The Fallible Study Bible

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Matthew18:6–9

Temptations and Trespasses

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Matthew 18:6–9 — Temptations and Trespasses. Each verse below carries the full apparatus: the Berean Standard Bible, the vocalized original (tap any word), and a parsed breakdown of every term transcribed from the interlinear. Synthesized commentary, canonical threads, and the reading of Christ gather at the end, over the whole unit.

6

But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

d’ an Hos skandalisē hena toutōn tōn mikrōn tōn pisteuontōn eis eme sympherei autō hina onikos mylos kremasthē peri autou ton trachēlon kai katapontisthē en tō pelagei tēs thalassēs

Word by word29 · parsed
δ’d’ButG1161
√ δέ — but, and, etcConjunction
ἂνanifG302
√ ἄν — (what-, where-, wither-, who-)soeverParticle
ὋςHosanyoneG3739
√ ὅς — the relatively (sometimes demonstrative) pronoun, who, which, what, thatPersonal / Relative PronounNominative Masculine Singular
σκανδαλίσῃskandalisēcausesG4624
√ σκανδαλίζω — to entrap, iVerbAorist Subjunctive Active3rd Person Singular
σκανδαλίζω: to entrap, to set a trap-stick The governing root of the whole unit, sounding six times in these four verses: the verb here, the noun three times in v. 7, the verb again in vv. 8 and 9. It is not a word for injuring someone but for tripping them: laying the bent sapling where the foot will fall. Poole widens it to include the pressure of threats and persecution, “which, besides that it is a stumblingblock upon which they fall and suffer as to their bodies and outward concerns, is also a stumbling block to their souls.” The verb occurs in only 27 verses, which is why the Verifier can use it to tie this saying to Matthew 5:29 and Mark 9:42 to 47.
ἕναhenaoneG1520
√ εἷς — oneAdjectiveAccusative Masculine Singular
τούτωνtoutōnof theseG3778
√ οὗτος — the he (she or it), iDemonstrative PronounGenitive Masculine Plural
τῶνtōnG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleGenitive Masculine Plural
μικρῶνmikrōnlittle onesG3398
√ μικρός — small (in size, quantity, number or (figuratively) dignity)AdjectiveGenitive Masculine Plural
μικρός: small in size, quantity, number or dignity The genitive plural is qualified at once by the participle that follows: these small ones are believers. The commentators divide. Gill insists the phrase “cannot be said of infants, or little ones in age,” and reads it of adult disciples who are contemptible in the world's esteem; Pulpit allows either, “child or adult, a pure, simple soul”; Barnes reads it of Christians who show the spirit of little children. The child of v. 2 is still standing in the room, which is why the ambiguity is probably deliberate.
τῶνtōnwhoG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleGenitive Masculine Plural
πιστευόντωνpisteuontōnbelieveG4100
√ πιστεύω — to have faith (in, upon, or with respect to, a person or thing), iVerbPresent Participle ActiveGenitive Masculine Plural
πιστεύω: to have faith in, upon, or with respect to A present active participle, ongoing faith, and it is aimed with εἰς (into) at a person: εἰς ἐμέ, into Me. Pulpit presses the construction: believing into someone, as distinct from believing a person's word with the simple dative, “is applied to faith in God alone,” and so “the phrase implies the Divinity of Christ.” The one who says this is the object of the faith he is protecting.
εἰςeisinG1519
√ εἰς — to or into (indicating the point reached or entered), of place, time, or (figuratively) purpose (result, etcPreposition
ἐμέemeMe {to stumble}G1473
√ ἐγώ — I, mePersonal / Possessive PronounAccusative 1st Person Singular
ἐγώ: I, me The accusative after εἰς. Everything in the verse hangs on this pronoun: the little one is precious because of where his faith is directed.
συμφέρειsymphereiit would be betterG4851
√ συμφέρω — to bear together (contribute), iVerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
συμφέρω: to bear together, to be profitable Present indicative, and the pivot of the sentence: the profit is reckoned for the offender himself (αὐτῷ, dative of advantage). Barnes states the sense as “it would be better for him to have died before he had committed the sin.” Gill draws the same conclusion, that it is “much better for a man to endure the severest temporal punishment” than to face what lies past this life.
αὐτῷautōfor himG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounDative Masculine 3rd Person Singular
ἵναhinato haveG2443
√ ἵνα — compare G3588 (ὁ))Conjunction
ὀνικὸςonikosa largeG3684
√ ὀνικός — belonging to a ass, iAdjectiveNominative Masculine Singular
μύλοςmylosmillstoneG3458
√ μύλος — a "mill", iNounNominative Masculine Singular
μύλος: a mill, a millstone A rare noun, in only five verses. Ellicott notes the punishment of drowning with a stone “was not recognised in the Jewish law” but was used among the Greeks, and had been inflicted by Augustus in cases of special infamy; Jerome, he says, reports the practice in Galilee. Gill, more cautiously, lists the four Jewish capital penalties and says of Jerome's claim, “but this does not appear.” Pulpit and Ellicott agree on what made it horrifying: the stone ensured the body never surfaced, so there was no burial.
κρεμασθῇkremasthēhungG2910
√ κρεμάννυμι — to hangVerbAorist Subjunctive Passive3rd Person Singular
κρεμάννυμι: to hang Aorist subjunctive passive: the man does not hang the stone on himself. Both this verb and the drowning that follows are passives, so the whole alternative is something done to him, which is the point of the comparison with what will otherwise be done to him.
περὶperiaroundG4012
√ περί — properly, through (all over), iPreposition
αὐτοῦautouhisG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive Masculine 3rd Person Singular
τὸνtonG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Masculine Singular
τράχηλονtrachēlonneckG5137
√ τράχηλος — the throat (neck), iNounAccusative Masculine Singular
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
καταποντισθῇkatapontisthēto be drownedG2670
√ καταποντίζω — to plunge down, iVerbAorist Subjunctive Passive3rd Person Singular
καταποντίζω: to plunge down, to sink The rarest word in the verse: it stands in only two verses of the New Testament. The other is Matthew 14:30, where Peter, beginning to sink, cries out and is caught by the hand of Christ. Whether Matthew intended the echo we cannot prove, but the lexical fact is certain and Peter is in the room for this saying.
ἐνeninG1722
√ ἐν — "in," at, (up-)on, by, etcPreposition
τῷtōtheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleDative Neuter Singular
πελάγειpelageidepthsG3989
√ πέλαγος — deep or open sea, iNounDative Neuter Singular
πέλαγος: deep or open sea Also a two-verse word (the other is Acts 27:5). Not the shoreline but the open water: the place from which there is no retrieval and no grave.
τῆςtēsof theG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleGenitive Feminine Singular
θαλάσσηςthalassēsseaG2281
√ θάλασσα — the sea (genitive case or specially)NounGenitive Feminine Singular
7

Woe to the world for the causes of sin. These stumbling blocks must come, but woe to the man through whom they come!

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

Ouai tō kosmō apo tōn skandalōn gar ta skandala anankē elthein plēn ouai tō anthrōpō di’ hou to skandalon erchetai

Word by word20 · parsed
ΟὐαὶOuaiWoeG3759
√ οὐαί — "woe"Interjection
οὐαί: woe A prophetic cry, and the form is older than the Gospels: the woe oracles of Isaiah 5 and Habakkuk 2 sound the same note over the same kind of offender. Ellicott hears sorrow foremost here and judgment in the second instance; the word itself does not distinguish them, only the addressee does (the world, then the man).
τῷtōto theG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleDative Masculine Singular
κόσμῳkosmōworldG2889
√ κόσμος — orderly arrangement, iNounDative Masculine Singular
κόσμος: orderly arrangement, the world The dative of the first woe. The lament is not over the offender first but over the ordered human world as the place where traps are laid: the tragedy is systemic before it is individual.
ἀπὸapoforG575
√ ἀπό — "off," iPreposition
τῶνtōntheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleGenitive Neuter Plural
σκανδάλωνskandalōncauses of sinG4625
√ σκάνδαλον — a trap-stick (bent sapling), iNounGenitive Neuter Plural
σκάνδαλον: a trap-stick (bent sapling) Cambridge marks the turn this noun makes in the discourse: from tripping the little ones specifically to “offences in general.” Gill narrows the sense usefully, “not sins, as sometimes, but rather temptations to sin,” and lists what he means: contempt poured on the doctrine, ordinances and people of Christ, and persecution designed to make believers drop their profession.
γὰρgarG1063
√ γάρ — properly, assigning a reason (used in argument, explanation or intensificationConjunction
τὰta[These]G3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Neuter Plural
σκάνδαλαskandalastumbling blocksG4625
√ σκάνδαλον — a trap-stick (bent sapling), iNounAccusative Neuter Plural
ἀνάγκηanankēmustG318
√ ἀνάγκη — constraint (literally or figuratively)NounNominative Feminine Singular
ἀνάγκη: constraint (literally or figuratively) The theological crux of the verse, and the commentators are united and careful. Henry: “God permits them for wise and holy ends, that those who are sincere, and those who are not, may be made known.” Pulpit calls it relative, not absolute, necessity and compares 1 Corinthians 11:19. Gill stresses that permission does not excuse, since God's overruling of the offence “is no thanks to them.” The single noun holds divine permission and human guilt together without resolving them.
ἐλθεῖνeltheincomeG2064
√ ἔρχομαι — to come or go (in a great variety of applications, literally and figuratively)VerbAorist Infinitive Active
πλὴνplēnbutG4133
√ πλήν — moreover (besides), iConjunction
οὐαὶouaiwoeG3759
√ οὐαί — "woe"Interjection
τῷtōto theG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleDative Masculine Singular
ἀνθρώπῳanthrōpōmanG444
√ ἄνθρωπος — from G3700 (ὀπτάνομαι))NounDative Masculine Singular
ἄνθρωπος: man Singular and dative, over against the world's plural traps. Pulpit draws the line exactly: “no man is exonerated from the guilt of giving offence. He has free will.” The same formula, woe to the man through whom, returns at Matthew 26:24 over Judas.
δι’di’throughG1223
√ διά — through (in very wide applications, local, causal, or occasional)Preposition
οὗhouwhomG3739
√ ὅς — the relatively (sometimes demonstrative) pronoun, who, which, what, thatPersonal / Relative PronounGenitive Masculine Singular
ὅς: who, which, that Genitive after διά: the man is the channel, not merely the occasion.
τὸtoG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Neuter Singular
σκάνδαλονskandalon[they]G4625
√ σκάνδαλον — a trap-stick (bent sapling), iNounNominative Neuter Singular
ἔρχεταιerchetaicomeG2064
√ ἔρχομαι — to come or go (in a great variety of applications, literally and figuratively)VerbPresent Indicative Middle or Passive3rd Person Singular
8

If your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than to have two hands and two feet and be thrown into the eternal fire.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

de Ei sou hē cheir ē sou ho pous skandalizei se ekkopson auton kai bale apo sou estin kalon soi eiselthein eis tēn zōēn kyllon ē chōlon ē echonta dyo cheiras ē dyo podas blēthēnai eis to to aiōnion pyr

Word by word40 · parsed
δὲdeG1161
√ δέ — but, and, etcConjunction
ΕἰEiIfG1487
√ εἰ — if, whether, that, etcConjunction
σουsouyourG4771
√ σύ — thouPersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive 2nd Person Singular
ἡhēG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Feminine Singular
χείρcheirhandG5495
√ χείρ — the hand (literally or figuratively (power)NounNominative Feminine Singular
χείρ: the hand (literally or figuratively, power) Strong's records the figurative sense, power, which is why the commentators do not read the command as surgery. Pulpit reports Olshausen's reading that hand and foot “may denote mental powers and dispositions,” and warns that their over-cultivation can itself obstruct the spiritual life.
ἢēorG2228
√ ἤ — disjunctive, orConjunction
σουsouyourG4771
√ σύ — thouPersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive 2nd Person Singular
ὁhoG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Singular
πούςpousfootG4228
√ πούς — a "foot" (figuratively or literally)NounNominative Masculine Singular
πούς: a foot Pulpit observes that the foot is new here: it was not named in the Sermon on the Mount version at Matthew 5:29 and 30. The addition suits the context, since a foot is what a trap-stick is laid for.
σκανδαλίζειskandalizeicauses you to sinG4624
√ σκανδαλίζω — to entrap, iVerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
σκανδαλίζω: to entrap The hinge of the unit. The same verb that condemned the offender in v. 6 now indicts the disciple's own members: the man who will not trip a little one must also not let himself be tripped. Gill makes the moral link explicit, that giving offence to Christ's disciples “is equally gratifying the flesh” as the unchaste look of Matthew 5:29, “and no more to be indulged.”
σεse. . .G4771
√ σύ — thouPersonal / Possessive PronounAccusative 2nd Person Singular
ἔκκοψονekkopsoncut it offG1581
√ ἐκκόπτω — to exscindVerbAorist Imperative Active2nd Person Singular
ἐκκόπτω: to exscind, cut out A rare imperative in the Gospels (the verb stands in ten verses). At Matthew 3:10 and Luke 3:9 it is the axe at the root of the fruitless tree, which is then thrown into fire, exactly the pair of verbs used here. The disciple is told to perform on himself, now, what judgment would otherwise perform on the whole of him.
αὐτὸνauton. . .G846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounAccusative Masculine 3rd Person Singular
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
βάλεbalethrow it awayG906
√ βάλλω — to throw (in various applications, more or less violent or intense)VerbAorist Imperative Active2nd Person Singular
ἀπὸapo. . .G575
√ ἀπό — "off," iPreposition
σοῦsou. . .G4771
√ σύ — thouPersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive 2nd Person Singular
ἐστινestinIt isG1510
√ εἰμί — I exist (used only when emphatic)VerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
καλόνkalonbetterG2570
√ καλός — X better, fair, good(-ly), honest, meet, well, worthyAdjectiveNominative Neuter Singular
καλός: good, fair, worthy The positive degree, not a comparative: “good for thee it is to enter,” with the comparison carried by the following ἤ (“than”). BSB's “better” is the correct idiom in English; the Greek idiom states the good starkly and lets the alternative expose it.
σοίsoifor youG4771
√ σύ — thouPersonal / Possessive PronounDative 2nd Person Singular
εἰσελθεῖνeiseltheinto enterG1525
√ εἰσέρχομαι — to enter (literally or figuratively)VerbAorist Infinitive Active
εἰσέρχομαι: to enter (literally or figuratively) Aorist infinitive. Pulpit marks “enter into life” as an addition absent from the Sermon on the Mount form, referring “to the eternal life which, beginning on earth, is consummated in heaven.”
εἰςeis. . .G1519
√ εἰς — to or into (indicating the point reached or entered), of place, time, or (figuratively) purpose (result, etcPreposition
τὴνtēnG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Feminine Singular
ζωὴνzōēnlifeG2222
√ ζωή — life (literally or figuratively)NounAccusative Feminine Singular
ζωή: life (literally or figuratively) Set in direct opposition to the eternal fire, so that “life” here is not biological existence but the destiny the fire denies. The same noun anchors v. 9.
κυλλὸνkylloncrippledG2948
√ κυλλός — rocking about, iAdjectiveAccusative Masculine Singular
κυλλός: maimed, deformed in a limb Rare (four verses). Barnes forbids a literal inference about the resurrection body: “It is not meant, by this, that when the body shall be raised it will be maimed and disfigured in this manner. It will be perfect,” citing 1 Corinthians 15:42 to 44. The maiming is a figure held up against an eternal loss, not a promise about eternity.
ἢēorG2228
√ ἤ — disjunctive, orConjunction
χωλόνchōlonlameG5560
√ χωλός — "halt", iAdjectiveAccusative Masculine Singular
ἢēthanG2228
√ ἤ — disjunctive, orConjunction
ἔχονταechontato haveG2192
√ ἔχω — to hold (used in very various applications, literally or figuratively, direct or remoteVerbPresent Participle ActiveAccusative Masculine Singular
δύοdyotwoG1417
√ δύο — "two"AdjectiveAccusative Feminine Plural
χεῖραςcheirashandsG5495
√ χείρ — the hand (literally or figuratively (power)NounAccusative Feminine Plural
ἢē[and]G2228
√ ἤ — disjunctive, orConjunction
δύοdyotwoG1417
√ δύο — "two"AdjectiveAccusative Masculine Plural
πόδαςpodasfeetG4228
√ πούς — a "foot" (figuratively or literally)NounAccusative Masculine Plural
βληθῆναιblēthēnai[and] be thrownG906
√ βάλλω — to throw (in various applications, more or less violent or intense)VerbAorist Infinitive Passive
βάλλω: to throw (more or less violent or intense) Aorist infinitive passive, set against the two active imperatives earlier in the verse: either you throw (βάλε) what trips you, or you are thrown. The same verb does both jobs, and the voice is the whole difference.
εἰςeisintoG1519
√ εἰς — to or into (indicating the point reached or entered), of place, time, or (figuratively) purpose (result, etcPreposition
τὸtotheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Neuter Singular
τὸtoG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Neuter Singular
αἰώνιονaiōnioneternalG166
√ αἰώνιος — perpetual (also used of past time, or past and future as well)AdjectiveAccusative Neuter Singular
πῦρpyrfireG4442
√ πῦρ — "fire" (literally or figuratively, specially, lightning)NounAccusative Neuter Singular
πῦρ: fire (literally or figuratively) Barnes takes the phrase as “conclusive proof that the sufferings of the wicked will be eternal.” Pulpit will not define the term further than the fear it is meant to produce, and grounds his restraint in who is speaking.
9

And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

kai ei sou ho ophthalmos skandalizei se exele auton kai bale apo sou estin kalon soi eiselthein eis tēn zōēn monophthalmon ē echonta dyo ophthalmous blēthēnai eis tēn pyros tou geennan

Word by word31 · parsed
καὶkaiAndG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
εἰeiifG1487
√ εἰ — if, whether, that, etcConjunction
σουsouyourG4771
√ σύ — thouPersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive 2nd Person Singular
ὁhoG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Singular
ὀφθαλμόςophthalmoseyeG3788
√ ὀφθαλμός — the eye (literally or figuratively)NounNominative Masculine Singular
ὀφθαλμός: the eye (literally or figuratively) The last and dearest member in the series, and the one the Sermon on the Mount named first (Matthew 5:29). The eye is the organ of desire in that earlier context, which Gill makes the bridge: the same words are repeated here “on occasion of offences” that were there spoken “on account of unchaste looks, desires and lusts.”
σκανδαλίζειskandalizeicauses you to sinG4624
√ σκανδαλίζω — to entrap, iVerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
σεse. . .G4771
√ σύ — thouPersonal / Possessive PronounAccusative 2nd Person Singular
ἔξελεexelegouge it outG1807
√ ἐξαιρέω — actively, to tear outVerbAorist Imperative Active2nd Person Singular
ἐξαιρέω: actively, to tear out Aorist imperative, second person singular: addressed to one man about his own eye. Its severity is the argument. Henry's summary is the soberest available: “We must, as far as lawfully we may, part with what we cannot keep without being entangled by it in sin.”
αὐτὸνauton. . .G846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounAccusative Masculine 3rd Person Singular
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
βάλεbalethrow it awayG906
√ βάλλω — to throw (in various applications, more or less violent or intense)VerbAorist Imperative Active2nd Person Singular
ἀπὸapo. . .G575
√ ἀπό — "off," iPreposition
σοῦsou. . .G4771
√ σύ — thouPersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive 2nd Person Singular
ἐστινestinIt isG1510
√ εἰμί — I exist (used only when emphatic)VerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
καλόνkalonbetterG2570
√ καλός — X better, fair, good(-ly), honest, meet, well, worthyAdjectiveNominative Neuter Singular
σοίsoifor youG4771
√ σύ — thouPersonal / Possessive PronounDative 2nd Person Singular
εἰσελθεῖνeiseltheinto enterG1525
√ εἰσέρχομαι — to enter (literally or figuratively)VerbAorist Infinitive Active
εἰςeis. . .G1519
√ εἰς — to or into (indicating the point reached or entered), of place, time, or (figuratively) purpose (result, etcPreposition
τὴνtēnG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Feminine Singular
ζωὴνzōēnlifeG2222
√ ζωή — life (literally or figuratively)NounAccusative Feminine Singular
ζωή: life Repeated from v. 8 and again set opposite the fire. Pulpit's gloss on the whole verse is the plain sense: “It is good to be saved even with the loss of all that makes earthly life happy and precious.”
μονόφθαλμονmonophthalmonwith one eyeG3442
√ μονόφθαλμος — one-eyedAdjectiveAccusative Masculine Singular
μονόφθαλμος: one-eyed A rare compound. The Verifier ties this verse to Mark 9:47, where the same adjective and the same verb of stumbling recur in the parallel discourse.
ἢēthanG2228
√ ἤ — disjunctive, orConjunction
ἔχονταechontato haveG2192
√ ἔχω — to hold (used in very various applications, literally or figuratively, direct or remoteVerbPresent Participle ActiveAccusative Masculine Singular
δύοdyotwoG1417
√ δύο — "two"AdjectiveAccusative Masculine Plural
ὀφθαλμοὺςophthalmouseyesG3788
√ ὀφθαλμός — the eye (literally or figuratively)NounAccusative Masculine Plural
βληθῆναιblēthēnai[and] be thrownG906
√ βάλλω — to throw (in various applications, more or less violent or intense)VerbAorist Infinitive Passive
βάλλω: to throw Aorist infinitive passive again, as in v. 8: the man who will not throw away an eye is himself thrown. The pairing of the two voices of one verb across both verses is the unit's sharpest grammatical argument.
εἰςeisintoG1519
√ εἰς — to or into (indicating the point reached or entered), of place, time, or (figuratively) purpose (result, etcPreposition
τὴνtēntheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Feminine Singular
πυρόςpyrosfireG4442
√ πῦρ — "fire" (literally or figuratively, specially, lightning)NounGenitive Neuter Singular
τοῦtouofG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleGenitive Neuter Singular
γέεννανgeennanhellG1067
√ γέεννα — valley of (the son of) HinnomNounAccusative Feminine Singular
γέεννα: valley of (the son of) Hinnom Strong's own gloss is topographical, not doctrinal. The valley south of Jerusalem is where Judah burned children to Molech (Jeremiah 7:31; 19:5 to 6) and where Josiah defiled the high place of Topheth (2 Kings 23:10). Poole notes that Mark's parallel adds the refrain about the worm that does not die and the fire that is not quenched, “taken from Isaiah 66:24,” which is the prophetic end of the same valley language.

The verse-by-verse work is done. What follows gathers the whole unit. All three layers below are machine-generated (⚙). Weigh them; they have no authority.

⚙

Grand Commentary — the unit, read whole

synthesis · verify

AI synthesis — woven from the public-domain voices above and the original text; generated and fallible.

i. The trap-stick and the donkey's stone — 18:6

The unit turns on one Greek word. σκανδαλίζω (G4624), whose noun Strong's glosses as “a trap-stick (bent sapling),” sounds six times in four verses, and BSB needs four different renderings for it (“causes to stumble,” “causes of sin,” “stumbling blocks,” “causes you to sin”), with the third instance in v. 7 reduced to “they.” Pulpit keeps the physical picture: to offend is to give occasion for a fall, whether “in faith or morals,” done “by evil example, by teaching to sin, by sneers at piety, by giving soft names to gross offences.” Against that, the sentence: συμφέρει, a present indicative of commercial advantage, which Pulpit renders “literally, it is profitable.” The stone is μύλος ὀνικός, the beast-driven mill's stone, and here the sources agree on the philology and divide on the history. Ellicott says the penalty “was not recognised in the Jewish law,” but was used among Greeks and Romans and, on Jerome's report, in Galilee; Gill lists Israel's four capital penalties and answers Jerome's claim with “but this does not appear”; Poole thinks the question “is of no great moment,” since “the phrase signifieth a certain destruction, both in regard of the weight of the stone and the depth of the sea.” Ellicott and Pulpit add the detail that made the image dreadful to ancient hearers: the stone kept the body from surfacing, so there was no burial. Whom is being protected is also contested. Gill argues the “little ones” “cannot be said of infants,” since infants are “not capable of offence,” and reads adult disciples despised by the world; Pulpit allows “child or adult, a pure, simple soul”; Barnes reads believers who show the temper of children. What all can agree on is the participle: they are those “believing into Me,” and Pulpit presses the preposition until it yields a doctrine, that believing εἰς a person “is applied to faith in God alone,” so that here “the phrase implies the Divinity of Christ.”

