Matthew 18 — Clausal Layout (English)

independentparticipialrelativepurposecausecomparativecontentconditionalphrase modifierdashed = verbless / suspended

Flush-left = a main (independent) clause. Each dependent line begins directly beneath the word it attaches to in the line above — the anchor word is dotted-underlined, and lights up when you hover its dependent clause; each tag also names the attachment. A dashed border marks verbless, elliptical, or suspended lines. Where a long sentence's staircase runs wider than the page, the diagram scrolls sideways. (In print, or without JavaScript, lines fall back to stepped indent columns.)

The question and the child 18:1–2

vv. 1–2 — who is greatest? — a child set in the midst

In that hour the disciples came to Jesus,independent — the temporal hinge from 17:24–27 — προσέρχομαι, Matthew's verb of approach to the teacher

saying:participial — speech-participle — the frame of the agenda-setting question

'Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?'content — inferential ἄρα — the status-rivalry the whole discourse will overturn; μείζων, comparative for superlative

And calling a child to him,participial — preposed participle — forward-leaning on ἔστησεν; the middle voice: Jesus' own beckoning

he set it in their midstindependent — the enacted parable — the answer set on exhibit before it is spoken

The discourse: the child, the millstone, the lost sheep, the church's reproof 18:3–20

vv. 3–5 — turn and become like the children

and said:independent — the discourse's single narrative frame — all of vv. 3–20 hangs on this εἶπεν

'Truly I say to you,content — the solemn ἀμήν-formula — keynote of the community rule (again vv. 13, 18, 19)

unless you turn and become like the children,conditional — forward ἐὰν μή — στραφῆτε, a radical reorientation, not improvement; childlikeness the condition of entry

you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.content — οὐ μή + subjunctive, the strongest denial — not 'be greatest' but 'enter' at all

Whoever therefore will humble himself like this child,conditional — fronted indefinite relative (typed cnd — a virtual protasis) — deictic τοῦτο, the child still standing there

this one is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.content — resumptive οὗτος — the direct answer: greatness is self-lowering; ὁ μείζων answers v. 1

and whoever receives one such child in my name,conditional — ὃς ἐάν protasis — the child now the type of the lowly disciple; ἕν, even a single one

receives me.content — fronted emphatic ἐμέ — Christ identified with the least

vv. 6–9 — the millstone and the severed members

But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to stumble,conditional — the counter-case, ὃς δ’ ἄν — σκανδαλίζω opens the trap-stick word-group of vv. 6–9; the μικροί defined by faith, not age

it is better for himcontent — impersonal συμφέρει — grim profit-language: drowning would be the lighter fate

that a donkey-mill millstone be hung around his neckcontent — epexegetic ἵνα — μύλος ὀνικός, the great stone a donkey turns, no hand-mill

and he be sunk in the open depth of the sea.content — coordinate ἵνα-verb — καταποντίζω, drowned in the πέλαγος, far from rescue

Woe to the world because of the stumbling-blocks!content — verbless prophetic woe — the world endangered by its own traps

for it is necessary that the stumbling-blocks come,cause — γάρ-ground, verbless ἀνάγκη [ἐστίν] — inevitability inside a fallen world

nevertheless, woe to the mancontent — πλήν — inevitability does not excuse the agent; the second verbless woe

through whom the stumbling-block comes.relative — δι’ οὗ — personal agency named and held to account

And if your hand or your foot causes you to stumble,conditional — εἰ + indicative, first-class — the case assumed real; from tripping others to one's own members

cut it offcontent — urgent aorist ἐκκόπτω — decisive severance, hyperbole in deadly earnest

and throw it away from you;content — the paired imperative — rid of it utterly

it is better for you to enter into life maimed or lame,content — καλόν with comparative force — 'life' = the kingdom entered in v. 3

than, having two hands or two feet, to be thrown into the eternal fire.comparative — the ἤ-alternative on καλόν — concessive ἔχοντα: wholeness kept, and lost with it everything

and if your eye causes you to stumble,conditional — the parallel case — the eye, organ of desire and the most precious member

pluck it outcontent — ἐξαιρέω — even sight surrendered rather than life forfeited

and throw it away from you;content — the refrain of renunciation, verbatim from v. 8

it is better for you to enter into life one-eyed,content — μονόφθαλμος — maimed yet alive; the comparison restated

than, having two eyes, to be thrown into the Gehenna of fire.comparative — γέεννα τοῦ πυρός — the Hinnom-valley name of final judgment, sharpening v. 8's 'eternal fire'

vv. 10, 12–14 — the little ones and the straying sheep (v. 11 absent from the critical text)

