“Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone.” — Matthew 18:15
Two short phrases make Christ’s commands personal. In verse 15, the received text says a brother sins against thee. In verse 35, the unforgiving servant warns every man to forgive his brother their trespasses from the heart. Critical editions doubt or omit both phrases.
The first has divided early support; the second stands in a narrower received line. Each needs its own judgment.
Without εἰς σέ, Christ says, “If thy brother shall sin, go and tell him.” That reading can make the church’s duty cover any known sin. With the phrase, the command begins with an offense suffered by the person who goes.
Critics can explain the addition from Peter’s question in verse 21: “How oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him?” A reader may have carried the personal words backward. Yet the phrase can also be omitted to widen the rule, or lost in a short run of common words. Its presence keeps the first step modest. The injured believer goes privately, not as a roving inspector of every fault.
This does not forbid intervention in public or dangerous sin. Other texts govern those cases. Matthew 18:15 begins with personal reconciliation and then widens only if the brother will not hear.
“Their trespasses”
Verse 35 in the Authorized Version reads, “if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.” The critical text stops after “his brother.” The sense of forgiveness remains; the object is implied.
The fuller phrase may be explained from Matthew 6:14–15, where “their trespasses” appears twice. That is the most direct argument against it. The received form, however, closes the parable with the same concrete debt-language that opened the chapter’s conflict. Forgiveness is not a warm attitude toward a brother while his wrong remains treasured. It releases the trespass from private vengeance.
The grammar is compressed but intelligible: each man must forgive his brother the offenses committed. A smoothing copyist might drop the awkward final words once the sentence already seemed complete.
Both phrases belong to Matthew’s personal movement: against thee, between thee and him, hear thee, gained thy brother, forgive his trespasses. The church is not given a cold procedure. Christ sends offended and offending people toward truth, repentance, and mercy.
The first phrase also limits gossip. The person sinned against goes to the brother privately. He does not begin by assembling supporters, publishing an accusation, or waiting for the offender to discover the grievance. Witnesses enter only after the private appeal fails.
That order does not silence victims of crimes or abuse. A threat to others, a public offense, or conduct under civil jurisdiction can require immediate help and lawful reporting. Matthew 18 is not a device for isolating the weak with a dangerous person. “Against thee” identifies the ordinary personal case, not every possible sin.
At verse 35, “from your hearts” prevents the procedure from ending in outward compliance alone. The received “their trespasses” gives the heart something definite to release. Ecclesiastical reconciliation without inward mercy can reproduce the unforgiving servant under a more orderly name.
Further reading
- Matthew 6:12–15; 18:15–35; Luke 17:3–4.
- Bruce M. Metzger, A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament, notes on Matthew 18:15 and 18:35.
- James Ussher, A Body of Divinity, treatment of repentance and forgiveness.