18:6 “But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, 3 it would be better for him to have a huge millstone 4 hung around his neck and to be drowned in the open sea. 5
23:15 “Woe to you, experts in the law 6 and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You cross land and sea to make one convert, 7 and when you get one, 8 you make him twice as much a child of hell 9 as yourselves!
1 tn Grk “And he said to them.”
2 tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “so” to indicate a conclusion and transition in the narrative.
3 tn The Greek term σκανδαλίζω (skandalizw), translated here “causes to sin” can also be translated “offends” or “causes to stumble.”
4 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.
5 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.”
5 tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.
6 tn Or “one proselyte.”
7 tn Grk “when he becomes [one].”
8 tn Grk “a son of Gehenna.” Expressions constructed with υἱός (Juios) followed by a genitive of class or kind denote a person belonging to the class or kind specified by the following genitive (L&N 9.4). Thus the phrase here means “a person who belongs to hell.”