Bible Strands
Matthew 18:22
Jesus answered, “I tell you, not just seven times, but seventy-seven times!
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Jesus answers Peter, who has just proposed a ceiling of seven forgivences for a brother who sins against him (Matt 18:21).
The words — ἕως (heōs), "up to," is the word Jesus rejects: Peter's limit was a countable boundary, and Jesus replaces it with a number so large it functions as no limit at all.
The thread — The same unbounded forgiveness appears in Colossians 3:13 ("forgive as the Lord forgave you"), Mark 11:25 (release what you hold against another while praying), and Ephesians 4:31 (discard bitterness and malice entirely).
Why it lands — It removes the arithmetic from forgiveness; the reader is asked to stop counting how many times they have been wronged and to stop treating mercy as a debt that can be fully discharged.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.
Cross-references
- Colossians 3:13 Bear with one another and forgive any complaint you may have against someone else. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.
- Mark 11:25 And when you stand to pray, if you hold anything against another, forgive it, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your trespasses as well.”
- Ephesians 4:31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, outcry and slander, along with every form of malice.
- Matthew 6:14 For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
- Genesis 4:24 If Cain is avenged sevenfold, then Lamech seventy-sevenfold.”
- Romans 12:21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
- Ephesians 4:26 “Be angry, yet do not sin.” Do not let the sun set upon your anger,
- Isaiah 55:7 Let the wicked man forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that He may have compassion, and to our God, for He will freely pardon.
- Micah 7:19 He will again have compassion on us; He will vanquish our iniquities. You will cast out all our sins into the depths of the sea.
- Matthew 6:11 Give us this day our daily bread.