What Does Matthew 18:22 Mean?
Two renderings of the same sentence, the verses it belongs to, and what the passage is doing — so you can decide what it means rather than take someone's word for it.
"Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven." Matthew 18:22, King James Version
The same verse in modern English
"Jesus answered, “I tell you, not just seven times, but seventy-seven times!" Matthew 18:22, Berean Standard Bible
What it sits inside
A verse quoted on its own is the commonest way one gets misread. Here it is with what comes immediately before and after, in the King James Version.
Matthew 18:20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.
Matthew 18:21 Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?
Matthew 18:22 Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.
Matthew 18:23 Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants.
Matthew 18:24 And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents.
A conversation built on it
Forgiveness stalls on the sense that it would let someone off. It was never a verdict on them. The number given was deliberately past counting, because the thing being described is not a single decision but a door you keep choosing to leave open — and the debt already cancelled behind you was larger.
Questions people ask
What does Matthew 18:22 mean?
In modern English (Berean Standard Bible) it reads: “Jesus answered, “I tell you, not just seven times, but seventy-seven times!” The King James rendering most people know is: “Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.”
What is the context of Matthew 18:22?
The verses immediately around it read: (Matthew 18:20) For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. (Matthew 18:21) Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? (Matthew 18:22) Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven. (Matthew 18:23) Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants. (Matthew 18:24) And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents.
How is Matthew 18:22 used in a conversation about this?
Forgiveness stalls on the sense that it would let someone off. It was never a verdict on them. The number given was deliberately past counting, because the thing being described is not a single decision but a door you keep choosing to leave open — and the debt already cancelled behind you was larger.
Reading it is one thing. Saying what it stirs up is another.
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