ii. Two cries and one necessity — 18:7

The same interjection, οὐαί, is spoken twice in one verse with two different tones, and Ellicott separates them: the first is “one of sorrow as well as denunciation, and here the former meaning is predominant, as the latter is in the next clause of the verse.” Pulpit reads the pair identically, the first as a cry of pity for a world in danger and the second as “a denunciation of the sinner as being responsible for the evil which he introduces.” Between the cries stands ἀνάγκη, a noun rather than BSB's modal “must,” and this is where the unit's hardest question sits. The commentary tradition in our brief holds the two halves together rather than choosing. Pulpit: “This is not an absolute, but a relative, necessity”; Benson: “Such is the nature of things, and such the weakness, folly, and wickedness of mankind, that it cannot be but they will come”; Henry: “God permits them for wise and holy ends, that those who are sincere, and those who are not, may be made known”; Poole: “God hath so ordered it in the wisdom of his providence, that he will not restrain the lusts of all men’s hearts”. Gill then closes the door that a doctrine of permission might seem to open: God overrules the offences for his glory, and “this is no thanks to them; and as it does not in the least extenuate their crime, it will not abate the severity of their punishment.” Geneva's marginal note (3) states the working rule in one line, that a good man cannot help but experience offences yet must never offer one, and its gloss (c) supplies the definition of the noun itself. Cambridge marks the structural turn the verse makes: from hindrances to “the faith of Christ’s little ones” to “offences in general.” That turn is what licenses the next two verses.

iii. Cut, throw, enter: the same verbs in two voices — 18:8-9

Having forbidden the tripping of others, the Lord commands amputation of whatever trips you, and he uses the same verb (σκανδαλίζει, present indicative, “is tripping you”) for both, so that the two halves of the unit are one argument. Ellicott notes what makes this more than a repeat of the Sermon on the Mount: the same words, now “addressed not to the multitude but to the Twelve, gave them a new and solemn emphasis.” Pulpit adds that the foot is new to this version, and that “enter into life” is new as well. The grammar carries the sermon. ἔκκοψον and βάλε in v. 8, ἔξελε and βάλε in v. 9, are aorist imperatives, decisive and active; the closing βληθῆναι in both verses is the same verb of throwing in the aorist passive. You throw, or you are thrown. Pulpit reads the members as standing for whatever is as dear, including persons: the dearest friends must be parted from if their presence or habits encourage evil acts, and “ties the nearest must be snapped asunder,” and he reports Olshausen's suggestion that hand and foot may name mental powers whose over-cultivation obstructs the soul. Barnes forbids a wooden inference: the resurrection body “will be perfect,” and the maiming is figure, not forecast. On the fire the sources hold a line. Barnes: the phrase is “conclusive proof that the sufferings of the wicked will be eternal.” Pulpit refuses to minimize “aeonian,” but grounds his refusal in the speaker rather than the lexicon, since the words come from “the loving and pitiful Saviour.” And under “hell” lies a place name: Strong's glosses γέεννα as the “valley of (the son of) Hinnom,” and Poole records that Mark's added refrain about the undying worm is “taken from Isaiah 66:24.”

Read under Sola Scriptura — this tool’s own fallible reading (⚙)

⚙ Read as one argument, these four verses make a single claim that our usual two readings (a warning about child abuse, a warning about personal sin) each get half of. The hinge is that σκανδαλίζω is used of the offender in v. 6 and of the disciple's own hand in v. 8. The same offence is in view from both sides: a foot on the road, and something laid where it will fall. So the Lord's logic runs: your body is to your soul what you are to the little one beside you. Whatever you would deserve a millstone for doing to them, you must be willing to cut off your own hand rather than do to yourself. That reading makes v. 7 necessary rather than parenthetical. If traps are a standing feature of the world (Pulpit's relative necessity, Benson's “nature of things”), then no one can protect the weak by clearing the world of traps; the only available obedience is to refuse to be a channel (v. 7) and to amputate one's own (vv. 8 and 9). ⚙ We also notice, and offer with less confidence, the accounting language. συμφέρει in v. 6 and καλόν ἐστιν in vv. 8 and 9 are both words of profit and good, and all three sentences are cost comparisons: a drowning is cheap, a hand is cheap, an eye is cheap, measured against the fire. Nothing in this passage says the price is light. It says the alternative is heavier. Where we would restrain ourselves from any claim: the brief gives us no Septuagint data, so we do not assert a lexical bridge from these σκάνδαλα to the stumbling block of Leviticus 19:14, however strongly the motif matches. Test all of this against the text.

Your own hand is the little one nearest you: this line is our synthesis, not Scripture.

⚙

Canonical Threads — out to the whole of Scripture

cross-refs · verify

AI-generated connections. Each carries a verification badge with a recorded basis; contested links are flagged.

The saying already spoken on the mountain structural / thematic: confirmed

Almost every commentator in our brief sends the reader to Matthew 5:29 and 30, and the Verifier confirms a real lexical overlap: σκανδαλίζω (G4624) and the rarer συμφέρω (G4851). Ellicott explains the difference in force, that the words are now aimed at the Twelve rather than the crowd; Pulpit notes that the earlier context was the seventh commandment while here the subject is “offences in general”; Gill says the repetition shows that tripping a disciple “is equally gratifying the flesh” as the unchaste look. We decline the verbal tier: this is one author reusing his own saying with variation (foot and “enter into life” added), and no citation formula is present.

