Matthew 25:40

And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

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Word by word — the Greek

Word	Greek	Strong’s	Meaning
And	Καὶ Kai	G2532	and · conjunction
the King	βασιλεὺς basileus	G935	a sovereign (abstractly · noun — nominative singular masculine, a title
shall answer	ἀποκριθεὶς apokritheis	G611	to conclude for oneself · verb — aorist passive deponent participle, nominative singular masculine
and say	ἐρέω eréō	G2046	an alternate for G2036 (ἔπω) in certain tenses
unto them	αὐτοῖς· autois	G846	the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — dative plural masculine
Verily	ἀμὴν amēn	G281	properly · interjection — Hebrew
I say	λέγω legō	G3004	properly · verb — present active indicative, 1st person singular
unto you	ὑμῖν hymîn	G5213	to (with or by) you
Inasmuch	ἐφ᾽ eph᾽	G1909	properly · preposition
as	ὅσον hoson	G3745	as (much · correlative pronoun — accusative singular neuter
ye have done	ἐποιήσατε epoiēsate	G4160	to make or do (in a very wide application · verb — aorist active indicative, 2nd person plural
unto	ἀδελφῶν adelphōn	G80	a brother (literally or figuratively) near or remote (m… · noun — genitive plural masculine
one	ἑνὶ heni	G1520	one · adjective — dative singular masculine
of the least	ἐλαχίστων, elachistōn	G1646	used as equivalent to G3398 (μικρός) · adjective — genitive plural masculine
of these	τούτων toútōn	G5130	of (from or concerning) these (persons or things)
my	μοῦ moû	G3450	of me
brethren	ἀδελφός adelphós	G80	a brother (literally or figuratively) near or remote (m…
ye have done	ἐποιήσατε.¶ epoiēsate	G4160	to make or do (in a very wide application · verb — aorist active indicative, 2nd person plural
unto me	ἐμοί emoí	G1698	to me

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Proverbs 19:17 He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the LORD; and that which he hath given will he pay him again.
Proverbs 14:31 He that oppresseth the poor reproacheth his Maker: but he that honoureth him hath mercy on the poor.
Matthew 10:42 And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, h…
Mark 9:41 For whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in my name, because ye belong to Christ, verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his r…
1 Peter 1:22 Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another…
Matthew 18:5-6 And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me.
Galatians 5:6 For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.
Matthew 10:40 He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

John Gill on Matthew 25:40

And the king shall answer, and say unto them,.... Christ, though a king, and now appearing in great glory and majesty, yet such will be his goodness and condescension, as to return an answer to the queries of his people; blushing and astonished at his notice of their poor services, which they know to be so imperfect, and are always ready to own themselves unprofitable servants; and this he will do in the following manner: verily I say unto you; a way of speaking often used by him, when here on earth, when he, in the strongest manner, would asseverate anything as truth, and remove all doubt and hesitation about it, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye h…

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John Calvin on Matthew 25:31–end

Matthew 25:31-46 Matthew 25:31-46 Luke 21:37-38 31. Now when the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: 32. And all the nations shall be assembled before him; and he shall separate them from one another, as a shepherd separateth the sheep from the goats. 33. And he shall place the sheep on his right hand, and the goats on the left. 34. Then will the King say to those who shall be on his right hand, Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35. For I was hungry, and you gave me to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me to drink; I was a stranger, and you…

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Tyndale Open Study Notes on Matthew 25:40

my brothers and sisters: This expresses either Jesus’ solidarity with his disciples (see 10:42; 18:1-14; Gal 6:10) or Jesus’ solidarity with humanity in general, irrespective of the faith of the one being helped (see Matt 6:1-4; 25:43; Prov 19:17). The use of brothers and sisters points to the first interpretation (Matt 12:46-50; 18:15-35; 23:8; 28:10) but does not invalidate social responsibility for other people in general (see Luke 10:30-37).

Henry, Jamieson-Fausset-Brown, Clarke, Gill, Calvin and Keil & Delitzsch are in the public domain; Tyndale Open Study Notes © Tyndale House Publishers, CC BY-SA 4.0 — all from the Free Use Bible API (bible.helloao.org). Rashi: the Rosenbaum & Silbermann Pentateuch (public domain) and the Judaica Press and Metsudah Tanakh (CC BY), via Sefaria. Spurgeon's Treasury of David: public domain (lyteword's markdown edition, CC0).

The Church Fathers

It is from humility that they declare themselves unworthy of any praise for their good deeds, not that they are forgetful of what they have done. But He shows them His close sympathy with His own.
— Origen of Alexandria ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)), Catena Aurea by Aquinas

But if they are His brethren, why does He call them the least? Because they are lowly, poor, and outcast. By these He means not only the monks who have retired to the mountains, but every believer though he should be secular, though an hungred, or the like, yet He would have him obtain merciful succours, for baptism and communication of the Divine mysteries makes him a brother.
— John Chrysostom ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)), Catena Aurea by Aquinas

It were indeed free to us to understand that it is Christ in every poor man whom we feed when he is hungry, or give drink to when he is thirsty, and so of other things; but when He says, In that ye have done it to one of the least of these my brethren, He seems tome not to speak of the poor generally, but of the poor in spirit, those to whom He pointed and said, Whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother. (Matt. 12:50.)
— Jerome ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)), Catena Aurea by Aquinas

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Brother — (1.) In the natural and common sense (Matt. 1:2; Luke 3:1, 19). (2.) A near relation, a cousin (Gen. 13:8; 14:16; Matt. 12:46; John 7:3; Acts 1:14; Gal. 1:19). (3.) Simply a fellow-countryman (Matt.…
Judgment, The final — The sentence that will be passed on our actions at the last day (Matt. 25; Rom. 14:10, 11; 2 Cor. 5:10; 2 Thess. 1:7-10). The judge is Jesus Christ, as mediator. All judgment is committed to him…
Afflicted · DUTY TO THE — DUTY TO THE
Beneficence · 18:5,7-9; — 18:5,7-9;
Brother · .Instituted by Christ — .Instituted by Christ
Commandments · DISCOURSE — DISCOURSE
Duty · OF MAN TO MAN — OF MAN TO MAN
Fraternity · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Hospitality · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Humility · EXEMPLIFIED — EXEMPLIFIED
Judgment · THE GENERAL — THE GENERAL
Judgment, The · Christ will acknowledge saints at — Christ will acknowledge saints at
Liberality · 3:10-12; — 3:10-12;