See to itcontent — the guarding imperative — ὁράω, 'watch yourselves': contempt is the little ones' quieter danger

that you do not despise one of these little ones;content — μή + aorist subjunctive of prohibition — καταφρονέω, to think slightingly; ἑνός, the 'one' again

for I say to youcause — γάρ-ground of the command — the formula pressed into the argument

that their angels in heaven continually behold the face of my Father who is in heaven.content — their angels see the King's face — courtiers with constant access: the little ones' hidden rank. NOTE: v. 11 ('the Son of Man came to save the lost') is omitted by the critical text as a Luke 19:10 intrusion — the numbering jumps 10 → 12

What do you think?content — the dialogic opener — the hearers made judges of the shepherd's logic

If a man comes to have a hundred sheepconditional — forward ἐάν — dative of possession; the parable's premise

and one of them goes astray,conditional — coordinate protasis — πλανάω, the parable's keyword; ἕν, the single straying one

will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hillscontent — οὐχί expecting yes — ἀφίημι here 'leave': the flock risked for the one

and go and seek the straying one?content — vivid present ζητεῖ after the future — the search under way; τὸ πλανώμενον, still wandering as he seeks

And if it happens that he finds it,conditional — forward ἐάν — leaning past the ἀμήν-formula onto χαίρει; recovery not presumed, 'if he should find it'

truly I say to you,content — the formula solemnizing a shepherd's joy

he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never strayed.content — disproportionate joy — perfect πεπλανημένοις, the settled state of the never-strayed, outweighed by the one recovered

So it is not the will before your Father who is in heavencontent — οὕτως — the application; ἔμπροσθεν, a reverential periphrasis for the Father's own will

that one of these little ones should perish.content — epexegetic ἵνα on θέλημα — ἀπόλλυμι, the fate the Father's will excludes; ἕν closes the 'one' thread and grounds the procedure that follows

vv. 15–17 — the three-step reproof: alone, with witnesses, before the church

And if your brother sins against you,conditional — first ἐάν of the chained procedure — εἰς σέ read by many witnesses, omitted by א B: a personal wrong, or any sin at all

go,content — asyndetic double imperative begins — the offended party takes the initiative

reprove him between you and him alone.content — ἐλέγχω — exposure aimed at winning back, privacy guarding his dignity

If he listens to you,conditional — the happy exit from step one — ἀκούω with genitive, 'heed'

you have gained your brother;content — proleptic aorist κερδαίνω — restoration counted as gain already banked: the procedure's whole aim

but if he does not listen,conditional — step two — the procedure escalates only on refusal

take with you one or two more,content — the circle widened — still not public

so that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established;purpose — Deut 19:15 — the Torah's evidentiary rule; ἐπὶ στόματος a Septuagintism, ῥῆμα Hebraistic 'matter'

and if he refuses to listen to them,conditional — step three — παρακούω, to hear past, to disregard

tell it to the church;content — ἐκκλησία — in the Gospels only here and 16:18; the assembled community as the last court

and if he refuses to listen even to the church,conditional — the last refusal — ascensive καί: even the whole assembly unheeded

let him be to you as the Gentile and the tax-collector.content — the outsider verdict — spoken by the friend of tax-collectors (9:9–13): exclusion that still aims at recovery

vv. 18–20 — heaven's ratification, agreed prayer, the present Lord

Truly I say to you,content — the formula now plural — the keys of 16:19 widened to the community

whatever you bind on earthconditional — fronted ὅσα ἐάν (typed cnd — a virtual protasis) — δέω, the rabbinic verdict-verb 'declare forbidden'

will have been bound in heaven,content — periphrastic future-perfect — earth's verdict aligned with what already stands settled in heaven, not heaven rubber-stamping earth

and whatever you loose on earthconditional — the paired protasis — λύω, 'declare permitted, absolve'

will have been loosed in heaven.content — the matching future-perfect — the church's discipline of vv. 15–17 heaven-backed

Again, truly I say to youcontent — πάλιν — a further assurance stacked on v. 18

that if two of you agree on earth about any matterconditional — recitative ὅτι carried by the fronted protasis — συμφωνέω, to sound together; πρᾶγμα, perhaps the disciplinary case itself

whatever they ask,relative — indefinite relative on πράγματος — the petition folded inside the condition

it will be done for them by my Father who is in heaven.content — the apodosis — the Father the doer behind the agreed prayer

For where two or three are gathered in my name,conditional — fronted locative οὗ-clause (typed cnd; no locative key) — γάρ grounds vv. 18–19; periphrastic perfect συνηγμένοι

there am I in their midst.content — the Emmanuel ground (1:23; 28:20) — the Shekinah-promise in the first person; ἐν μέσῳ echoes the child of v. 2

Peter's question and the unforgiving servant 18:21–35

vv. 21–22 — Peter's arithmetic and its abolition

Then Peter came and said to him:independent — the spokesman interrupts the discourse — from the offender's accountability to the offended one's duty

'Lord, how often shall my brother sin against mecontent — ποσάκις — the offended party's ledger opened; ἀδελφός carried over from v. 15

and I forgive him?content — deliberative future — ἀφίημι, the chapter's keyword, now on Peter's lips

Up to seven times?'content — verbless bid — seven, a generous-seeming round number, offered for approval

Jesus says to him:independent — historic-present frame — everything through v. 35 hangs on this λέγει

'I do not say to you up to seven times,content — the arithmetic refused — Peter's ἕως ἑπτάκις quoted back

but up to seventy-seven times.content — elliptical — 'seventy-seven' or 'seventy times seven,' the phrase genuinely ambiguous: Lamech's vengeance (Gen 4:24 LXX) inverted into mercy beyond counting

vv. 23–27 — the ten-thousand-talent debt cancelled

Therefore the kingdom of heaven has been likened to a man, a king,content — διὰ τοῦτο — the parable grounds the seventy-seven; its narration runs coordinate at the speech's own depth

who wished to settle accounts with his servants.relative — συναίρειν λόγον — the audit idiom; δοῦλοι as royal stewards

And when he had begun to settle,participial — genitive absolute — forward-leaning on προσηνέχθη; the reckoning barely starts before it stalls

one debtor of ten thousand talents was brought to him.content — μύριοι, the largest Greek numeral, of the largest unit — an unpayable hyperbole; εἷς, again the 'one'

And since he had nothing with which to repay,participial — causal genitive absolute — ἀποδίδωμι enters, the parable's driving verb (vv. 25–34)

the master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and everythingcontent — the ancient remedy — the whole household under the hammer

that he has,relative — vivid present ἔχει inside the narration

and repayment to be made.content — the command's second infinitive — the sale merely services the debt

So the servant fell down and did obeisance to him,content — iterative imperfect προσεκύνει — prostrate, pleading on and on

saying:participial — the plea's frame

'Be patient with me,content — μακροθυμέω — he asks only for time

and I will repay you everything.'content — the impossible promise — πάντα: ten thousand talents, on a servant's means

And the master of that servant, moved with compassion,participial — σπλαγχνισθείς, gut-level pity — forward-leaning on ἀπέλυσεν: the parable's mainspring

released him,content — more than the plea asked — not patience but freedom

and forgave him the loan.content — ἀφῆκεν — the chapter's forgiveness-verb applied to the whole unpayable debt: sheer grace, the parable's measure

vv. 28–30 — the hundred denarii exacted

But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servantscontent — the pivot δέ — straight from pardon to the hunt; σύνδουλος, an equal, sharpening the cruelty

who owed him a hundred denarii,relative — a hundred days' wages against ten thousand talents — some six-hundred-thousandfold less

and seizing him he began to choke him,content — inchoative imperfect ἔπνιγεν — violence where he had just received mercy

saying:participial — the demand's frame

'Pay backcontent — Ἀπόδος — the very verb he was himself forgiven

whatever you owe.'conditional — backward εἴ τι (anchored) — 'if you owe anything': the pedantry of the pitiless