Matthew 5:29 · Matthew 5:30

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexemes G4624 σκανδαλίζω (in 27 vv), G4851 συμφέρω (in 17 vv), G1520 εἷς (in 288 vv); deliberate intra-Gospel reuse of one saying, not a quotation of one text by another

The same discourse in Mark and Luke structural / thematic: confirmed

JFB gives no exposition at Matthew 18 at all, referring the reader to Mark 9:33 to 50; Poole quotes Mark 9:37 and 9:42 at length; Cambridge heads the section with Mark 9:43 to 48; Barnes and Gill cross-refer likewise. The Verifier finds the shared lexemes but they are common ones (θάλασσα, πιστεύω, μικρός for Mark 9:42; σκανδαλίζω, εἰσέρχομαι for Mark 9:43 to 47), so we record this as a synoptic parallel rather than a quotation. Pulpit adds that Luke inverts the order of our vv. 6 and 7, and Ellicott notes that Mark and Luke place John's complaint about the exorcist here, which may be part of the sequence of thought.

Mark 9:42 · Mark 9:43 · Mark 9:45 · Mark 9:47 · Luke 17:1 · Luke 17:2

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexemes G4624 σκανδαλίζω (in 27 vv), G1525 εἰσέρχομαι (in 184 vv), G2281 θάλασσα (in 83 vv), G3398 μικρός (in 43 vv), G4100 πιστεύω (in 217 vv); frequencies too common to claim a quotation, and no citation formula: a parallel report of one discourse

The only other man who begins to sink verbal / quotation: confirmed

καταποντίζω (G2670) stands in exactly two verses of the New Testament: here, as the fate that would be a mercy, and Matthew 14:30, where Peter, beginning to sink, cries out and is taken by the hand. The companion rarity in this verse behaves the same way: πέλαγος (G3989), the open sea, occurs only here and at Acts 27:5. The Verifier computes both links. We claim the verbal fact and no more: two words, two verses each, all within the Greek New Testament. What is made of the coincidence (see the Christ section) is our own reading, not the Verifier's.

Matthew 14:30 · Acts 27:5

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexeme G2670 καταποντίζω (in 2 vv) with Matthew 14:30, and G3989 πέλαγος (in 2 vv) with Acts 27:5; both rare, both NT, so a verbal link is defensible while no quotation is claimed

A great millstone thrown into the sea verbal / quotation: confirmed

μύλος (G3458) is a five-verse word. Besides this verse it appears at Matthew 24:41 (two women grinding), Revelation 18:21 and 18:22. At Revelation 18:21 a mighty angel takes up a stone like a great millstone and throws it into the sea, declaring that Babylon will be found no more, and 18:22 says the sound of the millstone will not be heard in her again. The Verifier confirms the shared lexeme together with θάλασσα. We record the verbal tie between the two sea-thrown millstones and note, without claiming it as the Verifier's finding, that the image in both places is of a sentence from which nothing surfaces.

Revelation 18:21 · Revelation 18:22 · Matthew 24:41

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexemes G3458 μύλος (in 5 vv, rare) and G2281 θάλασσα (in 83 vv) with Revelation 18:21; G3458 with Revelation 18:22 and Matthew 24:41; all NT, so no cross-Testament problem and no quotation asserted

Sinking like a stone: the Hebrew background of the image structural / thematic: confirmed

Israel already sang of enemies who “sank like a stone” and “sank like lead in the mighty waters” at the Red Sea (Exodus 15:5 and 15:10), and Jeremiah was told to tie a stone to the scroll of Babylon's doom and throw it into the Euphrates so that it would sink and not rise (Jeremiah 51:63 to 64); Abimelech was killed by a millstone dropped from a wall (Judges 9:53). Gill independently reaches for this Hebrew world when he glosses πέλαγος by the idiom “the heart of the sea,” citing Isaiah 51:10 and the Targum at Psalm 46:3 and Exodus 15:8. No verbal claim is possible: Greek and Hebrew share no Strong's numbers, and our brief supplies no Septuagint data. The motif, a weighted sinking as a sentence that cannot be reversed, is the whole of the link.

Exodus 15:5 · Exodus 15:10 · Jeremiah 51:63 · Jeremiah 51:64 · Judges 9:53

basis: Cross-Testament (Greek to Hebrew): no shared Strong's lexeme is computable, so no verbal tier is available. Basis is a shared motif (a stone-weighted sinking as irreversible judgment) plus Gill's own appeal to the Hebrew idiom “the heart of the sea” at this verse

Do not put a stumbling block before the blind structural / thematic: confirmed

The law already criminalized what v. 6 condemns: a stumbling block laid before the blind, with the fear of God attached (Leviticus 19:14), and Deuteronomy 27:18 puts a curse on the man who misleads the blind on the road. The prophets turn the same noun toward idols and toward God himself: the stumbling blocks of iniquity set up in the heart (Ezekiel 14:3 to 4), and the stone of stumbling and rock of offence at Isaiah 8:14. Poole's expansion of “offending” as “the laying of a stumbling block before any” is the same legal image. Again, no shared Strong's number is possible across the Testaments, and we make no Septuagint claim, so the basis is the motif alone: a hazard deliberately placed where a vulnerable person will walk.

Leviticus 19:14 · Deuteronomy 27:18 · Ezekiel 14:3 · Ezekiel 14:4 · Isaiah 8:14

basis: Cross-Testament (Greek to Hebrew): shared Strong's numbers are impossible, so a verbal tier is excluded on principle. Basis: the shared legal and prophetic motif of a stumbling block deliberately placed before the weak, matching Poole's gloss of σκάνδαλον at this verse

Woe: the prophetic form Jesus is using structural / thematic: confirmed

The doubled οὐαί of v. 7 is not a new coinage but a prophetic genre: the serial woes over the land-grabbers and the drunkards of Isaiah 5:8 to 22, and the five woes of Habakkuk 2:6 to 19 over the plunderer and the maker of idols. Ellicott's observation that the cry holds sorrow and denunciation together describes the prophetic oracle exactly. We record this as form, not wording: no lexical basis is computable across the Testaments, and no citation is made in the text.

Isaiah 5:8 · Isaiah 5:22 · Habakkuk 2:6 · Habakkuk 2:19

basis: Cross-Testament (Greek to Hebrew): no shared Strong's lexeme computable, so never verbal. Basis: shared oracle form (serial woe pronounced over a class of offenders), which Ellicott's reading of the double οὐαί presupposes

Woe to the man through whom: the formula returns over Judas structural / thematic: confirmed

Matthew uses this exact construction once more, at Matthew 26:24, where the Son of Man goes as it is written, “but woe to that man through whom the Son of Man is betrayed.” The shape is identical to v. 7: an acknowledged necessity, then a woe on the individual channel, with no contradiction admitted between them. We checked the pair directly, and the Verifier returns structural rather than verbal, since the shared lexemes (οὐαί, ἄνθρωπος, διά) are common. That is the honest tier, and it is still the closest internal parallel in the Gospel to the theological problem of v. 7.

