9:33 Then 1 they came to Capernaum. 2 After Jesus 3 was inside the house he asked them, “What were you discussing on the way?” 9:34 But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest. 9:35 After he sat down, he called the twelve and said to them, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.” 9:36 He took a little child and had him stand among them. Taking him in his arms, he said to them, 9:37 “Whoever welcomes 4 one of these little children 5 in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.”
9:38 John said to him, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him because he was not following us.” 9:39 But Jesus said, “Do not stop him, because no one who does a miracle in my name will be able soon afterward to say anything bad about me. 9:40 For whoever is not against us is for us. 9:41 For I tell you the truth, 6 whoever gives you a cup of water because 7 you bear Christ’s 8 name will never lose his reward.
9:42 “If anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a huge millstone 9 tied around his neck and to be thrown into the sea.
1 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
2 map For location see Map1-D2; Map2-C3; Map3-B2.
3 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
4 tn This verb, δέχομαι (decomai), is a term of hospitality (L&N 34.53).
5 sn Children were very insignificant in ancient culture, so this child would be the perfect object lesson to counter the disciples’ selfish ambitions.
6 tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”
7 tn Grk “in [the] name that of Christ you are.”
8 tn Or “bear the Messiah’s”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”
9 tn Grk “the millstone of a donkey.” This refers to a large flat stone turned by a donkey in the process of grinding grain (BDAG 661 s.v. μύλος 2; L&N 7.68-69). The same term is used in the parallel account in Matt 18:6.