Matthew 18
1 At that moment, the students came up to Jesus asking, “So, in the Heavenly Reign, who is the most impressive?”a
2 He called a child over to stand between them, 3 and he told them, “Honestly, I’m telling you, unless you turn around and become like children, you will absolutely not join the Heavenly Reign. 4 Therefore, whoever lowers their own status to be like this child, is the most impressiveb in the Heavenly Reign. 5 And whoever includesc one of these children as my representatived includes me. 6 But if anyone creates obstacles for one of these little ones who trust me, it would be preferable for that person to have a huge millstone hung around their neck and dropped in the middle of the sea. 7 The world systeme that produces such obstacles had better watch out.f It’s inevitable that obstacles arise, but the person through whom those obstacles arise had better watch out anyway. 8 So if your hand or your foot is an obstacle to you, cut it off and throw it away. It’s more beneficial for you to go through life missing a hand or footg than to have two hands and two feet and be tossed into fire that burns indefinitely.h 9 And if your eye is an obstacle to you, pull it out and throw it away. It’s more beneficial for you to go through life with one eye than to have two eyes and be tossed into the fiery Hinnom Valley.i 10 Be vigilant not even to think less of one of these little ones. I’m telling you, their messengers in the heavens always have the attention of my Father who is in the heavens. 12 j What do you think? If someone comes to own 100 sheep and one of them wanders off, won’t they leave the 99 on the mountain and go looking for the one that wandered off? 13 And if they find it, I’m telling you honestly that they’ll celebrate over finding it more than over 99 not wandering off. 14 In the same way, your Father who is in the heavens is not willing for even one of these little ones be forsaken.k
15 “So if a fellow child of God deviates,l go make it clear to them when the two of you are alone. If they listen to you, you’ve regained your fellow childm of God. 16 If they don’t listen, try again,n and bring one or two others with you so that “every matter may be established on the testimony of two or three witnesses.”o 17 If they refuse to listen, tell the assembly. If they also refuse to listen to the assembly, as far as you’re concerned, let them be just like a foreigner or a tax collector.p
18 “Honestly, I’m telling you, whatever boundaries you setq in the land will be set in the heavens, and whatever barriers you remover on earth will be removed in the heavens.s 19 Again, I’m telling you honestly that if two of you in the land agree together whicht to ask, my Father who is in the heavens will make it happen for you. 20 You see, where two or three are gathered to represent me, I’m there among them.”
21 Then Peter approached him and asked, “Lord, if a fellow child of God deviatesu repeatedly, how many times should I release it?v As many as seven times?”
22 “Not as many as seven times,” Jesus told him, “I would say, instead, seventy-seven times!w 23 With that in mind, the Heavenly Reign is like a human ruler who wanted to meet with his enslaved workers about reconciling.x 24 To begin his reconciliation, he had someone brought to him who owed 10,000 talents.y 25 However, the worker didn’t have enough to pay it back, and the lord ordered that he be sold, along with his wife, children, and everything he owned, to get his payment. 26 Then the person who was enslaved to him dropped down and bowed to him, pleading, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you back everything.’ 27 The lord was deeply moved for that enslaved worker; he freed him and releasedz his debt. 28 Then that enslaved worker went out and found one of his fellow enslaved workers who owed him 100 denarii.aa He grabbed him and began choking him. He demanded, ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ 29 Then his fellow enslaved worker dropped down and begged him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you back.’ 30 But he didn’t want to, and instead, he went out and threw him in prison until he repaid the debt. 31 When his fellow enslaved workers saw what happened, they were deeply grieved, so they went and explained everything that had happened to their lord. 32 Then the lord called him to come to him and said, ‘You oppressivebb slave! I released your whole debt when you begged me. 33 Wouldn’t it have been right for you to show compassion for your fellow slave, just like I showed you compassion?’ 34 And in his fury, the lord handed him over to the torturer until he could repay the whole debt. 35 My heavenly Father will also do the same for you if you each don’t release it wholeheartedly for your fellow childcc of God.”dd
FOOTNOTES:
a Traditionally ‘greatest’ and literally, ‘biggest’
b Traditionally ‘greatest’ and literally, ‘biggest’
c Or ‘welcomes’ or ‘receives’
d The phrase is literally, ‘in my name.’ The concept of ‘name’ in scripture is more than the set of sounds or letters used to designate who is being discussed. It refers to their identity, character, and sometimes authority or cause which that person represents or leads. For instance, here, it could be loosely translated to mean something like “serve my identity, authority, and waying of being.”
e Traditionally, ‘world.’ Kosmos can mean world in the sense of the location where everyone lives, or it can mean the whole world of people, or it can mean the order imposed on the world by the powerful.
f Traditionally, ‘woe to’ or ‘alas for’
g Literally, ‘disfigured’ or ‘disabled’ and ‘crippled’ or ‘deprived of a foot’ or ‘maimed.’
h Traditionally, ‘eternal’ or ‘everlasting’ or ‘perpetual.’ Literally, it means ‘of/for an age.’ It describes something that lasts a long time or with an indefinite length of time or spanning an entire period of long duration, such as a generation or period of history.
i Parallel to Matthew 5:29-30
j The most reliable manuscripts don’t have what was historically Matthew 18:11. When the verse divisions were made, a version that had an extra sentence was used. Some modern translations still include it: “The Son of Man came to seek and save the lost.” Therefore, it skips from verse 10 to verse 12.
k Compare with Matthew 15:24. The literal meaning of the Greek is more like ‘lost’ or ‘destroyed’ or ‘killed.’ The context, however, emphasizes not just lostness but an abandonment to that fate. Additionally, with the combination of ‘lost’ and ‘found’ in Matthew 10 and 17 being about one’s life, the implication here seems to be that abandoning the little ones to their fate is to leave them for dead.
l Traditionally, ‘sins.’ The term ‘deviates’ describes acting in a way that doesn’t follow the path traced out by Torah and lived out by Jesus. This shift emphasizes actions misaligned with the sacred path rather than an inherent sinful state. The Greek hamartano represents behaviors or conditions that "miss the mark" set by God’s path. ‘Deviating’ could be actions that are morally corrupt, such as exploiting the poor or siding with oppressors for profit.
m The word adelphos, which literally means ‘brother’ or ‘sibling.’ It was also frequently used to refer to ‘cousin’ or ‘relative,’ and even for members of the same ideological or ethnic group. With Jesus’ insistence on a radically inclusive understanding of God’s instruction, it is always pushing further than what already seems to be the most wide-sweeping view people hold.
n The phrase “try again” is added for clarity of flow.
o Citation of Deuteronomy 19:15
p Most likely, ‘Gentiles’ is code here for the Romans, the oppressors. Tax collectors were Jewish collaborators with the Romans and often exploited their own people. Notably, while these groups were oppressors, Jesus has routinely modeled responding to them with patience and love, even acceptance into his closest circle of students and friends when they changed their ways.
q Traditionally, ‘whatever you bind’
r Traditionally, ‘whatever you loose’
s Parallel to Matthew 16:19
t This is focused on whether to ask for boundaries to be set or for barriers to be removed. The traditional ‘what’ allows that interpretation as well, but too often this verse is taken out of context, which means that it seems to suggest any request people can come up with will be granted. God is not a genie.
u Traditionally, ‘sins.’ The term ‘deviates’ describes acting in a way that doesn’t follow the path traced out by Torah and lived out by Jesus. This shift emphasizes actions misaligned with the sacred path rather than an inherent sinful state. The Greek hamartano represents behaviors or conditions that "miss the mark" set by God’s path. ‘Deviating’ could be actions that are morally corrupt, such as exploiting the poor or siding with oppressors for profit.
v Or ‘let it go’ and ‘forgive it’ (like debt forgiveness)
w This is a reference to Genesis 4:24 and how much revenge Lamech wanted compared to Cain (sevenfold), Jesus wants to increase forgiveness to seventyfold compared to Peter’s sevenfold. It should be noted also that culturally speaking, Peter is already being generous with seven times. Some translations say ‘seventy times seven’ or ‘490’ due to some confusion between the Hebrew and Greek versions of Genesis. The evidence leans in favor of seventy-seven, both in how the Greek language works regarding adding the multiplying suffix (-kis/’-fold’) to the ‘seventy’ instead of to the ‘seven’ and in the allusion to Genesis 4:24 and its clarity in the Hebrew. Either way, 77 and 490 are both too many times to count if one is actually releasing a grudge.
x The implication seems to be that these workers were enslaved when they were unable to pay off their debt.
y If a laborer were to put 100% of their daily wage toward this debt, working six days a week, it would take 191,780 years to pay it back. The point is that this debt is infinite as far as the people involved are concerned. It would be like a debt today of $7.2 billion at a $15/hour wage.
z Or ‘released’ or ‘forgave’
aa Each denarius was worth a day’s wage. So, working six days a week, it would take about 4 months to pay back if he paid 100% of his income toward it. At $15/hour, 100 days worth of pay is about $12,000.
bb Traditionally, ‘evil.’ The Greek term poneros, includes a range of meanings beyond moral depravity, including harm, decay, and burden. Rooted in ponos—which conveys toil, suffering, and hardship—poneros emphasizes oppressive, harmful conditions. Rather than simply moral "evil," this term often indicates harmful external impacts, focusing on social and personal harm rather than abstract judgment.
cc The word adelphos, which literally means ‘brother’ or ‘sibling.’ It was also frequently used to refer to ‘cousin’ or ‘relative,’ and even for members of the same ideological or ethnic group. With Jesus’ insistence on a radically inclusive understanding of God’s instruction, it is always pushing further than what already seems to be the most wide-sweeping view people hold.
dd This whole paragraph, particularly the last sentence is parallel to Matthew 5:23-26 and Matthew 6:12, 14-15.