What Does Matthew 18:6 Mean in the King James?
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.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The word “offend” carries the image of placing a trap in another’s path, making the verse’s concern more than hurt feelings: it is the endangerment of someone who trusts.
THE MEANING
Causing even one of these little ones who trust Jesus to stumble carries a consequence so grave that drowning with a millstone is named as the better fate. The verse treats harm to the trusting and vulnerable as catastrophic.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse overturns the belief that harm to a trusting, vulnerable person is a small offense with a small cost.
THE ROOT
σκανδαλίσῃ
skandalisē
GROWS FROM
σκάνδαλον
skándalon
A snare or trap-trigger; an obstacle that catches a foot and brings a fall.
English “offend” can sound like causing displeasure. The Greek word also carries the image of ensnaring or making someone stumble, so the verse includes endangering another’s trust, not merely upsetting them.
ALSO GROWS
skándalon: A snare, trap, or stumbling block.
σκάνδαλον
The noun names the trap-like obstacle implicit in the verse’s image of making someone stumble.
skandalizō: To cause to stumble or ensnare.
σκανδαλίζω
This related verb shows that “offending” can mean putting another in the path of a fall, beyond provoking displeasure.
THE PATTERN
Influence becomes dangerous when it turns another person’s trust into a stumbling point.
Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh!Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother’s way.But take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumblingblock to them that are weak.THE THREAD
And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea.Mark uses the same Greek verb for “offend,” preserving the image of causing a trusting little one to stumble and the millstone warning. The parallel keeps the severity attached to the harm itself.
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