Matthew 20 · Verse 22

Matthew 20:22

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? They say unto him, We are able.
Matthew 20:22, King James Version

Matthew 20:22 in other translations

BSB“You do not know what you are asking,” Jesus replied. “Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?” “We can,” the brothers answered.
WEBBut Jesus answered, “You don’t know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?” They said to him, “We are able.”
ASVBut Jesus answered and said, Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink the cup that I am about to drink? They say unto him, We are able.
YLTAnd Jesus answering said, ‘Ye have not known what ye ask for yourselves; are ye able to drink of the cup that I am about to drink? and with the baptism that I am baptized with, to be baptized?' They say to him, ‘We are able.'
DARBYAnd Jesus answering said, Ye know not what ye ask. Can ye drink the cup which I am about to drink? They say to him, We are able.
BBEBut Jesus made answer and said, You have no idea what you are requesting. Are you able to take of the cup which I am about to take?
WebsterBut 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? They say to him, We are able.

What does Matthew 20:22 mean?

Barnes' Notes
Verse 22. Ye know not what ye ask. You do not know the nature of your request, nor what would be involved in it. You suppose that it would be attended only with honour and happiness if the request was granted; whereas, it would require much suffering and trial.

Are ye able to drink of the cup, etc. To drink of a cup often, in the Scriptures, signifies to be afflicted, or sometimes to be punished, Isa 51:17,22, Ps 75:8. The figure is taken from a feast, where the master of a feast extends a cup to those present. Thus God is represented as extending to his Son a cup filled with a bitter mixture --one causing deep sufferings, Jn 18:11. This was the cup to which he referred.

The baptism that I am baptized with. This is evidently a phrase denoting the same thing. Are ye able to suffer with me---to endure the trials and pains which shall come upon you and me in endeavouring to build up my kingdom? Are you able to be plunged deep in afflictions, to have sorrows cover you like water, and to be sunk beneath calamities as floods, in the work of religion? Afflictions are often expressed by being sunk in the floods, and plunged in the deep waters, Ps 59:2, Is 43:2, Ps 124:4,5, Lam 3:54.

(o) "baptism" Lk 12:50

Albert Barnes, 1834 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 22 Ye know not what ye ask - How strange is the infatuation, in some parents, which leads them to desire worldly or ecclesiastical honors for their children! He must be much in love with the cross who wishes to have his child a minister of the Gospel; for, if he be such as God approves of in the work, his life will be a life of toil and suffering; he will be obliged to sip, at least, if not to drink largely, of the cup of Christ. We know not what we ask, when, in getting our children into the Church, we take upon ourselves to answer for their Call to the sacred office, and for the salvation of the souls that are put under their care. Blind parents! rather let your children beg their bread than thrust them into an office to which God has not called them; and in which they will not only ruin their souls, but be the means of damnation to hundreds; for if God has not sent them, they shall not profit the people at all. And to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized, etc. - This clause in this, and the next verse, is wanting in BDL, two others, (7 more in Mat 20:23), Coptic, Sahidic, Ethiopic, Mr. Wheelock's Persic, Vulgate, Saxon, and all the Itala, except two. Grotius, Mill, and Bengel, think it should be omitted, and Griesbach has left it out of the text in both his editions. It is omitted also by Origen, Epiphanius, Hilary, Jerome, Ambrose, and Juvencus. According to the rules laid down by critics to appreciate a false or true reading, this clause cannot be considered as forming a part of the sacred text. It may be asked, Does not drink of my cup, convey the same idea? Does the clause add any thing to the perspicuity of the passage? And, though found in many good MSS., is not the balance of evidence in point of antiquity against it? Baptism among the Jews, as it was performed in the coldest weather, and the persons were kept under water for some time, was used not only to express death, but the most cruel kind of death. See Lightfoot. As to the term cup, it was a common figure, by which they expressed calamities, judgments, desolation, etc. They say unto him, We are able - Strange blindness! You can? No: one drop of this cup would sink you into utter ruin, unless upheld by the power of God. However, the man whom God has appointed to the work he will preserve in it.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Matthew 20:20-28

