Matthew 11:11 (YLT)

Passage

Verily I say to you, there hath not risen, among those born of women, a greater than John the Baptist, but he who is least in the reign of the heavens is greater than he.

Nearby Context

Matthew 11:9 `But what went ye out to see? --a prophet? yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet,

Matthew 11:10 for this is he of whom it hath been written, Lo, I do send My messenger before thy face, who shall prepare thy way before thee.

Matthew 11:11 Verily I say to you, there hath not risen, among those born of women, a greater than John the Baptist, but he who is least in the reign of the heavens is greater than he.

Matthew 11:12 `And, from the days of John the Baptist till now, the reign of the heavens doth suffer violence, and violent men do take it by force,

Matthew 11:13 for all the prophets and the law till John did prophesy,

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "verily", "hath", "risen", "born", "women", "greater", "than", and "john". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "verily" and "hath", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 10's "for this is he of whom it..." into verse 12's "And from the days of John the...", so "verily" and "hath" belong inside that flow. In Matthew context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "verily" and "hath" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.