I do not say to you seven times may be too confusing for some readers, and translators will need “You should not forgive him just seven times,” “I don’t tell you to forgive him only seven times,” or “I tell you not just seven times.”

Seventy times seven, as the footnotes in Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation state, may mean seventy-seven times (see also An American Translation). But the point is that there is no limit to the number of times that forgiveness must be offered to an individual. Moreover, the one who forgives is not to keep record of the number of times he forgives his brother.

There are some languages, for example many in Africa, where the numbering system is so complicated that seventy times seven is a very awkward phrase, so much so that the point Jesus is making is obscured. Some translators have solved the problem by saying “seven times, and then seven again, and then seven again for ten times” or “seven times and then again and again until you can’t count.” The latter probably catches Jesus’ intent perfectly.

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on the Gospel of Matthew. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1988. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .