Passage

Matthew 18.1

Book: Matthew · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

1. In that hour came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?

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. (Matthew 18:1-3, ASV)

WEB

1. In that hour the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who then is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?”

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. (Matthew 18:1-3, WEB)

KJV

1. At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?

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. (Matthew 18:1-3, KJV)

YLT

1. At that hour came the disciples near to Jesus, saying, 'Who, now, is greater in the reign of the heavens?'

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; (Matthew 18:1-3, YLT)

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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.

G2424 - Iesous, Iesous, Strong's G2424
G3004 - lego, lego, Strong's G3004

Quoted in

Concepts:

God and the Killing of Children, via Matthew 18.1-6

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.