Matius 18:15-17

Restoring Christian Relationships

18:15 “If ¹  your brother ²  sins, ³  go and show him his fault ⁴  when the two of you are alone. If he listens to you, you have regained your brother. 18:16 But if he does not listen, take one or two others with you, so that at the testimony of two or three witnesses every matter may be established. ⁵  18:17 If ⁶  he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. If ⁷  he refuses to listen to the church, treat him like ⁸  a Gentile ⁹  or a tax collector. ¹⁰ 

Matius 18:1

Questions About the Greatest

18:1 At that time the disciples came to Jesus saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”

1 Korintus 5:11

5:11 But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who calls himself a Christian ¹¹  who is sexually immoral, or greedy, or an idolater, or verbally abusive, ¹²  or a drunkard, or a swindler. Do not even eat with such a person.

1 Korintus 5:2

5:2 And you are proud! ¹³  Shouldn’t you have been deeply sorrowful instead and removed the one who did this ¹⁴  from among you?

1 Tesalonika 3:6

3:6 But now Timothy has come ¹⁵  to us from you and given us the good news of your faith and love and that you always think of us with affection ¹⁶  and long to see us just as we also long to see you! ¹⁷ 

1 Tesalonika 3:1-2

3:1 So when we could bear it no longer, we decided to stay on in Athens ¹⁸  alone. 3:2 We ¹⁹  sent Timothy, our brother and fellow worker for God ²⁰  in the gospel of Christ, to strengthen you and encourage you about your faith,

1 Timotius 3:5

3:5 But if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for the church of God?

Titus 3:10

3:10 Reject a divisive person after one or two warnings.

Titus 3:2

3:2 They must not slander ²¹  anyone, but be peaceable, gentle, showing complete courtesy to all people.

Yohanes 1:10

1:10 He was in the world, and the world was created ²²  by him, but ²³  the world did not recognize ²⁴  him.

[18:15]  ¹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated. All the “if” clauses in this paragraph are third class conditions in Greek.

[18:15]  ² tn The Greek term “brother” can mean “fellow believer” or “fellow Christian” (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 2.a) whether male or female. It can also refer to siblings, though here it is used in a broader sense to connote familial relationships within the family of God. Therefore, because of the familial connotations, “brother” has been retained in the translation here in preference to the more generic “fellow believer” (“fellow Christian” would be anachronistic in this context).

[18:15]  ³ tc ‡ The earliest and best witnesses lack “against you” after “if your brother sins.” It is quite possible that the shorter reading in these witnesses (א B, as well as 0281 ˹ 579 pc sa) occurred when scribes either intentionally changed the text (to make it more universal in application) or unintentionally changed the text (owing to the similar sound of the end of the verb ἁμαρτήσῃ [Jamarthsh] and the prepositional phrase εἰς σέ [eis se]). However, if the mss were normally copied by sight rather than by sound, especially in the early centuries of Christianity, such an unintentional change is not as likely for these mss. And since scribes normally added material rather than deleted it for intentional changes, on balance, the shorter reading appears to be original. NA²⁷ includes the words in brackets, indicating doubts as to their authenticity.

[18:15]  ⁴ tn Grk “go reprove him.”

[18:16]  ⁵ sn A quotation from Deut 19:15.

[18:17]  ⁶ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[18:17]  ⁷ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[18:17]  ⁸ tn Grk “let him be to you as.”

[18:17]  ⁹ tn Or “a pagan.”

[18:17]  ¹⁰ sn To treat him like a Gentile or a tax collector means not to associate with such a person. See the note on tax collectors in 5:46.

[5:11]  ¹¹ tn Grk “a brother,” but the Greek word “brother” may be used for “brother or sister,” “fellow Christian,” or “fellow member of the church.” Here the term “brother” broadly connotes familial relationships within the family of God (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 2.a).

[5:11]  ¹² tn Or “a reviler”; BDAG 602 s.v. λοίδορος defines the term as “reviler, abusive person.”

[5:2]  ¹³ tn Or “are puffed up/arrogant,” the same verb occurring in 4:6, 18.

[5:2]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “sorrowful, so that the one who did this might be removed.”

[3:6]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “but now Timothy having come,” a subordinate clause leading to the main clause of v. 7.

[3:6]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “you have a good remembrance of us always.”

[3:6]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “just as also we you.”

[3:1]  ¹⁸ map For location see JP1 C2; JP2 C2; JP3 C2; JP4 C2.

[3:2]  ¹⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[3:2]  ²⁰ tc A variety of readings occurs in this verse. Instead of “and fellow worker for God” (καὶ συνεργὸν τοῦ θεοῦ, kai sunergon tou qeou), B has “and fellow worker” (καὶ συνεργόν); א A P Ψ 0278 6 81 629* 1241 1739 1881 2464 lat co read “and servant of God” (καὶ διάκονον τοῦ θεοῦ, kai diakonon tou qeou); D² Ï and a few versional witnesses read “and a servant of God and our fellow worker” (καὶ διάκονον τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ συνεργὸν ἡμῶν); and F G have “servant and fellow worker for God” (διάκονον καὶ συνεργὸν τοῦ θεοῦ). The reading of the text (καὶ συνεργὸν τοῦ θεοῦ) is found in D* 33 b {d m o} Ambst {Pel}. It may be argued that all readings that do not collocate συνεργόν with θεοῦ are secondary, as this is certainly the harder reading. Indeed, in only one other place in the NT are human beings said to be συνεργοὶ θεοῦ (sunergoi qeou; 1 Cor 3:9), and the simplest (though by no means the only) interpretation is that the genitive should be taken associatively (“a fellow worker in association with God”). It is difficult to account for συνεργὸν τοῦ θεοῦ here unless it is authentic because of the theological difficulty that would be easily seen in this wording. A genealogy of the readings suggests that various scribes may have deleted τοῦ θεοῦ or swapped διάκονον for συνεργόν to remove the offense. The readings of the Byzantine text and two Western mss (F G) appear to be conflations of earlier readings, but the reading of F G nevertheless indirectly supports καὶ συνεργὸν τοῦ θεοῦ since it does not remove the offense. Although the witnesses for καὶ συνεργὸν τοῦ θεοῦ are minimal, the internal evidence is quite strong in favor of this reading. With hesitation, it is adopted as authentic.

[3:2]  tn Although 1 Thess 3:2 is frequently understood to mean that Timothy is “God’s fellow worker,” such a view assumes that the genitive θεοῦ (qeou) is associative for it is related to συνεργόν (sunergon). However, a genitive of association is not required by the syntax (cf. ExSyn 130).

[3:2]  ²¹ tn Or “discredit,” “damage the reputation of.”

[1:10]  ²² tn Or “was made”; Grk “came into existence.”

[1:10]  ²³ tn Grk “and,” but in context this is an adversative use of καί (kai) and is thus translated “but.”

[1:10]  ²⁴ tn Or “know.”