What Does Matthew 18:6 Mean?
But whoever causes one of these little ones who lean their weight into me to stumble, it is better for him that a donkey's millstone be hung about his neck, and that he be sunk down into the deep of the sea.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
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 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.
“causes ... to stumble” in this verse is skandalisē. 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 to the world for its snares! For they must come; but woe to that man through whom the snare comes!So let us no longer judge one another, but judge this instead, that no one sets a stone to strike against, or a trap, in his brother's way.But watch, lest somehow this right of yours become a stone for the weak to stumble over.THE THREAD
And whoever causes one of these little ones who lean their full weight into me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown 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.
This reading is from Selah Verse.
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