But to sit on my right hand and on my left hand is not mine to give; but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared.
But to sit on my right hand and on my left hand is not mine to give; but [it shall be given to them] for whom, [ all' (G235 ) hois (G3739 )] it is prepared - "of my Father" (Matthew 20:23). The supplement which our translators have inserted is approved by some good interpreters, and the proper sense of the word rendered "but" х alla (G243)] is certainly in favour of it. But besides that it makes the statement too elliptical-leaving too many words to be supplied-it seems to make our Lord repudiate the right to assign to each of His people his place in the kingdom of glory; a thing which He nowhere else does, but rather the contrary. It is true that He says their place is "prepared for them by His Father." But that is true of their admission to heaven at all; and yet from His great white throne Jesus will Himself adjudicate the kingdom, and authoritatively invite into it those on His right hand, calling them the "blessed of His Father:" so little inconsistency is there between the eternal choice of them by His Father, and that public adjudication of them, not only to heaven in general, but each to his own position in it, which all Scripture assigns to Christ.
The true rendering, then, of this clause, we take it, is this: 'But to sit on My right hand and on My left hand is not Mine to give, save to them for whom it is prepared.' [The use of alla (G243) in this sense, as equivalent to ei-mee (G1508), occurs in Mark 9:8, "They saw no man anymore except Jesus only" - alla (G243) ton (G3588) Ieesoun (G2424). And the very words of our Evangelist, all' (G235) hois (G3739), occur in this sense in Matthew 19:11]. When therefore He says, "It is not mine to give" the meaning is, 'I cannot give it as a favour to whomsoever I please, or on a principle of favouritism: it belongs exclusively to those for whom it is prepared,' etc. And if this be His meaning, it will be seen how far our Lord is from disclaiming the right to assign to each his proper place in His Kingdom; that on the contrary, He expressly asserts it, merely announcing that the principle of distribution is quite different from what these petitioners supposed. Our Lord, it will be observed, does not deny the petition of James and John, or say they shall not occupy the place in His kingdom which they now improperly sought: for anything we know, that may be their true place. All we are sure of is, that their asking it was displeasing to Him "to whom all judgment is committed," and so was not fitted to gain their object, but just the reverse. (See what is taught in Luke 14:8-11.) One at least of these brethren, as Alford strikingly remarks, saw on the right and on the left hand of their Lord, as He hung upon the tree, the crucified thieves; and bitter indeed must have been the remembrance of this ambitious prayer at that moment.