So his fellow servant fell down and kept begging him,content — the same posture as v. 26 — durative παρεκάλει, pleading unheard

saying:participial — the echo's frame

'Be patient with me,content — verbatim the first servant's own plea (v. 26) — the refusal that follows is thereby damned in advance

and I will repay you.'content — and this debt actually repayable

But he refused,content — durative imperfect — 'he would not': the mercy received, not extended

but went off and threw him into prisoncontent — debtor's prison — βάλλω, the casting-verb of vv. 8–9 in miniature

until he should repay what was owed.conditional — backward ἕως-temporal (typed cnd; no temporal key) — release priced at full payment

vv. 31–34 — the pardon revoked

So when his fellow servants saw what had happened,participial — temporal participle — forward-leaning on ἐλυπήθησαν; the community as witnesses (cf. vv. 15–17)

they were greatly grieved,content — grief, not glee — the right response to unmercy

and they went and reported to their master all that had happened.content — διασαφέω — the full account laid before the king: the parable's own 'tell it to the church'

Then his master summoned him and says to him:content — the reckoning reopened — historic present inside the parable; the same προσκαλεσάμενος as v. 2

'You wicked servant!phrase modifier — vocative verdict — πονηρέ, the moral judgment pronounced before the sentence

all that debt I forgave you,content — fronted πᾶσαν — the whole of it; ἀφῆκα, the grace rehearsed as the ground of the verdict

because you begged me;cause — ἐπεί — a plea was ground enough for the king

was it not necessary for you also to have mercy on your fellow servant,content — οὐκ ἔδει expecting yes — mercy received becomes mercy owed: the parable's moral center

as I also had mercy on you?'comparative — ὡς κἀγώ — the king's mercy the measure of the servant's; cf. 6:12, 14–15

And in anger his master handed him over to the torturerscontent — ὀργισθείς where he had been σπλαγχνισθείς (v. 27) — παραδίδωμι, delivered up; βασανισταί, beyond mere jailers

until he should repay all that was owed.conditional — backward ἕως οὗ (typed cnd) — an unpayable sum: a term without end

v. 35 — the application: from your hearts

So also my heavenly Father will do to you,content — οὕτως καί — the king unveiled as the Father; the discourse's last, sober word

if you do not forgive, each one his brother, from your hearts.conditional — backward ἐάν (anchored) — ἀφίημι closes the chapter it ruled; ἕκαστος individualizes the duty, ἀπὸ τῶν καρδιῶν disallows the merely formal

Analysis. Matthew 18 is the fourth of the five great discourses — the community rule — and the layout is two frames and two speeches. The disciples' status-question (vv. 1–2) is answered first by an enacted parable (the child set ἐν μέσῳ) and then by the discourse proper: from the single καὶ εἶπεν of v. 3 the whole teaching of vv. 3–20 hangs as one coordinate blue cnt catena at constant depth, and after Peter's interruption (v. 21) a second frame — the historic-present λέγει of v. 22 — carries everything to v. 35, the unforgiving-servant parable running as parable-narration at the speech's own depth (the Mark 4 precedent), its inner dialogue nesting under its own λέγων frames. Against those columns the chapter's casuistic grammar indents: this is a discourse ruled by conditions, and every fronted protasis (ἐὰν μή v. 3, the ὅστις/ὃς ἐάν/ὃς δ' ἄν indefinite relatives of vv. 4–6, the εἰ-pairs of vv. 8–9, the chained ἐάν-steps of the discipline procedure in vv. 15–17, the ὅσα-ἐάν pair of v. 18, the locative οὗ γάρ of v. 20) leans forward anchor-less, one step deeper than its apodosis, while backward conditions and the ἕως-temporals of the debtors' prisons (vv. 30, 34) take anchors. The critical-text decisions are shown, not smoothed: v. 11 ('the Son of Man came to save the lost' — a harmonizing intrusion from Luke 19:10) is absent, so the numbering jumps 10 → 12 and the gap is flagged in the tags; εἰς σέ in v. 15 is printed with its variant noted (א B omit — 'sins against you,' or any sin at all); ἑβδομηκοντάκις ἑπτά (v. 22) is glossed both ways — seventy-seven or seventy-times-seven, either way Lamech's vengeance (Gen 4:24 LXX) inverted into unaccountable mercy; and the periphrastic future-perfects of v. 18 (ἔσται δεδεμένα/λελυμένα) are tagged as heaven's prior ratification rather than its rubber stamp. The tags follow the chapter's own verbal threads: εἷς and the μικροί (the 'one little one,' vv. 5–14), σκάνδαλον/σκανδαλίζω (vv. 6–9), ἀφίημι from Peter's question to the last verse, and ἀποδίδωμι driving the parable to its βασανισταί.