Matthew 18:17

Matthew 18:17 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.
• New International Version (NIV)If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.
• English Standard Version (ESV)If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.
• New King James Version (NKJV)And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector.

Context of Matthew 18:17

15Jesus said, ‘If your Christian friend has done something wrong against you, you must go and speak to him. When you are alone with him, tell him what he has done that is wrong. He may agree with what you say. If he does, then you can call him your friend again. 16But maybe he does not want to listen to you. Then take one or two other people with you to speak to him. They will then know what wrong things your friend has done. Remember what the Bible says: “There must be two or three people to say certainly that another person has done something wrong. Two or three people must agree what has happened.” If your friend still will not agree that he has done something wrong, then go and tell the church leaders. If he does not agree with the leaders, stop being his friend. He is like somebody who refuses to obey God. 18I tell you this: You will tell people here on earth what is right for them to do. And you will tell them what is not right for them to do. God in heaven will give you this authority. He will agree with what you say. 19Two people may agree together to ask God for something. If they agree like that, then my Father in heaven will give them what they ask for.

Matthew 18:17 word by word

ἐὰν δὲ παρακούσῃ αὐτῶν, εἰπὲ τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ. ἐὰν δὲ καὶ τῆς ἐκκλησίας παρακούσῃ, ἔστω σοι ὥσπερ ὁ ἐθνικὸς καὶ ὁ τελώνης.¶Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• ·ὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• Andδέde · thenG1161
• ifἐάνean · ifG1437
• he shall neglect to hearπαρακούωparakouō · to ignoreG3878
• themαὐτόςautos · it/s/heG846
• tellλέγωlegō · to sayG3004
• unto the churchἐκκλησίαekklēsia · assemblyG1577
• ·καίkai · andG2532
• let him beεἰμίeimi · to beG1510
• unto theeσύsu · youG4771
• asὥσπερhōsper · just asG5618
• an heathen manἐθνικόςethnikos · Gentile-likeG1482
• a publicanτελώνηςtelōnēs · tax collectorG5057

Cross-references for Matthew 18:17

• Acts 6:1At that time, more and more people became disciples of Jesus. Among the believers, some were Jews who spoke the Greek language. Others were Jews who spoke the Aramaic language. The Jews who spoke Greek had a problem with the other Jews. They said, ‘The widows in our group do not receive the right help. Each day, when you give out the food and money, our widows receive less than they should get.’
• Acts 15:6So the apostles and the other leaders of the believers met to talk about this problem.
• 1 Corinthians 5:4You have the authority of the Lord Jesus to do this. When you meet together as a group, my spirit will be with you. The power of our Lord Jesus will also be with you.
• 1 Corinthians 6:1Perhaps one of you has a quarrel with another Christian. Who should decide which of you is right? You should never ask people who do not know God to decide. No! Instead, you should go to God's people. They should decide.
• 2 Corinthians 2:6Most of you have agreed to punish him. That should be enough.
• 3 John 1:9I have already written something to the group of believers. But Diotrephes refuses to accept our authority. He really wants to be the only leader among them.
• Romans 16:17My Christian friends, I want to tell you something important. Be very careful about people who teach wrong things. They teach things that are different from God's true message that you learned. Those people cause you to quarrel with each other. They cause people to turn away from God. You must stay away from them.
• 1 Corinthians 5:3My body is not there with you, but my spirit is with you. It seems like I am present with you. So I have already decided about this man. This is how you should punish him for what he has done.
• 2 Thessalonians 3:6Our friends, you must stay away from every believer who is living in a lazy way. We tell you this with the authority that the Lord Jesus Christ gives to us. Lazy people like that are not living in the way that we taught you.
• 1 Timothy 6:5Their minds have become confused and they argue all the time. They refuse to believe God's true message. They think that they will become rich if they say that they are serving God.
• 2 John 1:10Someone may come to you and teach you something that is different. Do not receive that person into your house. Do not receive him as a Christian.
• Matthew 6:7When you pray, do not say the same words many times. People who do not believe in God do that. They use many words that mean nothing. They think that when they pray like that, their gods will hear them.
• Ezra 6:21So all the people who had returned from Babylon ate the feast. Other Israelites in Jerusalem had turned away from the bad things that other nations who lived there did. They had decided to worship the Lord, Israel's God. So they also ate the feast.
• Ezekiel 11:12Then you will know that I am the Lord. You have not obeyed my rules or my laws. Instead, you have lived in the same wicked way as the nations around you.” ’
• 2 Corinthians 6:14Do not become united with people who do not believe in Christ. God has made you right with himself. Right and wrong cannot work together. Light and dark cannot join together.
• Ephesians 4:17So I say this to you. I am sure that I have the Lord's authority to say it. You must not live any longer like the Gentile people who do not know God. They do whatever their silly ideas teach them to do.

Commentaries on Matthew 18:17

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 173. Tell it unto the Church - Lay the whole matter before the congregation of Christian believers, in that place of which he is a member, or before the minister and elders, as the representatives of the Church or assembly. If all this avail not, then, Let him be unto thee as a heathen man and a publican - To whom thou art, as a Christian, to owe earnest and persevering good will, and acts of kindness; but have no religious communion with him, till, if he…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 17Tell it to the church - See the notes at Matthew 16:18. The church may here mean the whole assembly of believers, or it may mean those who are authorized to try such cases - the representatives of the church, or these who act for the church. In the Jewish synagogue there was a bench of elders before whom trials of this kind were brought. It was to be brought to the church in order that he might be admonished, entreated, and, if possible, reformed. This…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 15-20Verses 15-20 If a professed Christian is wronged by another, he ought not to complain of it to others, as is often done merely upon report, but to go to the offender privately, state the matter kindly, and show him his conduct. This would generally have all the desired effect with a true Christian, and the parties would be reconciled. The principles of these rules may be practised every where, and under all circumstances, though they are too much…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 17The church is the local Christian community. An unrepentant person (someone refusing to turn from sin) is to be treated as an outsider, like a lawbreaker. Excluding a person from fellowship (sometimes called excommunication) comes from the belief that God’s people must be holy (Acts 5:1–6; Romans 16:17; 1 Corinthians 5:1–13; 2 Corinthians 6:14–18; Galatians 5:7–12; 2 Thessalonians 3:14–15). Sin harms fellowship with both other believers and with God. The…Read the comment

Topics related to Matthew 18:17

• Church
• Commandments
• Court
• Fellowship
• Fraternity
• Jesus, the Christ
• Publicans
• Reproof
• Strife
• Tax
• Trespass

In the dictionaries

• Gain
• Owe
• Patience
• Church
• Church Government
• Excommunication
• Forgiveness
• Intercession
• Jesus Christ
• Matthew, the Gospel of

Commentaries on Matthew 18

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Catena Aurea
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• John Lightfoot Commentary
• Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• The Fourfold Gospel and Commentary on Acts
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings