Expositor's Greek Testament (Nicoll)

Matthew 18:6

σκανδαλίσῃ : the opposite of receiving; treating harshly and contemptuously, so as to tempt to unbelief and apostasy. The pride and selfish ambition of those who pass for eminent Christians make many infidels. ἕνα τ. μ. τ.: one of the large class of little ones; not merely child believers surely, but all of whom a child is the emblem, as regards social or ecclesiastical importance. Those who are caused to stumble are always little ones: “majores enim scandala non recipiunt,” Jerome. One of them: “frequens unius in hoc capite mentio,” Bengel. This is the one text in which Jesus speaks of Himself as the object of faith (vide The Kingdom of God, p. 263). συμφέρει … ἵνα : vide on Matthew 5:29. Fritzsche finds here an instance of attraction similar to that in Matthew 10:25 καὶ ὁ δοῦλος, ὡς ὁ κ. α. Instead of saying συμφέρει α. κρεμασθῆναι … ἵνα καταποντισθῇ, the writer puts both verbs in the subjunctive after ἵνα. μύλος ὀνικὸς. The Greeks called the upper millstone ὄνος the ass (ὁ ἀνῶτερος λίθος, Hesychius), but they did not use the adjective ὀνικὸς. The meaning therefore is a millstone driven by an ass, i.e., a large one, as distinct from smaller-sized ones driven by the hand, commonly used in Hebrew houses in ancient times. “Let such a large stone be hung about the neck of the offender to make sure that he sink to the bottom to rise no more” such is the thought of Jesus; strong in conception and expression, revealing intense abhorrence. ἐν τῷ πελάγει τ. θ.: in the deep part of the sea. So Kypke, who gives examples; another significantly strong phrase. Both these expressions have been toned down by Luke. καταποντισθῇ : drowning was not a form of capital punishment in use among the Jews. The idea may have been suggested by the word denoting the offence, σκανδαλίσῃ. Bengel remarks: “apposita locutio in sermone de scandalo, nam ad lapidem offensio est” = “let the man who puts a stone in the path of a brother have a stone hung about his neck,” etc. Lightfoot suggests as the place of drowning the Dead Sea, in whose waters nothing would sink without a weight attached to it, and in which to be drowned was a mark of execration.

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Expositor's Greek Testament (Nicoll)

Matthew 18:6

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