Matthew 26:24

basis: Verifier pair check (Matthew 18:7 to Matthew 26:24): shared Greek lexemes G3759 οὐαί (in 35 vv), G444 ἄνθρωπος (in 498 vv), G1223 διά (in 600 vv); the Verifier's own computed tier is structural, since no shared lexeme is rare

The maimed who were carried to his feet verbal / quotation: confirmed

κυλλός (G2948), “maimed,” is a four-verse word, and two of the four are Matthew 15:30 and 15:31, where crowds lay the lame, the blind, the mute and the maimed at Jesus' feet and he heals them, so that the maimed are made whole. The Verifier confirms the shared lexeme together with χωλός, “lame” (G5560, in 14 vv). So Matthew has used this rare adjective of people Jesus restored, and now records Jesus saying it is good to enter life in that very condition. The verbal link is certain; the irony is our reading, and we say so.

Matthew 15:30 · Matthew 15:31

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexemes G2948 κυλλός (in 4 vv, rare) and G5560 χωλός (in 14 vv); both refs in Matthew, so intra-Testament, and no quotation is claimed, only a rare-word link

Cut down and thrown into the fire: the Baptist's axe structural / thematic: confirmed

ἐκκόπτω (G1581), the verb of v. 8's “cut it off,” stands in only ten verses, and at Matthew 3:10 and its Lukan twin Luke 3:9 it is the axe at the root: every tree not bearing good fruit is cut down and thrown into fire. The Verifier records the shared lexeme along with πῦρ (G4442) and καλός (G2570). The pairing of verbs is the same in both places, cut and throw into fire, and the difference is who holds the axe. In the Baptist's preaching judgment wields it; here the disciple is told to wield it on himself, which is the mercy hidden inside the severity. We do not claim the verbal tier: ten verses is not rare enough to carry it, and neither text cites the other.

Matthew 3:10 · Luke 3:9

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexemes G1581 ἐκκόπτω (in 10 vv), G4442 πῦρ (in 69 vv), G2570 καλός (in 90 vv); downgraded from verbal on our own judgment, since ten verses is not rare enough to carry a verbal claim and no citation formula is present: the recorded link is the shared cut-and-throw-into-fire pattern

Gehenna and the fire that is not quenched structural / thematic: confirmed

Strong's gloss for γέεννα (G1067) is not doctrinal but geographical: “valley of (the son of) Hinnom.” That valley is where Judah built the high places of Topheth to burn its children (Jeremiah 7:31 to 32; 19:5 to 6) and where Josiah defiled Topheth so that no one could do it again (2 Kings 23:10). The prophetic close of the same imagery is Isaiah 66:24, where the worm does not die and the fire is not quenched; Poole records that Mark's threefold refrain in the parallel passage is “taken from Isaiah 66:24,” and Pulpit ties v. 9's phrase to the unquenchable fire of Matthew 3:12. The link is by place and motif, not by lexeme: cross-Testament, so no verbal tier is available, and Poole's citation concerns Mark's added words rather than Matthew's text here.

Isaiah 66:24 · 2 Kings 23:10 · Jeremiah 7:31 · Jeremiah 7:32 · Jeremiah 19:5 · Jeremiah 19:6

basis: Cross-Testament (Greek to Hebrew): no shared Strong's number possible. Basis: the Strong's gloss of G1067 γέεννα as the valley of the son of Hinnom, which is the place named in 2 Kings 23:10 and Jeremiah 7:31 to 32 and 19:5 to 6, plus Poole's own attribution of the unquenched-fire refrain to Isaiah 66:24

The stumbling blocks gathered out of the kingdom (unconfirmed) flagged: verify source

⚙ We expected a strong internal parallel at Matthew 13:41 and 42, where the Son of Man sends his angels to gather out of his kingdom everything that causes sin, together with those who practise lawlessness, and to throw them into the furnace of fire: the same noun of this unit, apparently, plus the same act of throwing into fire that closes vv. 8 and 9. We checked the pair ourselves, and the Verifier answered that no shared original-language lexeme was found in its index, so the link we expected is not confirmed by the tool we rely on. We therefore record it as flagged rather than quietly asserting it. Either our expectation about the wording of 13:41 is wrong, or the index is incomplete at that verse; we have not resolved which, and no commentator in our brief draws the connection.

Matthew 13:41 · Matthew 13:42

basis: Verifier pair check (Matthew 18:8 to Matthew 13:41) returned no shared original-language lexeme in the index, so the connection is unverified: offered as an observation to be checked against the Greek text, not as a recorded basis

⚙Christ in the Unittypology · verify

AI-generated reading; weigh it against the text.

To trip one of them is to lay hands on him ancient/widely-held

The reason a millstone is the cheaper outcome is not the value of childhood in general but the object of the little one's faith: they are “the ones believing into Me.” Poole draws the line the tradition has always drawn here, that Christ “here cometh to show the care which he in his providence will take for them; that their friends shall be his friends, and their enemies his enemies,” and he sends the reader to Matthew 25:34 to 46, where what is done to the least is done to the King. Pulpit notes that Christ affectionately calls his disciples little ones at Matthew 10:42, where a cup of cold water given to one of them is not overlooked. Gill reads the offended as those “despised, their ministry rejected, and they reproached and persecuted” for Christ's sake, which is the same identification from the other direction. ⚙ Our own extension, offered as such: this is why the risen Christ can ask Saul why he is being persecuted (Acts 9:4). The identification is the oldest reading of this verse and is not novel with us.

