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Today's Verse Analysis

Matthew 18:6 But whoever shall offend one of these little ones

The Apostles ask who is greatest in the realm of the skies and Jesus points to a little child.

Spoken to
Apostles

Matthew 18:6  ὃς δ᾽ ἂν σκανδαλίσῃ ἕνα τῶν μικρῶν τούτων τῶν πιστευόντων εἰς ἐμέ, συμφέρει αὐτῷ ἵνα κρεμασθῇ μύλος ὀνικὸς περὶ τὸν τράχηλον αὐτοῦ καὶ καταποντισθῇ ἐν τῷ πελάγει τῆς θαλάσσης.

KJV Verse

Matthew 18:6 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.

NIV Verse:

Matthew 18:6 If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.

What His Listeners Heard:

The one, however, when he trips up one of these young ones here, trusting as much as me? It benefits him when a millstone of an ass is hung around that neck of his and he is drowned in the depths of the sea.

Lost In Translation:

The images here are all comic exaggeration. The millstone is described as "for an ass," which makes it the huge millstones that were dragged by an ass attached to them, going around in a circle. We cannot know if the "for an ass" had the same pejorative sense then as today, but clearly, the image is overkill and lost in translation. The word translated as "were better" and "be better"  means "getting it together."

Jesus repeats the beginning of the two previous verses, but he changes the word used for "child" to "little ones" This is a play against the adjective "great" and verb meaning "lower" of the previous verse.

This verse is also interesting because of the differences among this version and Mark 9:42 and Luke 17:2.  It holds a lot of clues about the source of Jesus's quotes in the Gospels (See Mark 9:42) and even how Jesus's lines changed over time. as he used them (See Luke 17:2)

KJV w/Translation Issues :

But whoso (MW) shall(CW) offend(WW)  one of these (MW) little ones which(WW) believe(WF) in me, it were(WT) better(CW) for him that a millstone (MW) were(WW) hanged about his (MW) neck, and that(IW) he were(WW) drowned in the depth of the sea.

KJV List (See full page for word-by-word analysis):
For analysis of each word of original Greek and biblical verses, click here.

Constantly Updated

My analysis standards and methods are constantly improving. New information on each verse is provided as articles are updated. It requires approximately two years for me to work through updating each of Jesus's verses.

What Jesus's Listeners Heard

The everyday meanings of the Greek words Jesus used were different than the definitions they have been given over time in biblical translation. The word translations here are based upon documents of his time such as the Greek Septuagint, not ideas unknown in his time.

About this Site

See what Jesus said in Greek and see how his words are changed in English translation. My goal is to translate Jesus's words as they were heard when he taught, not the way they are interpreted today. The work here resurrects the humor and cleverness of Jesus's words lost in translation.

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