Mat 18:25 But because as he had not paid, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made.

This analogy (the true meaning of "parable") continues to parallel the ideas about giving and debt from the Lord's Prayer. When we ask God to "give" is our daily bread, the term used for "give" is didômi. The word here to describe the repayment of a debt is apodidômi, or "give back." In the Lord's Prayer, we ask God to give us our daily bread, but then we immediately petition him to forgive the debt this entails because we cannot give anything back to him. What are God's gifts worth? Here, it is made clear that we owe God for our lives, the lives of our families, and everything else we have. This is the "infinite debt" that we can never give back.

Again, remember, what Christ is describing here is the nature of the kingdom of heaven, that is, the universal rule.

"Paid" and "payment to be made" is from apodidômi, which means literally, "give back" or "give up," and also means "restore," "return," "yeild," "give account," and "sell."

"Command" is from keleuô, which means "urge on," "exhort," "order," "command," and "entreat."

"Sold" is from pipraskô, a form of pernêmi which means "to sell," and more specifically, "to export for sale," and often use to apply specifically to slaves, though Matthew and the NT uses it to means any type of sale of goods.

Mat 18:23 Therefore is the kingdom of heaven like a certain king, which would take account of his servants.

This is another "kingdom of heaven" piece of the puzzle. These quotes do not describe the heaven that we learn about in Sunday school. They describe the "universal rule" (another translation for "kingdom of heaven"), the way God sees the world and the way he expects us to see the world when we become part of his nation.

Christ mentions a "church" or "assembly" only a couple of times. He constantly talks about "the kingdom of heaven," which is more of a state of mind than a religion.

The sense of this quote is that the king, the one who sets the rules, will put all the reports of his servants together to see how they add up.

"Take" is from sunairô, (sunaeirô) wich means "raise up together," "bind together," or "yoke together."

"Account" is the Greek logos, which means "word," "computation," "reckoning," and "value." It is also "an explanation," "an argument," or "a rule or principle of law." Previously, it has always been translated as "words" when Christ uses it.

"Kings" is from basileus, which means a "king" or "chief." It is a form of the world used for "kingdom."

"Servants" is from doulos, which is really a "slave," a "born bondsman," or "one made a slave."'

Mat 18:20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

"Gathered" is from sunago, (sunagô) which means "to bring together," "join," "collect," "unite," and "gather together." Matthew uses to indicate the general bringing together of things with the sense of uniting them. This is the unselective sense of gathering as contrasted with sullego, also translated as "to gather" but which means a selective gathering, a picking particular things as opposed to bringing together everything.

"Name" is from onoma, which means "name." It means both the reputation of "fame," but it also means "a name and nothing else," as opposed to a real person. Christ usually used it to refer to the Father, whose unspoken name is translated from the Hebrew as "I am who I," but in the original can be read in a number of interesting ways include "the existence of existence," the "existing being," and similar ideas. These name captures both the idea that God truly exists and He is the foundation of existence and the base of the true reality.

Mat 18:22 I say not to you, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.

This is Christ's response when Peter asks him if we are supposed to "forgive" someone who "sins" against us. The point is that our relationship with other people must be based on letting their errors go. We must accept that people always make mistakes. What happened to "sin" and "forgiveness?" Well, Matthew (and other NT authors) never use those words.

These terms are not in Christ's words here, but are earlier. Here they come from Peter's quote, but the terms are:

"Sin" is from hamartanô or harmartia which mean "to miss the mark," "to fail in one's purpose," "to err," "to be mistaken," and "to neglect."

In Greek, the word not used in the Bible and the word that actually means "sins" is alitros, which means "sins," "sinner," and "sinful." It is impossible that the authors of the NT didn't know this word. All other Greek words based on the idea of sin are relate to it--alitria (sinfulness), alitêrios (sinning), aleitês (sinner) and even, this is funny, alêtheia (sincerity).

There is a similar problem with "forgiven," though the idea of "forgiving sins" didn't really exist before the NT. The NT authors use the term, aphiêmi, which means "to send forth," "to launch," "to send away," "to put away," "to get rid of," "to set free," and "to be released from." It means literally "to go from." It is interesting that this word gets translated as "forgiven." It is Christ's first word in the Gospel Mat 3:15) when he tells John to "suffer" baptizing him. It is often translated as "to leave" or "to let" in the Gospels. It is first translated as "forgive" in the Lord's Prayer (Mat 6:12) where it is applied to fogiving debts. It has the sense of leaving something alone and leaving someplace. It is used commonly to mean "send forth" or "go forth" in many other contexts. Christ "sends forth" the apostles. The shepard looking for the lost lamb "goes forth" into the mountains. It is based on another word for "letting go," aphesis.

"Forgiveness," in the Christian sense didn't exist in Greek anyway, before Christ. But there are others words in Greek that are used for various ideas of "forgive." Many are based on the root, aidôs, which means "respect for others," "reverance," "compassion," and "forgiveness." It is the most saintly form of forgiveness. Sunchôreô is another root which means "assent" or "concede" and is used to mean the economic forgiveness of debt.

Mat 18:19 Again I say to you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.

This is about the nature of our free will. It says that we, not God, decide the nature of our relationship with other people while we are here on earth. However, it also says that if we ask God to recognize our contracts and agreements, he holds us responsible for honoring them.

On the surface, this doesn't seem to be a complicated idea, but it was revolutionary at the time and perhaps taken too much for granted today. Christ is saying that neither the state nor religion defines our relationships. We do. God gives us the individual freedom to do so. Only when we ask God to sanctify our agreements do we raise them to a higher level, making ourselves responsible to God, not just to each other, for fulfilling them.

The "good" of heaven is not static. We set out standard by what we agree among ourselves here on earth. Kings and princes cannot commit us. Priests and preachers cannot commit us. We can only commit ourselves to each other.


Alternative: Again I tell you, that if two of you shall make an agreement before society about something of importance that if you ask, it shall come into being before your father who is in heaven.

"Shall agree" is from sumphôneô, which means "sound together," "be in harmony," "make an agreement," "conspire," and "expess the same opinions."

"On" is from epi , which means "on," "upon," "at," "by," "before," "across," and "against."

"Earth" is from gê, which means "earth" (as the opposite of "heaven"), "land," "country," and "ground." It is used to refer to earthly matters and in a symbol for relationships.

"Touching" is from peri, which means "about."

"Thing" is from pragma, which means "deed," "act," "concrete reality," "thing of importance," and "matter at hand."

"Ask" is from aiteô, which means "to ask," "to demand," "to beg," and "to ask for one's own use."

"Shall be done" is gignomai (ginomai), which means "to become," "to come into being," "to be produced," and "to be."

"Of" is from para, which means "from," "by," "about," and "near."