Discovery BoxMatthew 18:16-35
Context18:16 But if he does not listen, take one or two others with you, so that at the testimony of two or three witnesses every matter may be established. 1 18:17 If 2 he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. If 3 he refuses to listen to the church, treat him like 4 a Gentile 5 or a tax collector. 6
18:18 “I tell you the truth, 7 whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever you release on earth will have been released in heaven. 18:19 Again, I tell you the truth, 8 if two of you on earth agree about whatever you ask, my Father in heaven will do it for you. 9 18:20 For where two or three are assembled in my name, I am there among them.”
18:21 Then Peter came to him and said, “Lord, how many times must I forgive my brother 10 who sins against me? As many as seven times?” 18:22 Jesus said to him, “Not seven times, I tell you, but seventy-seven times! 11
18:23 “For this reason, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his slaves. 12 18:24 As 13 he began settling his accounts, a man who owed ten thousand talents 14 was brought to him. 18:25 Because 15 he was not able to repay it, 16 the lord ordered him to be sold, along with 17 his wife, children, and whatever he possessed, and repayment to be made. 18:26 Then the slave threw himself to the ground 18 before him, saying, 19 ‘Be patient with me, and I will repay you everything.’ 18:27 The lord had compassion on that slave and released him, and forgave him the debt. 18:28 After 20 he went out, that same slave found one of his fellow slaves who owed him one hundred silver coins. 21 So 22 he grabbed him by the throat and started to choke him, 23 saying, ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ 24 18:29 Then his fellow slave threw himself down and begged him, 25 ‘Be patient with me, and I will repay you.’ 18:30 But he refused. Instead, he went out and threw him in prison until he repaid the debt. 18:31 When 26 his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were very upset and went and told their lord everything that had taken place. 18:32 Then his lord called the first slave 27 and said to him, ‘Evil slave! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me! 18:33 Should you not have shown mercy to your fellow slave, just as I showed it to you?’ 18:34 And in anger his lord turned him over to the prison guards to torture him 28 until he repaid all he owed. 18:35 So also my heavenly Father will do to you, if each of you does not forgive your 29 brother 30 from your heart.”
[18:16] 1 sn A quotation from Deut 19:15.
[18:17] 2 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
[18:17] 3 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
[18:17] 4 tn Grk “let him be to you as.”
[18:17] 6 sn To treat him like a Gentile or a tax collector means not to associate with such a person. See the note on tax collectors in 5:46.
[18:18] 7 tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”
[18:19] 8 tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”
[18:19] 9 tn Grk “if two of you…agree about whatever they ask, it will be done for them by my Father who is in heaven.” The passive construction has been translated as an active one in keeping with contemporary English style, and the pronouns, which change from second person plural to third person plural in the Greek text, have been consistently translated as second person plural.
[18:21] 10 tn Here the term “brother” means “fellow believer” or “fellow Christian” (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 2.a), whether male or female. Concerning the familial connotations, see also the note on the first occurrence of this term in v. 15.
[18:22] 11 tn Or “seventy times seven,” i.e., an unlimited number of times. See L&N 60.74 and 60.77 for the two possible translations of the phrase.
[18:23] 12 tn See the note on the word “slave” in 8:9.
[18:24] 13 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
[18:24] 14 sn A talent was a huge sum of money, equal to 6,000 denarii. One denarius was the usual day’s wage for a worker. L&N 6.82 states, “a Greek monetary unit (also a unit of weight) with a value which fluctuated, depending upon the particular monetary system which prevailed at a particular period of time (a silver talent was worth approximately six thousand denarii with gold talents worth at least thirty times that much).”
[18:25] 15 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
[18:25] 16 tn The word “it” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.
[18:25] 17 tn Grk “and his wife.”
[18:26] 18 tn Grk “falling therefore the slave bowed down to the ground.” The redundancy of this expression signals the desperation of the slave in begging for mercy.
[18:26] 19 tc The majority of
[18:28] 20 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
[18:28] 21 tn Grk “one hundred denarii.” The denarius was a silver coin worth about a day’s wage for a laborer; this would be about three month’s pay.
[18:28] 22 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so.” A new sentence was started at this point in the translation in keeping with the tendency of contemporary English style to use shorter sentences.
[18:28] 23 tn Grk “and he grabbed him and started choking him.”
[18:28] 24 tn The word “me” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.
[18:29] 25 tn Grk “begged him, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant here in contemporary English and has not been translated.
[18:31] 26 tn Grk “Therefore when.” Here οὖν (oun) has not been translated.
[18:32] 27 tn Grk “him”; the referent (the first slave mentioned in v. 24) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[18:34] 28 tn Grk “handed him over to the torturers,” referring specifically to guards whose job was to torture prisoners who were being questioned. According to L&N 37.126, it is difficult to know for certain in this instance whether the term actually envisions torture as a part of the punishment or is simply a hyperbole. However, in light of the following verse and Jesus’ other warning statements in Matthew about “fiery hell,” “the outer darkness,” etc., it is best not to dismiss this as mere imagery.
[18:35] 29 tn Grk “his.” The pronoun has been translated to follow English idiom (the last pronoun of the verse [“from your heart”] is second person plural in the original).
[18:35] 30 tn Here the term “brother” means “fellow believer” or “fellow Christian” (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 2.a), whether male or female. Concerning the familial connotations, see also the note on the first occurrence of this term in v. 15.
