The construction Not every one who says to me, “Lord, Lord’ may have to be expressed as “It will not be everyone who says to me ‘Lord, Lord,’ ” “Not all people…,” or “Even some people who say to me ‘Lord, Lord’ won’t….”

There is some disagreement regarding the precise meaning of Lord in this verse. The Lukan parallel (6.46) suggests the possible meaning of “teacher,” and some scholars believe that originally the meaning was either “teacher” or “master.” But apparently no translations follow this interpretation. The next verse is an obvious reference to the exalted Lord on the day of judgment, and this is surely the meaning that Matthew intends here. The majority of translations accept this interpretation.

The repetition of the noun of address, Lord, Lord, is somewhat unnatural following either the verb says or the verb “calls” (Good News Translation). The meaning is “not everyone who is in the habit of saying that I am his Lord….” Phillips translates “It is not everyone who keeps saying to me ‘Lord, Lord’….” Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, 1st edition renders “Not everyone who constantly has my name in his mouth….” Traduction œcuménique de la Bible has “It is not sufficient to say to me: ‘Lord, Lord!’ ” One way that closely reflects the meaning is “It won’t be everyone who constantly says I am his Lord” or “… who is constantly acknowledging me as his Lord.” Another way is “It is not enough to always be saying I am Lord. Not all those who do that will enter the kingdom of heaven.” There will be languages where the idea will most easily be expressed as “Not all people who say to me ‘You are the one I serve.’ ”

Kingdom of heaven is synonymous with “Kingdom of God” (New American Bible). Most translations reproduce a literal rendering of the Greek text, but a few are dynamic: “… will come into God’s new world” (Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch), “… will become a member of God’s people” (INCL), and “… will enjoy the blessings of God’s rule” (Malay common language version).

We discussed enter the kingdom of heaven at 5.20. In addition to the suggestions there and the ways that we cited above, other ways to express this phrase include “will be among the people who receive the blessings of God’s rule” or “will be a part of God’s reign.”

The contrast signaled by but sometimes is shown by a new sentence, as in “It is (only) the person who does what God my Father in heaven wants who will be a part of God’s reign.”

Does the will means simply to do what God requires or wants done.

Note that as we have seen elsewhere, my Father who is in heaven refers to God. This fact may have to be made explicit as “God my Father….”

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 .