The sons of Zebedee abused what Christ said to comfort the disciples. Some cannot have comforts but they turn them to a wrong purpose. Pride is a sin that most easily besets us; it is sinful ambition to outdo others in pomp and grandeur. To put down the vanity and ambition of their request, Christ leads them to the thoughts of their sufferings. It is a bitter cup that is to be drunk of; a cup of trembling, but not…

Read the full comment on Matthew 20:20-28 →

Matthew 20:22 in the original Greek

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

ἈποκριθεὶςApokritheisAnsweringG611
δὲdenowG1161
ὁho<the>G3588
ἸησοῦςIēsousJesusG2424
εἶπεν·eipensaid;G2036
οὐκoukNotG3756
οἴδατεoidateyou know
τίtiwhatG5101
αἰτεῖσθε.aiteistheyou ask for.G154
δύνασθεdunastheAre you ableG1410
πιεῖνpieinto drinkG4095
τὸtotheG3588
ποτήριονpotērioncupG4221
ὃhowhichG3739
ἐγὼegōI myselfG1473
μέλλωmellōam aboutG3195
πίνεινpineinto drinkG4095
καὶkaiandG2532
τὸto<the>G3588
βάπτισμαbaptismabaptismG908
ὃhowhatG3739
ἐγὼegōI myselfG1473
βαπτίζομαιbaptizomaiam baptizedG907
βαπτισθῆναι;baptisthēnaito be baptized?G907
λέγουσινlegousinThey sayG3004
αὐτῷ·autōto Him;G846
δυνάμεθα.¶dunamethaWe are able.G1410

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Matthew 20:22

  • Luke 22:42

    Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.

  • Matthew 26:42

    He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done.

  • Matthew 26:39

    And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.

  • Mark 14:36

    And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt.

  • John 18:11

    Then said Jesus unto Peter, Put up thy sword into the sheath: the cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?

  • Isaiah 51:22

    Thus saith thy Lord the Lord, and thy God that pleadeth the cause of his people, Behold, I have taken out of thine hand the cup of trembling, even the dregs of the cup of my fury; thou shalt no more drink it again:

  • Mark 10:38-39

    But Jesus said unto them, Ye know not what ye ask: can ye drink of the cup that I drink of? and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? And they said unto him, We can. And Jesus said unto them, Ye shall indeed drink of the cup that I drink of; and with the baptism that I am baptized withal shall ye be baptized:

  • Romans 8:26

    Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

  • Jeremiah 49:12

    For thus saith the Lord; Behold, they whose judgment was not to drink of the cup have assuredly drunken; and art thou he that shall altogether go unpunished? thou shalt not go unpunished, but thou shalt surely drink of it.

  • Luke 12:50

    But I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished!

  • James 4:3

    Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.

  • Matthew 26:56

    But all this was done, that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled. Then all the disciples forsook him, and fled.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Ye know not.
Mr 10:38; Ro 8:26; Jas 4:3
the cup.
26:39,42; Ps 75:3; Jer 25:15-38; Mr 14:36; Lu 22:42; Joh 18:11
baptized with the.
Mr 10:39; Lu 12:50
We.
26:35,56; Pr 16:18

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • 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.

  • Matthew 20:22

    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? They say unto him, We are able.

  • Matthew 20:23

    And he saith unto them, Ye shall drink indeed of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with: but to sit on my right hand, and on my left, is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father.

Read all of Matthew 20

Matthew 20:22 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Entonces Jesús respondiendo, dijo: No sabéis lo que pedís: ¿podéis beber el vaso que yo he de beber, y ser bautizados del bautismo de que yo soy bautizado? Y ellos le dicen: Podemos.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Et Jésus, répondant, dit: Vous ne savez ce que vous demandez. Pouvez-vous boire la coupe que moi, je vais boire? Ils lui disent: Nous le pouvons.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Jesus aber antwortete und sprach: Ihr wisset nicht, um was ihr bittet. Könnt ihr den Kelch trinken, den ich trinken werde? Sie sagen zu ihm: Wir können es.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Respondens autem Jesus, dixit: Nescitis quid petatis. Potestis bibere calicem, quem ego bibiturus sum? Dicunt ei: Possumus.