It shall not be so among you: although the Greek text does use the future tense (shall … be), more than simple futurity is intended. The meaning is better expressed as “It is not to be so among you” (An American Translation) or “It cannot be like that with you” (New American Bible). Since the idea of “oughtness” is really what is intended, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch is best: “But it should not be that way with you.” One may also translate “But that is not the way that you should act toward one another.”

Great represents a literal rendering of the Greek text and is followed by most all translations; Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch translates “something special.” Other possible phrases are “be considered great” and “be important.”

Your servant is translated “the servant of the rest” by Good News Translation. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch shifts to a verb construction: “must serve the others.”

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on the Gospel of Matthew. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1988. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .