Passage

Matthew 18.1-6

Book: Matthew · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"1. In that hour came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven? 2. And he called to him a little child, and set him in the middle of them, 3. and said, Truly I say unto you, Except you turn, and become as little sons, you shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven. 4. Whoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5. And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receives me: 6. But whoso shall cause one of these little ones that believe on me to stumble, it is profitable for him that a great millstone should be hanged about his neck, and that he should be sunk in the depth of the sea."

"7. Woe unto the world because of occasions of stumbling! for it must needs be that the occasions come; but woe to that man through whom the occasion comes! 8. And if your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off, and cast it from you: it is good for you to enter into life crippled or halt, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into the eternal fire." (Matthew 18:1-8, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"1. In that hour the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who then is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?” 2. Jesus called a little child to himself, and set him in the middle of them, 3. and said, “Most certainly I tell you, unless you turn, and become as little children, you will in no way enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. 4. Whoever therefore humbles himself as this little child, the same is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. 5. Whoever receives one such little child in my name receives me, 6. but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to stumble, it would be better for him that a huge millstone should be hung around his neck, and that he should be sunk in the depths of the sea."

"7. “Woe to the world because of occasions of stumbling! For it must be that the occasions come, but woe to that person through whom the occasion comes! 8. If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off, and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life maimed or crippled, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into the eternal fire." (Matthew 18:1-8, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"1. At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? 2. And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, 3. And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. 4. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5. And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me. 6. But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea."

"7. Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh! 8. Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire." (Matthew 18:1-8, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"1. At that hour came the disciples near to Jesus, saying, 'Who, now, is greater in the reign of the heavens?' 2. And Jesus having called near a child, did set him in the midst of them, 3. and said, 'Verily I say to you, if ye may not be turned and become as the children, ye may not enter into the reign of the heavens; 4. whoever then may humble himself as this child, he is the greater in the reign of the heavens. 5. 'And he who may receive one such child in my name, doth receive me, 6. and whoever may cause to stumble one of those little ones who are believing in me, it is better for him that a weighty millstone may be hanged upon his neck, and he may be sunk in the depth of the sea."

"7. 'Woe to the world from the stumbling-blocks! for there is a necessity for the stumbling-blocks to come, but woe to that man through whom the stumbling-block doth come! 8. 'And if thy hand or thy foot doth cause thee to stumble, cut them off and cast from thee; it is good for thee to enter into the life lame or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet, to be cast to the fire the age-during." (Matthew 18:1-8, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

TBD
TBD
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Quoted in

God and the Killing of Children

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.