Section 18:5–9
Do not cause anyone to sin
In the previous section, Jesus used a child to illustrate what it meant for a disciple to be great in the kingdom. In this section, he compared a humble disciple to a child. He warned people not to cause one of them to sin. If they did, the consequences would be serious.
Jesus also warned his disciples to eliminate the source of sin in their own lives.
Here are some other possible headings for this section:
Temptations To Sin (Good News Translation)
-or-
Eliminate the cause of sin
There are parallel passages for this section in Mark 9:42–48 and Luke 17:1–2.
Paragraph 18:5–6
Some English versions put verse 18:5 in the previous paragraph. But it is best to start a new paragraph here (as in the New Century Version). It is true that Matthew used the term “child” again. But he changed from talking about the actual child that they were all looking at in 18:4. Here he talked about disciples who are like that child.
18:5a
And whoever: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as whoever is similar to, but slightly different from, the word translated as “whoever” in 18:4a. This phrase is also indefinite and refers to any person.
Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:
Anyone who (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
The person who
-or-
If someone
welcomes: In this context, the word welcomes refers to giving hospitality to someone. It refers to welcoming a person into one’s house and caring for him by feeding him or helping him as he needs it.
Here are some other ways to translate this word:
receives (English Standard Version)
-or-
shows/gives hospitality
This word also occurs in 10:40a. You should translate it here as you did there.
a little child like this: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as like this refers to something or someone just mentioned. So this phrase means “a child similar to the one I just spoke about.”
There are two ways to interpret the word child in this verse:
(1) It is figurative and refers to any person who is humble like a child. This could be a child or a humble adult.
(2) It is literal and refers to any child just like the child still standing in their midst.
It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). Many commentators follow this interpretation.
Here are some other ways to translate the phrase a little child like this according to interpretation (1):
• Translate the phrase literally. For example:
a child like this child
If you follow this option, you may want to include a footnote. This is what the New Jerusalem Bible had done. Here is a sample footnote:
The words a little child like this are figurative and refer to a humble follower of Jesus. Such a person is like a child.
• Include some implied information in the text. For example:
a ⌊humble person who is⌋ like this child
in My name: This phrase probably modifies the verb “welcomes” (as in the Good News Translation). It indicates that someone welcomes the humble person on behalf of Jesus. He receives him under the authority of Jesus.
Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:
because of me (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
welcomes…on my behalf (New Living Translation (2004))
18:5b
welcomes Me: The verb welcomes is the same verb here as in the first part of this verse. But here it is used in a figurative way. When someone receives/welcomes a believer, he honors Jesus. It is like he receives/welcomes Jesus.
In some languages, it may be necessary to include some of this implied information here. For example:
⌊it is the same as⌋ welcoming me
-or-
⌊it is like he would be⌋ giving me hospitality
-or-
⌊honors⌋ me
© 2023 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.