Matthew 20:20-34, Mark 10:35-52

For the last five years or so, I've been studying Gothic via Joseph Wright's A Primer of the Gothic Language.  Part of the book contains fragments of the Gospels in Gothic, and as I was stumbling through Mark last year, I noticed a significant contrast in chapter 10.  In the second half of the chapter (verses 35-52), Jesus twice asks the question "What do you want me to do for you?" - first to James and John (in verse 36) and then to Bartimaeus (in verse 51).  The identical* form of this question highlights the different contexts in which it appears, specifically the opposite ways in which these two parties approach Jesus.  James and John come to Him as if they have authority over Him, expecting their demands to be met ("We want you to do for us whatever we ask of you"), but Bartimaeus begins with humility ("Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!").

About a week after I noticed this similarity, I ran across the parallel in Matthew 20:20-34.  In this account, it's James and John's mother who asks on behalf of her sons, and Jesus' questions aren't identical ("What do you want?" in verse 21, but "What do you want me to do for you?" in verse 32).  Because there are two blind men here, however, the account draws a sharper contrast between the two parties.  The two brothers who aspire to high positions are more evenly balanced against the two blind men who demonstrate humbleness.

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*It's identical in English, but it differs slightly in other languages, principally depending on whether you is singular or plural.

Last First/First Last

Last month, I tried to watch the Concordia University Wisconsin chapel service from 25 September 2017 (the audio cuts out about two thirds of the way through).  The reading, which was Matthew 20:1-16, is intact, though, and I had a small realization about verse 16:  "'So the last will be first, and the first last.'"  There's a chiastic structure here, and it illustrates that inversion.

The same feature is present elsewhere:  Matthew 19:30 ("'But many who are first will be last, and the last first.'"), Mark 10:31 ("'But many who are first will be last, and the last first.'"), and Luke 13:30 ("'And behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.'").

Matthew 20:24, Mark 10:41

A couple weeks ago, I watched the Concordia University Wisconsin chapel service from 23 March 2015:

The reading was Mark 10:35-45.  I'm pretty sure that Dr. Feiertag reads the NIV, where verse 41 is translated as "When the ten heard about this, they became indignant with James and John."  I was following along in my French New Testament, where this verse is rendered as "Les dix, ayant entendu cela, commencèrent à s'indigner contre Jacques et Jean."  Where the NIV has "indignant with" and the ESV has "indignant at," the French translation has "s'indigner contre."  (In Greek, the preposition here is περὶ.)  In French, contre also means against.  This carries a greater weight than de (the other preposition, meaning with or at, used with this verb), so in this particular translation, there's a greater sense of opposition between the ten disciples and the two brothers.

Matthew 20:24 is comparable.

My French translation has:  "Les dix, ayant entendu cela, furent indignés contre les deux frères."

The ESV has:  "And when the ten heard it, they were indignant at the two brothers."

And the NIV has:  "When the ten heard about this, they were indignant with the two brothers."