UTN uW Translation Notes:

Matthew 18 General Notes

Structure and Formatting

8. Jesus teaches about life in the kingdom of God (18:1-35) * The disciples ask about who is the greatest (18:1–5) * Jesus teaches about stumbling blocks (18:6–9) * The parable of the lost sheep (18:10–14) * Jesus teaches about a sinning brother (18:15–20) * The parable of the unforgiving slave (18:21–35)

Special Concepts in this Chapter

The “little ones”

In 18:6, 18:10, and 18:14, Jesus refers to people whom he calls “little ones.” In the previous paragraph, he told the disciples that they needed to be like little children if they wanted to be great in the kingdom of the heavens. Because of this, it is possible that Jesus uses the phrase “little ones” to continue to refer to children. However, it is also possible that he uses the phrase to refer to people who are like little children in some specific way. They could be like little children either because they are insignificant or unimportant or because they are immature in their faith. If possible, express the idea in such a way that all of these interpretations are possible. If you must make the idea more explicit, it is recommended that you refer to insignificant or unimportant people. That is how Jesus used the phrase in 10:42.

Important Figures of Speech in this Chapter

Stumbling and stumbling blocks

In 18:6–9, Jesus discusses “stumbling blocks” and things that cause stumbling. He uses these terms to refer to people and things that cause people to sin. See the notes on these verses for translation options.

Hyperbole

In 18:8–9, Jesus commands his disciples to cut off or pluck out body parts that cause them to sin. He uses this extreme example of resisting sin in order to show his disciples how serious sin really is. He does not mean that believers should always cut off body parts when they sin. Jesus intends his commands to be shocking, however, so you should preserve the extreme language. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use a form that indicates that Jesus’ commands are extreme language. There are very similar verses in 5:29–30, so you translate as you did there.

The parable of the lost sheep

In 18:12–14, Jesus tells a story about a shepherd who had 100 sheep. When one of the sheep went astray, the shepherd left the other sheep behind to find it. When he found it, he was happier about that one sheep than he was about the 99 sheep that had not gone astray. Jesus applies this story to God the Father, who does not want any person to perish. Just like the shepherd, God will rescue people who go astray and rejoice when they are rescued. Your translation should not directly explain the meaning of this parable more than Jesus does. (See: figs-parables)

The parable of the unforgiving slave

In 18:23–35, Jesus tells a story about a slave who owed an enormous debt to his master, the king. When the slave begs the king to be patient with him, the king forgives the entire debt. However, the slave immediately finds another slave who owes him a small amount of money. He demands that the slave pay him immediately and does not forgive the debt. When the king finds out about this, he has the first slave jailed and tortured until he can pay the enormous debt. Jesus applies this story to believers who do not forgive fellow believers. God will punish them, just as the king punished the slave who did not have mercy on his fellow slave. Your translation should not directly explain the meaning of this parable more than Jesus does. (See: figs-parables)

Other Possible Translation Difficulties in this Chapter

Singular and plural forms of “you”

Most of the forms of “you” in this chapter appear in instructions that Jesus gives to individual disciples or in dialogues between individual people. Because of this, the majority of forms of “you” in this chapter are singular. You should assume forms of “you” are singular unless a note specifies that the form is plural. (See: figs-yousingular)

Verse 11

Some of the earliest manuscripts do not include anything for 18:11. Some early manuscripts and many later manuscripts include the following words: “For the Son of Man came to save the one that had been lost.” Since the earliest manuscripts do not include these words, the ULT and UST include these words in brackets. If a translation of the Bible exists in your region, you may wish to use the reading that it uses. If a translation of the Bible does not exist in your region, you may wish to omit these words. If it would be helpful, you could put the words in brackets or in a footnote. (See: translate-textvariants)