Matthew 10:37
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
Study Note
Study Note
Jesus's demand — 'whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me' — introduces the most radical claim of the missionary discourse: priority of loyalty to Jesus over the most fundamental human bonds. The Lukan parallel (14:26) uses the stronger 'hate' (misein), while Matthew's comparative ('more than me') reveals that the underlying issue is hierarchy of loyalty rather than the abolition of natural affection. The claim stands in the tradition of the Shema's demand for total love of God (Deuteronomy 6:5) and the Wisdom saying that the fear of God takes precedence over filial duty. The verse has shaped Christian understanding of discipleship as a relationship that relativizes all other relationships without negating their legitimate value.
Other Translations
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
`He who is loving father or mother above me, is not worthy of me, and he who is loving son or daughter above me, is not worthy of me,
He who has more love for his father or mother than for me is not good enough for me; he who has more love for son or daughter than for me is not good enough for me.
Cross References
Who said unto his father and to his mother, I have not seen him; neither did he acknowledge his brethren, …
Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come …
But they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor …
If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and …
And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which …
For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all …
And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through …
But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.
And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his …
Which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom …