1
Ἐν ἐκείνῃ τῇ ὥρᾳ προσῆλθον οἱ μαθηταὶ τῷ Ἰησοῦ λέγοντες· Τίς ἄρα μείζων ἐστὶν ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ τῶν οὐρανῶν;
In that hour the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who then is greater in the kingdom of the heavens?”
2
καὶ ⸀προσκαλεσάμενος παιδίον ἔστησεν αὐτὸ ἐν μέσῳ αὐτῶν
And calling a child to him, he set it in their midst
3
καὶ εἶπεν· Ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν, ἐὰν μὴ στραφῆτε καὶ γένησθε ὡς τὰ παιδία, οὐ μὴ εἰσέλθητε εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τῶν οὐρανῶν.
and said, “Amen I say to you, unless you turn and become like the children, you will never enter the kingdom of the heavens.
4
ὅστις οὖν ταπεινώσει ἑαυτὸν ὡς τὸ παιδίον τοῦτο, οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ μείζων ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ τῶν οὐρανῶν·
Whoever therefore humbles himself like this child, he is the greater in the kingdom of the heavens.
5
καὶ ὃς ⸀ἐὰν δέξηται ⸂ἓν παιδίον τοιοῦτο⸃ ἐπὶ τῷ ὀνόματί μου, ἐμὲ δέχεται.
And whoever receives one such child in my name receives me.
6
Ὃς δ’ ἂν σκανδαλίσῃ ἕνα τῶν μικρῶν τούτων τῶν πιστευόντων εἰς ἐμέ, συμφέρει αὐτῷ ἵνα κρεμασθῇ μύλος ὀνικὸς ⸀εἰς τὸν τράχηλον αὐτοῦ καὶ καταποντισθῇ ἐν τῷ πελάγει τῆς θαλάσσης.
But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to stumble, it is better for him that a donkey's millstone be hung around his neck and that he be sunk in the deep of the sea.
Why this rendering
Matt.18.6 Observation
Syntactic observation
The first half overlaps Mark 9:42 word for word — ὃς ἂν σκανδαλίσῃ ἕνα τῶν μικρῶν τούτων τῶν πιστευόντων εἰς ἐμέ. μύλος ὀνικός, a donkey's millstone, stands in both, and ὀνικός occurs at these two places only (Matt 18:6, Mark 9:42). Luke 17:2 writes the same saying with λίθος μυλικός, a millstone of stone — **there is no donkey in Luke.** What diverges is the three verbs that follow. Mark hangs the stone with περίκειται, it lies around, Matthew with κρεμασθῇ, it be hung; the preposition differs too, περὶ τὸν τράχηλον against εἰς τὸν τράχηλον. For the drowning Mark has βέβληται εἰς τὴν θάλασσαν, thrown into the sea; Matthew καταποντισθῇ ἐν τῷ πελάγει τῆς θαλάσσης, sunk in the deep of the sea; and Luke ἔρριπται εἰς τὴν θάλασσαν, hurled into the sea — a third verb. Luke's hanging verb, though, is Mark's (περίκειται). Luke keeps Mark's frame and changes only the stone and the throwing; Matthew changes all three. καταποντίζομαι occurs twice in the corpus, the other at Matthew 14:30 — where Peter, walking on the water, began to sink. πέλαγος, the open deep, is unique in the corpus. Verse 7 repeats σκάνδαλον three times, setting it as the paragraph's key word.
Rendering options · 2
Adopted “sunk in the deep of the sea” — the same word as beginning to sink at 14:30
Basis Matthew places one verb at both, so the rendering is held to one; πέλαγος is kept as the deep, distinguishing it from Mark 9:42's thrown into the sea.
“drowned in the sea” — matched to Mark
Basis One figure, so the books are matched.
Rejected The books chose different verbs, and Matthew's is the one used of Peter at 14:30; matching cuts both links.
7
οὐαὶ τῷ κόσμῳ ἀπὸ τῶν σκανδάλων· ἀνάγκη ⸀γὰρ ἐλθεῖν τὰ σκάνδαλα, πλὴν οὐαὶ τῷ ⸀ἀνθρώπῳ δι’ οὗ τὸ σκάνδαλον ἔρχεται.
Woe to the world because of stumbling blocks. For it is necessary that the stumbling blocks come, yet woe to the man through whom the stumbling block comes.
8
Εἰ δὲ ἡ χείρ σου ἢ ὁ πούς σου σκανδαλίζει σε, ἔκκοψον ⸀αὐτὸν καὶ βάλε ἀπὸ σοῦ· καλόν σοί ἐστιν εἰσελθεῖν εἰς τὴν ζωὴν ⸂κυλλὸν ἢ χωλόν⸃, ἢ δύο χεῖρας ἢ δύο πόδας ἔχοντα βληθῆναι εἰς τὸ πῦρ τὸ αἰώνιον.
And if your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away from you. It is better for you to enter into life maimed or lame than, having two hands or two feet, to be thrown into the eternal fire.
9
καὶ εἰ ὁ ὀφθαλμός σου σκανδαλίζει σε, ἔξελε αὐτὸν καὶ βάλε ἀπὸ σοῦ· καλόν σοί ἐστιν μονόφθαλμον εἰς τὴν ζωὴν εἰσελθεῖν, ἢ δύο ὀφθαλμοὺς ἔχοντα βληθῆναι εἰς τὴν γέενναν τοῦ πυρός.
And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out and throw it away from you. It is better for you to enter into life one-eyed than, having two eyes, to be thrown into the Gehenna of fire.
10
Ὁρᾶτε μὴ καταφρονήσητε ἑνὸς τῶν μικρῶν τούτων, λέγω γὰρ ὑμῖν ὅτι οἱ ἄγγελοι αὐτῶν ἐν οὐρανοῖς διὰ παντὸς βλέπουσι τὸ πρόσωπον τοῦ πατρός μου τοῦ ἐν ⸀οὐρανοῖς.
See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I say to you that their angels in the heavens continually see the face of my Father in the heavens.”
Why this rendering
Matt.18.10 Observation
Syntactic observation
**SBLGNT has no verse 11** — v.10 is followed by v.12. The Textus Receptus prints here: for the Son of Man came to save what was lost. This is the second such place inside Matthew: after 17:21 (prayer and fasting) comes 18:11, and both look like sentences resident elsewhere that migrated here. In this corpus the verses the base text omits now number seven: Mark 7:16, 9:44, 46, 11:26, 15:28; Matthew 17:21, 18:11. The content of v.10 repays attention too — τῶν μικρῶν τούτων, these little ones, recurs at vv.6 and 14 and binds the paragraph, and διὰ παντός, continually, says that the angels' seeing of the Father's face is unbroken. καταφρονέω, to despise, occurs twice in Matthew (6:24, 18:10) and once in Luke (16:13, the parallel to 6:24); at 6:24 it was despising one of two masters.
Rendering options · 2
Adopted From v.10 to v.12 — no verse 11
Basis Follows the base text and lets the numbering skip — the same handling as 17:21.
Print verse 11
Basis Follows the Textus Receptus.
Rejected By our base-text decision we follow SBLGNT, and the direction runs one way: a sentence resident elsewhere being pulled in before the parable of the lost sheep is easy to imagine; an existing verse being deleted is not.
12
τί ὑμῖν δοκεῖ; ἐὰν γένηταί τινι ἀνθρώπῳ ἑκατὸν πρόβατα καὶ πλανηθῇ ἓν ἐξ αὐτῶν, οὐχὶ ⸀ἀφήσει τὰ ἐνενήκοντα ἐννέα ἐπὶ τὰ ὄρη ⸀καὶ πορευθεὶς ζητεῖ τὸ πλανώμενον;
“What do you think? If a man comes to have a hundred sheep and one of them strays, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go and seek the one that strays?
13
καὶ ἐὰν γένηται εὑρεῖν αὐτό, ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι χαίρει ἐπ’ αὐτῷ μᾶλλον ἢ ἐπὶ τοῖς ἐνενήκοντα ἐννέα τοῖς μὴ πεπλανημένοις.
And if he happens to find it, Amen I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that did not stray.
14
οὕτως οὐκ ἔστιν θέλημα ⸀ἔμπροσθεν τοῦ πατρὸς ⸀ὑμῶν τοῦ ἐν οὐρανοῖς ἵνα ἀπόληται ⸀ἓν τῶν μικρῶν τούτων.
So it is not the will before your Father in the heavens that one of these little ones perish.
15
Ἐὰν δὲ ἁμαρτήσῃ ⸂εἰς σὲ⸃ ὁ ἀδελφός σου, ⸀ὕπαγε ἔλεγξον αὐτὸν μεταξὺ σοῦ καὶ αὐτοῦ μόνου. ἐάν σου ἀκούσῃ, ἐκέρδησας τὸν ἀδελφόν σου·
And if your brother sins against you, go and expose him between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.
16
ἐὰν δὲ μὴ ἀκούσῃ, παράλαβε μετὰ σοῦ ἔτι ἕνα ἢ δύο, ἵνα ἐπὶ στόματος δύο μαρτύρων ἢ τριῶν σταθῇ πᾶν ῥῆμα·
But if he does not listen, take with you one or two more, so that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may stand.
17
ἐὰν δὲ παρακούσῃ αὐτῶν, εἰπὸν τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ· ἐὰν δὲ καὶ τῆς ἐκκλησίας παρακούσῃ, ἔστω σοι ὥσπερ ὁ ἐθνικὸς καὶ ὁ τελώνης.
And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the assembly; and if he refuses to hear the assembly also, let him be to you as the gentile and the tax collector.
Why this rendering
Matt.18.17 Observation
Syntactic observation
ἐκκλησία arrives at Matthew's second and third places — once at 16:18, twice here at 18:17, and never in Mark or John. At 16:18 it was something to be built; here it is already a body with a procedure: between the two of you → taking one or two more → tell it to the assembly. Two of the word's three places in Matthew fall in this one verse. What follows, ὁ ἐθνικὸς καὶ ὁ τελώνης, the gentile and the tax collector, is Matthew's vocabulary too — ἐθνικός three times in Matthew (5:47, 6:7, 18:17) and never in Mark. And the binding and loosing of the next verse changes number: 16:19 has δήσῃς, if you (singular) bind; 18:18 has δήσητε, if you (plural) bind — and the perfect participle that follows shifts with it, δεδεμένον singular against δεδεμένα plural. The same authority is given once to one man and once to a body. Verses 19-20 give that body's smallest size as two or three.
Rendering options · 2
Adopted “assembly” — the same word as 16:18
Basis Keeps the decision fixed at ch. 16 not to import a later institutional name; one word across the three places keeps them countable.
“the church”
Basis Uses the settled rendering.
Rejected Church names a later institution and narrows what the reader can make of the word in Matthew's three places — the same judgement as at 16:18.
18
ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν, ὅσα ⸀ἐὰν δήσητε ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ἔσται δεδεμένα ⸀ἐν οὐρανῷ καὶ ὅσα ἐὰν λύσητε ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ἔσται λελυμένα ⸁ἐν οὐρανῷ.
Amen I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will have been loosed in heaven.
19
Πάλιν ⸀ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι ἐὰν δύο ⸂συμφωνήσωσιν ἐξ ὑμῶν⸃ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς περὶ παντὸς πράγματος οὗ ἐὰν αἰτήσωνται, γενήσεται αὐτοῖς παρὰ τοῦ πατρός μου τοῦ ἐν οὐρανοῖς.
Again, Amen I say to you that if two of you agree on earth about anything they may ask, it will be done for them by my Father in the heavens.
20
οὗ γάρ εἰσιν δύο ἢ τρεῖς συνηγμένοι εἰς τὸ ἐμὸν ὄνομα, ἐκεῖ εἰμι ἐν μέσῳ αὐτῶν.
For where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am in their midst.”
21
Τότε προσελθὼν ⸂αὐτῷ ὁ Πέτρος εἶπεν⸃· Κύριε, ποσάκις ἁμαρτήσει εἰς ἐμὲ ὁ ἀδελφός μου καὶ ἀφήσω αὐτῷ; ἕως ἑπτάκις;
Then Peter came to him and said, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?”
