to approach · verb — second aorist active participle, nominative singular masculine
said
εἶπενeipen
G2036
to speak or say (by word or writing) · verb — second aorist active indicative, 3rd person singular
him
αὐτῷ·autō
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — dative singular masculine
Master
διδάσκαλε,didaskale
G1320
an instructor (genitive case or specially) · noun — vocative singular masculine, a title
follow
ἀκολουθήσωakolouthēsō
G190
properly · verb — future active indicative, 1st person singular
thee
σοίsoí
G4671
to thee
whithersoever
ὅπουhopou
G3699
what(-ever) where · conjunction
goest
ἀπέρχῃ.aperchē
G565
to go off (i.e. depart) · verb — present middle or passive deponent subjunctive, 2nd person singular
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
Luke 22:33-34 And he said unto him, Lord, I am ready to go with thee, both into prison, and to death.
Luke 14:33 So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.
John 13:36-38 Simon Peter said unto him, Lord, whither goest thou? Jesus answered him, Whither I go, thou canst not follow me now; but thou shalt follow m…
Luke 14:25-27 And there went great multitudes with him: and he turned, and said unto them,
Mark 12:32-34 And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he:
Luke 9:57-60 And it came to pass, that, as they went in the way, a certain man said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest.
1 Corinthians 1:20 Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?
Ezra 7:6 This Ezra went up from Babylon; and he was a ready scribe in the law of Moses, which the LORD God of Israel had given: and the king granted…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Matthew 8:18-22
Here is, I. Christ's removing to the other side of the sea of Tiberias, and his ordering his disciples, whose boats attended him, to get their transport-vessels ready, in order to it, Mat 8:18. The influences of this Sun of righteousness were not to be confined to one place, but diffused all the country over; he must go about to do good; the necessities of souls called to him, Come over, and help us (Act 16:9); he removed when he saw great multitudes about him. Though by this it appeared that they were desirous to have him there, he knew there were others as desirous to have him with them, and they must have their share of him: his being acceptable and useful in one place was no objection ag…
INCIDENTS ILLUSTRATIVE OF DISCIPLESHIP. ( = Luk 9:57-62). (Mat 8:18-22)
And a certain scribe came, and said unto him, Master, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest.
John Gill on Matthew 8:19
And a certain Scribe came,.... "As they went in the way", Luke 9:57 to go to the sea side, in order to take shipping, and pass to the other shore;
and said unto him, Master, or Rabbi, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. One would have thought, that this man desired in good earnest to be a disciple of Christ, were it not for Christ's answer to him, who knew his heart: from whence it appears, that he, seeing the miracles which Christ wrought, and observing the fame of him among the people, began to think that he would be generally received as the Messiah; and by joining himself to him, promised himself much ease, honour, and wealth. These seem to be the motives, which prevailed upon…
Matthew 8:19-22
Matthew 8:19-22
Luke 9:57-62
19. And a scribe approaching said to him, Master, I will follow thee whithersoever thou shalt go. 20. And Jesus saith to him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests: but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head. 21. And another of his disciples said to him, Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father. 22. And Jesus said to him, Follow me, and allow the dead to bury their dead.
57. And it happened, while they were walking in the way, one said to him, I will follow thee withersoever thou shalt go. 58. Jesus said to him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests: but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head. 59. An…
The Church Fathers
Otherwise; This Scribe being one of the doctors of the Law, asks if he shall follow Him, as though it were not contained in the Law that this is He whom it were gain to follow. Therefore He discovers the feeling of unbelief under the diffidence of his enquiry. For the taking up of the faith is not by question but by following.
The scribe's declaration is prompt indeed, but proud. The Lord was on his way toward his final suffering, descent into hell and ascent into heaven. Is human frailty really prepared to follow him "wherever he goes"? This is more a foolish presumption than a confession of faith. Later the Lord would say to the apostle Peter, when he thought that he would follow the Savior in every circumstance: "Where I am going you are not able to follow me now." And when Peter obstinately insisted and said that death would not separate him from [Jesus], he heard that he would deny the Lord three times. In this he was censured, as it were, for his pride. Thus the one who promised, while confessing Christ, that he would not be separated from him by death is cut off from fellowship with him by a little maidservant's question.
This Scribe of the Law who knew but the perishing letter, would not have been turned away had his address been, 'Lord, I will follow Thee.' But because he esteemed the Saviour only as one of many masters, and was a 1man of the letter (which is better expressed in Greek, γραμματεὺς) not a spiritual hearer, therefore he had no place where Jesus might lay His head. It is suggested to us that he sought to follow the Lord, because of His great miracles, for the sake of the gain to be derived from them; and was therefore rejected; seeking the same thing as did Simon Magus when he would have given Peter money. Why do you seek to follow Me for the sake of the riches and gain of this world, when My poverty is such that I have neither lodging nor home of My own?
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
Doctor · A teacher, or master — A teacher, or master
Instability · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Master · Jesus — Jesus
Self-Denial · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
The teachers of religious law had a prestigious vocation of preserving, learning, and interpreting the Scriptures for the good of society. The way to God was thought to be through them (15:13-14; 23:13).
