It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea, rather than that he should cause one of these little ones to stumble.
Parallel Translations
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It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea, rather than that he should cause one of these little ones to stumble.
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It were better for him that a mylstone were hanged aboute his necke and that he were cast into ye see then that he shuld offende one of this lytleons.
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It is better for him that a great milstone were hanged about his necke, and that he were cast into ye sea, then that he should offende one of these litle ones.
Cross-references (8)
Passages linked to Luke 17:2 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Mark 9:42 Whoever will cause one of these little ones who believe in me to stumble, it would be better for him if he were thrown into the sea with a millstone hung around his neck.
- Matthew 18:14 Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.
- Matthew 18:3-6 and said, “Most certainly I tell you, unless you turn, and become as little children, you will in no way enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. Whoever therefore humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. Whoever receives one such little child in my name receives me, but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to stumble, it would be better for him if a huge millstone were hung around his neck, and that he were sunk in the depths of the sea.
- Matthew 18:10 See that you don’t despise one of these little ones, for I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.
- 1 Corinthians 8:11-12 And through your knowledge, he who is weak perishes, the brother for whose sake Christ died. Thus, sinning against the brothers, and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ.
- Matthew 26:24 The Son of Man goes, even as it is written of him, but woe to that man through whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would be better for that man if he had not been born.”
- 1 Corinthians 9:22 To the weak I became as weak, that I might gain the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I may by all means save some.
- 2 Peter 2:1-3 But false prophets also arose among the people, as false teachers will also be among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, denying even the Master who bought them, bringing on themselves swift destruction. Many will follow their immoral ways, and as a result, the way of the truth will be maligned. In covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words: whose sentence now from of old doesn’t linger, and their destruction will not slumber.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (9 sources)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 2 It were better for him that a millstone…
2 It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones.
Ver. 2. {See Trapp on "Mat 18:6"} {See Trapp on "Mat 18:7"}
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain It were better for him that a millstone,.... See…
It were better for him that a millstone,.... See Gill on Mat 18:6 and See Gill on Mar 9:42.
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Luke 17:3
luk 17:3
luk 17:3
luk 17:3Take heed to yourselves..... Or to one another, that ye neither give, nor take offence. Take heed to your spirits, to your doctrines, walk, and conversation, that you give no offence to any, that you are not stumbled by what you shall see in, and meet with from others:
if thy brother trespass against thee; See Gill on Mat 18:15.
rebuke him; privately, and proceed according to the rules there directed to; lay his sin before him; endeavour not only to convince him of the fact, but of the evil of it; how contrary to the will of God; how unbecoming the Gospel of Christ, and the profession he makes; how hurtful to himself, as well as injurious to his brother; and how such evils give the enemy occasion to reproach the saints, to speak evil of the ways of God, and blaspheme the name and doctrines of Christ, and harden sinners in their sins, as well as stumble weak Christians, and sadden the hearts of the righteous.
And if he repent; if he is made sensible of his evil, and is truly sorry for it, and ingenuously acknowledges it:
forgive him; the injury committed against a man's self; and pray to God for him, for an application of his pardoning grace and mercy to him; and comfort him with the hope of forgiveness with God, by the gracious promises and declarations of pardon made to such persons; drop all resentment and anger, and behave towards him with all sweetness of temper, and affability, and respect: and this is to be done immediately, as soon as a man repents: and so say the Jews (p);
"says R. Chanina bar Papa, whoever commits a thing, and repents of it, they forgive him directly; as it is said, Mal 3:5 "and fear not me": lo, they that fear me, forgive immediately:''
such were reckoned good men, men fearing God.
(p) T. Bab. Chagiga, fol. 5. 1.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Little ones - Weak believers.
Little ones - Weak believers.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 2. A mill-stone] That drowning a person with…
Verse 2. A mill-stone] That drowning a person with a stone tied about the neck was an ancient mode of punishment, see proved in the note on Mt 18:6; Mt 18:7, to which let the following be added. To have a mill-stone hanged about the neck, was a common proverb. "Samuel saith, A man may marry, and after that addict himself to the study of the law. Rab. Jochanan saith, No: shall he addict himself to the study of the law with a mill-stone about his neck?"
The place in Aristophanes, to which the reader is referred in the note on Mt 18:6, is the following: -
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Αραν μετεωρον εις το βαραθρον εμβαλω,
Εκ του λαρυγγος εκκρεμασας ὑπερβολον
"Lifting him up into the air, I will plunge him into the deep: a great stone being hung about his neck." Aristoph. in Equit. ver. 1359.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain It were better. Christ here speaks after the manner…
It were better. Christ here speaks after the manner of the Jews, who were accustomed to inflict this punishment only on the greatest malefactors. So that we must be ready to undergo the most excruciating torments, rather than cause any scandal to our neighbour; though we must here observe, that if our neighbour take scandal at our good works, we ought not on that account to desist from doing good, or desert the truth. (Ven. Bede) --- St. Luke, in this chapter, inserts four instructions, which have no connection with each other, and which by the writers of evangelical harmony, are given in different places; as in Matthew xviii. after ver. 14, &c.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 2. A millstone—See our note on Mat_18:7.
2. A millstone—See our note on Mat_18:7.
These little ones— Publicans and sinners, and others lately converted to Jesus. Our Lord, as we understand it, uttered these words in Matthew as a general truth; he utters them here in application to a particular class. They were little ones as being but babes in Christ.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 2. It were better for him, &c.] The literal…
2. It were better for him, &c.] The literal rendering of the verse is “It is for his advantage if a millstone is hanging round his neck, and he has been flung into the sea, rather than that, &c.” In other words, the fate of a man who is lying drowned at the bottom of the sea is better than if his continuance in life would have led to causing “one of these little ones” to stumble. The general thought is like that of Queen Blanche, who used to say of her son St Louis when he was a boy, that she would rather see him dead at her feet than know that he had fallen into a deadly sin.
a millstone] The true reading here is lithos mulikos, not mulos onikos, a millstone so large as to require an ass to work it. This is introduced from Mat_18:6.
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one of these little ones] St Mark adds “that believe in me” (Luk_9:42). The reference is not to children, or the young, though of course the warning applies no less to their case; but primarily to publicans and weak believers. Christ calls even the Apostles ‘children, Joh_13:33 (cf. 1Jn_2:12-13).
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (2) It were batter for him . . .—See…
(2) It were batter for him . . .—See Note on Mat_18:6, where the order of the two sayings is inverted. Assuming the words to have been repeated where we find them here, the “little ones” must mean the disciples of Christ who are, in both senses of the word “offended” by the worldliness of those who profess to be religious. They are made to stumble by the temptation to follow the bad example, or their faith in the reality of godliness is shaken by seeing that the form exists without the power.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 17:2 A millstone is a large round stone with…
17:2 A millstone is a large round stone with a hole in its center, used to grind grain in a mill. A millstone could weigh hundreds of pounds.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.