22
λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ Ἰησοῦς· Οὐ λέγω σοι ἕως ἑπτάκις ἀλλὰ ἕως ἑβδομηκοντάκις ἑπτά.
Jesus says to him, “I do not say to you up to seven times, but up to seventy-seven times.
Why this rendering
Matt.18.22 Hypothesis
Syntactic observation
ἑβδομηκοντάκις ἑπτά will not resolve into a number. ἑβδομηκοντάκις is an adverb meaning seventy times, and ἑπτά, seven, simply follows it. Multiply the two and you get four hundred and ninety; read the adverb as seventy and the numeral as seven joined to it and you get seventy-seven. Greek grammar settles neither. ἑβδομηκοντάκις occurs only here in this corpus, and since it answers the ἑπτάκις, seven times, of v.21, all that is clear is that the count picks up the previous number. Luke 17:4 has the same exchange and does not raise the figure at all — ἑπτάκις τῆς ἡμέρας, seven times a day, and it stays at seven. **Only Matthew raises the number, and by how much is what will not resolve.** Either way the point is to stop counting — but a translation must choose a number, and in choosing it settles what the text does not. The versions compared divide as well: of the twenty-nine, only BSB, ESV, NET and NIV read seventy-seven; the rest read seventy times seven. **This project has taken the minority reading, and says so here.**
Rendering options · 2
Adopted “up to seventy-seven times” — not multiplied
Basis Multiplying requires importing an operation the text does not state; reading them joined adds less. But this is the path of only four of the twenty-nine versions compared, and that we part from the majority is recorded here.
“up to seventy times seven”
Basis Reads adverb and numeral as a product.
Rejected A possible and old reading, but the multiplication is supplied by the reader, not required by the grammar. Either way the translation fixes a number, and that fact is recorded in the analysis.
Lost in translation
the sense of not counting Whichever number is chosen, the reader counts it. The way the Greek blurs the number is itself the point — stop counting — and a translation has nowhere to hold the blur.
23
Διὰ τοῦτο ὡμοιώθη ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν ἀνθρώπῳ βασιλεῖ ὃς ἠθέλησεν συνᾶραι λόγον μετὰ τῶν δούλων αὐτοῦ·
For this reason the kingdom of the heavens has become like a man, a king, who wanted to settle accounts with his slaves.
24
ἀρξαμένου δὲ αὐτοῦ συναίρειν ⸀προσηνέχθη ⸂αὐτῷ εἷς⸃ ὀφειλέτης μυρίων ταλάντων.
And when he began to settle, one debtor of ten thousand talents was brought to him.
Why this rendering
Matt.18.24 Observation
Syntactic observation
The size of the debt is built from two words. μυρίων, ten thousand, occurs at this one place in the corpus, and τάλαντον, talent, fourteen times in Matthew (18:24 and the talents of 25:15-28) and never in Mark or John. Set against it at v.28 is ἑκατὸν δηνάρια, a hundred denarii — δηνάριον runs through all four books (six in Matthew, three in Mark, three in Luke, two in John) and reckons a day's wage. So the parable stacks a numeral used once in the corpus on a unit found in one book only, and sets against it a hundred of the coin that is everywhere. How far apart the two sums stand the text does not compute; that is the exchange rate the lexica supply. And the parable's vocabulary joins the prayer of ch. 6: ὀφειλέτης, debtor, occurs three times in the corpus: the other in Matthew is 6:12, in the Lord's Prayer, and the third is Luke 13:4.
Rendering options · 2
Adopted “ten thousand talents” and “a hundred denarii” — the coins transliterated
Basis Transliterating coins is fixed for this corpus (lepton, kodrantes, assarion, didrachma, stater); the ratio between the sums is not computed for the reader.
Convert to modern money
Basis Conveys the scale in a current sense.
Rejected A conversion needs a base year and prices the text does not supply, and it dissolves the stacking of a once-used numeral on a one-book unit, which is the picture of the parable.
