Matthew Chapter 18 verse 20 Holy Bible
For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.
read chapter 18 in ASV
For where two or three are come together in my name, there am I among them.
read chapter 18 in BBE
For where two or three are gathered together unto my name, there am I in the midst of them.
read chapter 18 in DARBY
For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.
read chapter 18 in KJV
read chapter 18 in WBT
For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the midst of them."
read chapter 18 in WEB
for where there are two or three gathered together -- to my name, there am I in the midst of them.'
read chapter 18 in YLT
Pulpit Commentary
Pulpit CommentaryVerse 20. - The promise is applied to the public prayer of the congregation, as we see in what is called "the prayer of St. Chrysostom" in the English Prayer book. Are gathered together. For the purpose of worship. It is a simpler form of the word used in Hebrews 10:25, "Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together." In my Name (εἰς τὸ ἐμὸν ὄνομα); literally, into my Name; i.e. with love to me, yearning for union with me, and acting for my glory. This would imply decent and orderly meeting for the highest ends. There am I in the midst of them. Christ promises a real, actual presence, though invisible, as true as when he appeared to his disciples after his resurrection, as true as when the Shechinah shone in tabernacle or temple. The rabbis had a saying that if two sat at table and conversed about the Law of God, the Shechinah rested upon them. The promise in the text, of course, implies Christ's omnipresence and omniscience. This is his blessing on united, congregational prayer.
Ellicott's Commentary
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(20) Where two or three . . .--The true meaning of the words is well embodied in the well-known patristic axiom, Ubi tres, ibi Ecclesia ("Where three are there is a church"). The strength of the Christian society was not to be measured by a numerical standard, but by its fulfilment of the true conditions of its life. The presence of Christ was as true and mighty, His communion with His Church as real, when His followers were but as a remnant, as when they were gathered in the great congregation. He would be with the "two or three" (there is, perhaps, a special reference to the self-same words in Matthew 18:16), to plead for them as the great High Priest, to impart Himself to them, to ratify their decisions.
