Luke 22:25

25 So Jesus declared, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those in authority over them call themselves benefactors.

Luke 22:25 Meaning and Commentary

Luke 22:25

And he said unto them
The disciples; that is, Jesus said to them, as the Syriac and Persic versions express: the kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them;
by which our Lord would dissuade his disciples from seeking to introduce a superiority over one another, since this was the practice of the Heathens, of the men of the world, of ignorant Gentiles; whereas Christ's kingdom was a spiritual kingdom, and not of this world, and therefore, not to be managed in such a way. And they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors;
either by themselves, or by their court flatterers, to cover their ambition, tyranny, and cruelty. Two of the King's of Egypt were called by the name Euergetes ^F16; the word that is here used, and translated "benefactors"; and it was commonly given to other kings, princes, and men in power: so Cyrus was called by the Armenians; Antigonus by the Greeks; and Phylacus among the Persians: the same name was given to Mithridates king of Pontus, to Titus Aelius Hadrianus, to Menander, to Marcus Aurelius Severus, and to Cato Uticensis, and others ^F17.

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FOOTNOTES:

F16 Alex. ab. Alexandro Genial. Dier. l. 1. c. 2.
F17 Vid. Cuper. Inscript. & Marmora. p. 283, 284.

Luke 22:25 In-Context

23 Then they began to question among themselves which of them was going to do this.

24 A dispute also arose among the disciples as to which of them should be considered the greatest.

25 So Jesus declared, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those in authority over them call themselves benefactors.

26 But you shall not be like them. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who leads like the one who serves.

27 For who is greater, the one who reclines at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines? But I am among you as one who serves.