Lost in translation
the ratio between the sums The exchange between talent and denarius comes from the lexica, not the text; how far apart the two debts stand therefore comes from outside the translation.
25
μὴ ἔχοντος δὲ αὐτοῦ ἀποδοῦναι ἐκέλευσεν αὐτὸν ὁ ⸀κύριος πραθῆναι καὶ τὴν ⸀γυναῖκα καὶ τὰ τέκνα καὶ πάντα ὅσα ⸀ἔχει καὶ ἀποδοθῆναι.
And since he had nothing to repay, the master ordered him to be sold, and his wife and children and all that he had, and repayment made.
26
πεσὼν οὖν ὁ δοῦλος προσεκύνει αὐτῷ λέγων· ⸀Μακροθύμησον ἐπ’ ⸀ἐμοί, καὶ πάντα ⸂ἀποδώσω σοι⸃.
So the slave fell down and did obeisance to him, saying, “Be patient with me and I will repay you everything.”
27
σπλαγχνισθεὶς δὲ ὁ κύριος τοῦ δούλου ἐκείνου ἀπέλυσεν αὐτόν, καὶ τὸ δάνειον ἀφῆκεν αὐτῷ.
And the master of that slave, moved with compassion, released him and forgave him the loan.
28
ἐξελθὼν δὲ ὁ δοῦλος ἐκεῖνος εὗρεν ἕνα τῶν συνδούλων αὐτοῦ ὃς ὤφειλεν αὐτῷ ἑκατὸν δηνάρια, καὶ κρατήσας αὐτὸν ἔπνιγεν λέγων· ⸀Ἀπόδος εἴ τι ὀφείλεις.
But going out, that slave found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him he began to choke him, saying, “Repay whatever you owe.”
29
πεσὼν οὖν ὁ σύνδουλος ⸀αὐτοῦ παρεκάλει αὐτὸν λέγων· Μακροθύμησον ἐπ’ ⸀ἐμοί, καὶ ἀποδώσω σοι.
So his fellow slave fell down and begged him, saying, “Be patient with me and I will repay you.”
30
ὁ δὲ οὐκ ἤθελεν, ἀλλὰ ἀπελθὼν ἔβαλεν αὐτὸν εἰς φυλακὴν ἕως ⸀οὗ ἀποδῷ τὸ ὀφειλόμενον.
But he would not; he went and threw him into prison until he should repay what was owed.
31
ἰδόντες ⸀οὖν οἱ σύνδουλοι αὐτοῦ τὰ γενόμενα ἐλυπήθησαν σφόδρα, καὶ ἐλθόντες διεσάφησαν τῷ κυρίῳ ἑαυτῶν πάντα τὰ γενόμενα.
So when his fellow slaves saw what had happened they were greatly grieved, and they came and made clear to their own master everything that had happened.
32
τότε προσκαλεσάμενος αὐτὸν ὁ κύριος αὐτοῦ λέγει αὐτῷ· Δοῦλε πονηρέ, πᾶσαν τὴν ὀφειλὴν ἐκείνην ἀφῆκά σοι, ἐπεὶ παρεκάλεσάς με·
Then his master called him and says to him, “Wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you begged me.
33
οὐκ ἔδει καὶ σὲ ἐλεῆσαι τὸν σύνδουλόν σου, ὡς κἀγὼ σὲ ἠλέησα;
Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, as I also had mercy on you?”
34
καὶ ὀργισθεὶς ὁ κύριος αὐτοῦ παρέδωκεν αὐτὸν τοῖς βασανισταῖς ἕως οὗ ἀποδῷ πᾶν τὸ ⸀ὀφειλόμενον.
And his master, enraged, handed him over to the torturers until he should repay all that was owed.
35
Οὕτως καὶ ὁ πατήρ μου ὁ ⸀οὐράνιος ποιήσει ὑμῖν ἐὰν μὴ ἀφῆτε ἕκαστος τῷ ἀδελφῷ αὐτοῦ ἀπὸ τῶν καρδιῶν ⸀ὑμῶν.
So also my heavenly Father will do to you if each of you does not forgive his brother from your hearts.”