Matthew 25:40 · Matthew 10:42 · Acts 9:4

The sentence of sinking, and the hand that reached it novel

⚙ A fallible reading built on a certain verbal fact. καταποντίζω (G2670) occurs twice in the New Testament. Here it is the sentence a man would be better off suffering; at Matthew 14:30 it is what actually happens to Peter, who begins to sink, cries out, and is immediately caught by Jesus' hand. Four chapters later Peter is standing in the room where this is said, and the man who has felt the water close over him hears his Lord say that drowning would be a bargain. ⚙ We do not claim Matthew intended the echo, and no commentator in our brief draws it; the lexical rarity is the Verifier's, the reading is ours. But if the echo holds, it says something the passage otherwise only implies: the one who pronounces the sentence of the open sea is the one whose hand goes into the water after the sinking man. The warning and the rescue are spoken by the same voice.

Matthew 14:30 · Matthew 14:31

Better to enter life maimed, from the one who entered it pierced novel

⚙ Matthew uses the rare word κυλλός (“maimed,” four verses in all) at 15:30 and 15:31 of people carried to Jesus and made whole, and then at 18:8 of the condition in which it is good to enter life. Christ does not maim anyone in this Gospel; he unmaims them. The amputation is therefore not his method but his measure: he is telling disciples what a hand is worth when weighed against the fire, and Barnes is right that no forecast about the resurrection body is intended, since that body “will be perfect” (1 Corinthians 15:42 to 44). ⚙ Our reading, and we mark it as ours: the one body in the Gospel that is actually given up to hands and feet and fire-language is his own, and it is given so that the hands and feet of the little ones need not be. The command to cut off is severe because he does not treat his own body as exempt from the arithmetic he teaches.

Matthew 15:30 · Matthew 15:31 · 1 Corinthians 15:42

The necessity, the woe, and the stone that men stumble over ancient/widely-held

Verse 7 says two things at once: the traps must come, and woe to the man through whom they come. Matthew says the same two things once more, at 26:24, over the betrayal: the Son of Man goes as it was written, and woe to that man. Our own Verifier check of that pair returns a structural rather than verbal link, so we claim the theological shape and not the wording. ⚙ The shape is that the necessity runs straight through the cross, and the guilt of the channel is not thereby reduced, which is exactly the balance Gill insists on at v. 7 (God overrules, and “this is no thanks to them”). The apostolic writers then take the noun of this passage and apply it to Christ himself: Isaiah's stone of stumbling and rock of offence (Isaiah 8:14) is read of him at 1 Peter 2:8. ⚙ That last step is not sourced in our brief and the lexical bridge is not computable here, so we offer it as the received apostolic reading rather than as a verified link: the world's worst σκάνδαλον turned out to be the Savior, and the offence men took at him is the one offence that saves those who do not take it.

Matthew 26:24 · Isaiah 8:14 · 1 Peter 2:8

Apparatus & Provenance

The biblical text is the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain (CC0). Hebrew/Greek text, transliteration, morphology and Strong’s are transcribed from the Berean interlinear (CC0) + Strong’s lexicons (PD); the literal renderings, divergence notes, word notes and all synthesis are this tool’s own work (⚙) — fallible; verify them.

Named voices, quoted verbatim from public-domain works:

  • Albert Barnes, Notes on the Bible (1834)
  • Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges, — (1880s)
  • Charles Ellicott, Commentary for English Readers (1878)
  • Geneva Study Bible, Marginal Notes (1599)
  • John Gill, Exposition of the Entire Bible (1746–63)
  • Joseph Benson, Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1810s)
  • Matthew Henry, Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible (1706)
  • Matthew Poole, Annotations upon the Holy Bible (1685)
  • The Pulpit Commentary, Spence & Exell, eds. (1880s)

Text: BSB (CC0) with the Berean interlinear and Strong's numbers as supplied in our brief. Two artifacts of that interlinear should be noted rather than smoothed over. At Matthew 18:8 the accusative article τό is listed twice (indices 36 and 37) before αἰώνιον πῦρ; the Greek phrase is τὸ πῦρ τὸ αἰώνιον, one article per member, so the duplicate is a listing artifact. At Matthew 18:9 indices 27 to 30 are given out of Greek order (article, “fire,” article, “hell”); the phrase is τὴν γέενναν τοῦ πυρός, “the Gehenna of the fire,” which is the reverse of BSB's “the fire of hell.” Our literal lines follow the interlinear's own order except at these two points, where we follow the Greek; at Matthew 18:6 we also restore the opening particle chain to ὃς δ’ ἂν, which the index lists as δ’, ἂν, Ὃς.

Sources: ten commentators were available. JFB supplies no exposition at Matthew 18 at all, only the chapter heading and a referral to Mark 9:33 to 50, so no JFB voice is quoted here; that absence is the source's, not an omission of ours. Poole's annotation on vv. 7 to 9 is filed under v. 9 in our brief, with v. 8 carrying only a referral to his note on Matthew 18:9. Cambridge is very brief, and its note on vv. 8 and 9 is only a cross-reference to Matthew 5:29 and 30. Gill's entry on v. 6 is capped in our brief (584 characters of rabbinic material on the millstone proverb follow the cap); we judged the remainder unnecessary to the claims made here and did not open it, which means our account of Gill's rabbinic parallels is incomplete by choice.

Uncertain: (1) whether drowning with a millstone was ever a Jewish penalty. Ellicott reports Jerome's claim that it was practised in Galilee and thinks Roman use against the followers of Judas of Galilee likely; Gill answers that “this does not appear”; Poole says the question is of no great moment. We have not adjudicated it. (2) Whether “little ones” means children, adult believers, or both. Gill argues for adults only, Pulpit and Barnes for either, and the child of v. 2 is still present in the scene; we have left the ambiguity standing. (3) The force of αἰώνιος. Barnes takes the phrase as conclusive proof of eternal suffering; Pulpit refuses to define it further while refusing equally to minimize it. We record both and assert neither beyond what the word list supports. (4) No formula quotation of the Old Testament occurs in these four verses. Every Old Testament thread above is therefore tiered structural or typological, and no cross-Testament link is tiered verbal, since Greek and Hebrew share no Strong's numbers and our brief provides no Septuagint data. Where a link is ours rather than the Verifier's or a commentator's, the body says so. ⚙ marks our synthesis, which is fallible and offered to be tested.

✦ = human, public-domain source, quoted and named. ⚙ = machine synthesis, to be verified. Flagged cross-references are left visible on purpose — the verifier working in the open. “Search the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:11)