18:1 At that time the disciples came to Jesus saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” 18:2 He called a child, had him stand among them, 18:3 and said, “I tell you the truth, 1 unless you turn around and become like little children, 2 you will never 3 enter the kingdom of heaven! 18:4 Whoever then humbles himself like this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 18:5 And whoever welcomes 4 a child like this in my name welcomes me.
18:6 “But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, 5 it would be better for him to have a huge millstone 6 hung around his neck and to be drowned in the open sea. 7 18:7 Woe to the world because of stumbling blocks! It 8 is necessary that stumbling blocks come, but woe to the person through whom they come. 18:8 If 9 your hand or your foot causes you to sin, 10 cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than to have 11 two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire. 18:9 And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter into life with one eye than to have 12 two eyes and be thrown into fiery hell. 13
18:10 “See that you do not disdain one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven. 18:11 [[EMPTY]] 14 18:12 What do you think? If someone 15 owns a hundred 16 sheep and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go look for the one that went astray? 17 18:13 And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, 18 he will rejoice more over it than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray. 18:14 In the same way, your Father in heaven is not willing that one of these little ones be lost.
1 tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”
2 sn The point of the comparison become like little children has more to do with a child’s trusting spirit, as well as willingness to be dependent and receive from others, than any inherent humility the child might possess.
3 tn The negation in Greek (οὐ μή, ou mh) is very strong here.
4 tn This verb, δέχομαι (decomai), is a term of hospitality (L&N 34.53).
5 tn The Greek term σκανδαλίζω (skandalizw), translated here “causes to sin” can also be translated “offends” or “causes to stumble.”
6 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 Mark 9:42.
7 tn The term translated “open” here (πελάγει, pelagei) refers to the open sea as opposed to a stretch of water near a coastline (BDAG 794 s.v. πέλαγος). A similar English expression would be “the high seas.”
8 tn Grk “For it.” Here γάρ (gar) has not been translated.
9 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
10 sn In Greek there is a wordplay that is difficult to reproduce in English here. The verb translated “causes…to sin” (σκανδαλίζω, skandalizw) comes from the same root as the word translated “stumbling blocks” (σκάνδαλον, skandalon) in the previous verse.
11 tn Grk “than having.”
12 tn Grk “than having.”
13 tn Grk “the Gehenna of fire.”
14 tc The most important
15 tn Grk “a certain man.” The Greek word ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used here in a somewhat generic sense.
16 sn This individual with a hundred sheep is a shepherd of modest means, as flocks often had up to two hundred head of sheep.
17 sn Look for the one that went astray. The parable pictures God’s pursuit of the sinner. On the image of Jesus as the Good Shepherd, see John 10:1-18.
18 tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”