First_Last

Mat. 19:28 But the Jesus enunciated to them, “Truly I say to you, that, you, the ones having followed me, in the genesis again (palingenesia), when perhaps the Son of the Mortal may sit down upon [the] throne of glory of him, you also shall sit down upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of the Israel.

Mat. 19:29 And anyone who has let go houses, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother, or ones born, or fields on account of the name of me, shall take a hundred times, and shall inherit ageless life.

Mat. 19:30 But many first ones (prōtoi) shall be last ones (eschatoi), and [many] last ones (eschatoi) [shall be] first ones (prōtoi).

Jesus' prophecy as is in Mat. 19:30, is recorded in Mat. 20:16, Mark 10:31 and Luke 13:30 as well.

Prōtoi is a form of prōtos, an adjective, which used in the new covenant writings 104 times (Strong's # 4413). Its root word, from which is derived its meaning, is pro, which Strong's defines as meaning, "“fore”, i.e. in front of, prior (figurative superior) to :- above, ago, before, or ever.—Strong's Talking Greek & Hebrew Dictionary."

Therefore, Strong's definition of prōtoi is, "foremost (in time, place, order or importance) :- before, beginning, best, chief (-est), first (of all), former.—Strong's Talking Greek & Hebrew Dictionary."

However, the full meaning of how any word is used in a passage of God's Word lies not in any lexicon alone, but in the contexts in which a word is used; because the context supplies the environment in which the word functions in relationships with the other words in the passage, in a clause, a phrase, a sentence and the immediate context. By the same rule, comparing how a word is used in its contextual environments throughout many passages helps greatly to discover the various nuances of meaning of how any word was used in its cultural setting.

From examining all 104 usages of prōtoi in the new covenant writings, we can see that it is very often used in the sense of a pronominal adjective. For example: an English rendering of prōtoi in a purely adjective sense, would be first. But when used as a pronominal adjective, it's English rendering would be first one, or first ones, referring to persons, places or things which are considered first in time, place, order or importance.

In Jesus' prophecies given above, Jesus uses prōtoi as a pronominal adjective, referring to people. Therefore, by examining prōtoi in all the passages where it is used as a pronominal adjective referring to people, we can discover in those contexts what they may say about the characteristics of those people.

The first passage where prōtoi is used as a pronominal adjective referring to people, where it gives us some characteristics of those people, happens to be in Mat. 19:30, as I have given above. As we can see by the context, the issue is about people, in this case Jesus' disciples, giving up, to some extent, their personal relationships and wealth to follow him and his teachings about God's Word. The issue of Jesus' prophecy is about prioritizing one's personal desires for the things of God verses the things of the world. In Mat. 19:29 Jesus gives a list of things his disciples may have given up to follow him. And Jesus implies a comparison between the value of those things to the value of ageless life, because each of his disciples are determining within themselves which is more valuable to them, as we all must determine for ourselves.

In Mat. 19:30, I believe the "first (Gk., prōtos, Strong's # 4413)" are "first ones", or "first citizens" as they were referred to in their culture. They are the religious/political leaders, the "movers and the shakers", those in society with position, power, wealth and influence. The "last" are the poor in society, those without any position, power, wealth and influence. But the "last" were the ones who believed God's Word, and the ones Jesus was able to heal because of their belief. In the kingdom of God, the "first ones" shall be last, if they make it at all, and the "last ones" shall be "first ones" in the kingdom of God, because they believe God's Word! Jesus refers to this spiritual phenomena in some other references;

In Mat. 20, through a parable, Jesus explains how some mortals shall be more desirable to God as "laborers", to work with Him. He called and gave them their wages, beginning from the "last" unto the "first".

In Mark 6:21, Herod's "first ones" (chief - KJV) in Galilee ;

In Luke 19:47 the "first ones" (chief - KJV, of the people) sought to destroy Jesus;

In Acts 13:50, "first ones" (chief men - KJV, of the city), came and raised a persecution against Paul;

In Acts 17:4, "first women" (chief - KJV) believed;

In Acts 25:2, "first ones" (chief - KJV, among the Judeans) informed him (Festus) against Paul;

In Rev. 1:11 Jesus Christ is the "first" and the "last"; the "first one" in the Kingdom of God because he is our redeemer, the "first-produced" (prōtotokos) of God's creation (Col. 1:15), the "first-produced" (prōtotokos) out from among the dead (Col. 1:18), in order that he may become "first place" (prōteuōn) in all things (Col. 1:18), and there are other reasons as well, which you may wish to look them up. Jesus is "last" because he makes himself the greatest servant of all, to redeem mortalkind, and be the head of his one body.