Matthew 23:9
Translations
King James Version (KJV)
And call no man your father on the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.
American King James Version (AKJV)
And call no man your father on the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.
American Standard Version (ASV)
And call no man your father on the earth: for one is your Father, even he who is in heaven.
Basic English Translation (BBE)
And give no man the name of father on earth: because one is your Father, who is in heaven.
Webster's Revision
And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father who is in heaven.
World English Bible
Call no man on the earth your father, for one is your Father, he who is in heaven.
English Revised Version (ERV)
And call no man your father on the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.
Clarke's Matthew 23:9 Bible Commentary
Call no man your Father - Our Lord probably alludes to the Ab, or father of the Sanhedrin, who was the next after the nasi, or president. See on Matthew 20:21 (note). By which he gives his disciples to understand that he would have no Second, after himself, established in his Church, of which he alone was the head; and that perfect equality must subsist among them.
Barnes's Matthew 23:9 Bible Commentary
And call no man your Father ... - This does not, of course, forbid us to apply the term to our real father. Religion requires all proper honor to be shown to Him, Exodus 20:12; Matthew 15:4; Ephesians 6:1-3. But the word "father" also denotes "authority, eminence, superiority, a right to command, and a claim to particular respect." In this sense it is used here. In this sense it belongs eminently to God, and it is not right to give it to people. Christian brethren are equal. Only God has supreme authority. He only has a right to give laws; to declare doctrines that shall bind the conscience; to punish disobedience. The Jewish teachers affected that title because they seem to have supposed that a teacher formed the man, or gave him real life, and sought, therefore, to be called father. Christ taught them that the source of all life and truth was God, and they ought not to seek or receive a title which properly belongs to him.
Wesley's Matthew 23:9 Bible Commentary
23:8-10 The Jewish rabbis were also called father and master, by their several disciples, whom they required, To believe implicitly what they affirmed, without asking any farther reason; To obey implicitly what they enjoined, without seeking farther authority. Our Lord, therefore, by forbidding us either to give or receive the title of rabbi, master, or father, forbids us either to receive any such reverence, or to pay any such to any but God.