ
- θαψαι: VERB,aor,act,inf
- τον: ART,acc,sg,m
- πατερα: NOUN,acc,sg,m
- μου: PRON,gen,sg,1
Parallels
- Luke 9:59 (verbal): Almost word-for-word parallel: a disciple asks Jesus to permit him first to go and bury his father — same request in Luke’s account of the call stories.
- Matthew 8:22 (structural): Immediate literary continuation in Matthew: Jesus' reply ('Follow me; let the dead bury their own dead') directly responds to the request in 8:21 and frames the teaching on urgent discipleship.
- Luke 9:60 (verbal): Luke's version of Jesus' response ('Let the dead bury their own dead') corresponds to Matthew 8:22 and thus parallels the exchange begun in 8:21.
- Luke 9:62 (thematic): In the same Lukan pericope Jesus says no one who looks back is fit for the kingdom, reinforcing the theme of radical, immediate commitment introduced by the burial request.
- Luke 14:26 (thematic): A related teaching on the cost of discipleship that demands prioritizing allegiance to Jesus even over family ties, thematically linked to the decision implied by the burial request.
Alternative generated candidates
- Another of the disciples said to him, "Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father."
- Another of the disciples said to him, 'Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father.'
Matt.8.22 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ο: ART,nom,sg,m
- δε: CONJ
- Ιησους: NOUN,nom,sg,m
- λεγει: VERB,pres,act,ind,3,sg
- αυτω·Ακολουθει: PRON,dat,sg,m+VERB,pres,act,imper,2,sg
- μοι: PRON,dat,sg,1
- και: CONJ
- αφες: VERB,aor,act,imp,2,sg
- τους: ART,acc,pl,m
- νεκρους: NOUN,acc,pl,m
- θαψαι: VERB,aor,act,inf
- τους: ART,acc,pl,m
- εαυτων: PRON,gen,pl,3
- νεκρους: NOUN,acc,pl,m
Parallels
- Luke 9:60 (verbal): Near-verbatim parallel: Jesus tells the would-be follower to ‘let the dead bury their own dead,’ a saying preserved almost identically in Luke (with an added commission to proclaim the kingdom).
- Luke 14:26 (thematic): Both passages use hyperbolic language about family ties to teach the absolute demands of discipleship—renouncing primary familial loyalties to follow Jesus.
- Matt 10:37-39 (thematic): Matthew elsewhere emphasizes the costly choice between family and allegiance to Jesus (love of family vs. love of Jesus; losing life to save it), the same motif of radical commitment found in 8:22.
- Matt 16:24 (structural): The call ‘Follow me’ coupled with renunciation of one’s life or attachments parallels the broader Matthean pattern (take up your cross and follow) that frames discipleship as self-denial and obedience to Jesus’ mission.
- Mark 3:31-35 (thematic): Jesus’ redefinition of ‘family’—those who do God’s will—echoes the displacement of biological family obligations by allegiance to Jesus found in the burial saying in Matthew 8:22.
Alternative generated candidates
- But Jesus said to him, "Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead."
- But Jesus said to him, 'Follow me, and let the dead bury their dead.'
When Jesus saw a large crowd around him, he turned and gave orders to cross to the other side.
A scribe came up and said to him, "Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go."
He said to him, "Foxes have dens, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head."
Another of the disciples said to him, "Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father." But Jesus said to him, "Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead."