Forgiveness

Seventy-seven times. That’s how many times Jesus told Peter we are to forgive our brother when he sins against us. Or “seventy times seven” as worded in the King James translation of the Bible.

Wait. Did I hear that right? Isn’t “seventy times seven” a word problem that translates mathematically to 70 x 7? Why would later translations that I use like the English Standard Version (ESV), the New International Version (NIV), and the New Living Translation (NLT) all report Jesus’ instruction about how often we must forgive others as seventy-seven times? And doesn’t 70 x 7 = 490?? (ok, that last one is because I’m a bit of a math geek).

How This All Started

I’ve been sitting with Matthew 18 for a little bit recently; Specifically, vv 15 – 17 which precede the above-mentioned seventy times seven reference (or seventy-seven depending on the translation). Here is the NIV translation of the passage:

“If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, ‘so that every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ 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” (NIV).

I was looking at Matthew 18:15-17 more closely to understand how a favorite teacher once explained what this passage taught. I wanted to share his words with you. The teaching I’m referencing is from many years ago, and the conclusion grabbed hold of my heart when I heard it. And I needed to hear it.

In view of the fact that this passage is Jesus’ teaching about dealing with sin in the church, the question this brother asked of the text was “how did Jesus treat tax collectors and sinners?” Now, I don’t want to digress too much here, but many people think of excommunication when they read passages like this one, and yes there is a time and a place for that. Thankfully, that is not a decision I would ever be entrusted to make. This teacher and brother pointed out that Jesus ate with tax collectors and sinners (Matthew 9:10-13; Mark 2:15-22). Remember Matthew (also known as Levi) was a tax collector by vocation before Jesus said to him, “follow me.” Matthew then followed Jesus and became his disciple.

The teacher’s point to the church is that we must never lose sight of the aim of any form of discipline. It is not simply punishment, but rather a means to restore the believer who has wandered, back into relationship with the Father and with other believers (2 Corinthians 2:5-11; James 5:19-20). Restoration is an act of love. At the time, I was in a great deal of pain, and it showed. This was a message I needed to hear because I was thinking about leaving the church. So I stayed, and I listened, and I was so very blessed not only by the teaching, but also by the church that came alongside me, including a small group member who shared she had never heard the Matthew passage explained that way either.

Back to my 70 times 7 Math Problem

So why did the King James translation (among others), differ from the other three Bible translations I mentioned above? Is the word “times” an adverb, noun or verb in the Greek? The answer was “I didn’t know.” Yup, true story. So, I looked it up. Training in apologetics doesn’t make me a scholar in either theology (the study of God) or hermeneutics (the academic domain of biblical interpretation).

I dusted off my references and textbooks, and here’s what I found.

Language and math don’t always mix.

What I was reading as a mathematical phrase in the King James Version, seventy times seven, is used to convey “countless times” according to Strong’s Concordance. The NIV and the others mentioned above, however, use “seventy-seven times” for both passages. This does not mean that we stop forgiving the person when they wrong us on the seventy-eighth time; On the contrary, the verse footnote clearly states that “seventy-seven times” indicates “times without number” which is very consistent with “countless times.” Commenting on a later verse in Matthew 18 that speaks to the same topic, R.T. France asserts, “our willingness to forgive should be as limitless as the extravagant vengeance of which Lamech once boasted (Gn. 4:24…).[1] This is nothing more than a stylistic difference in translation used to convey the text’s meaning.

Is your head spinning with my dizzying intellect? I certainly hope not because I am not omniscient and there are so many others more knowledgeable and better educated than I am. Dizzying intellect also defined the boastful Vizzini from the Princess Bride. For those of you who have never heard of this movie, take a look at how that worked out for him:

In reality, I rely heavily on the Lord, the lifelong work of biblical scholars and theologians, both past and present, and those faithful preachers, teachers, and Christian brothers and sisters whom the Lord has put in my path. When I write, I pray, study God’s word, get nervous and insecure, write, rewrite and edit these posts numerous times, sometimes making tweaks even after they have been posted without indicating so (which strongly convicts me). May I rather do the work, then rest, leaving the outcomes in the Lord’s ever so capable hands.

With love, a sister in Christ.

Photo credit: camaralenta on istock.com.

Video courtesy of Fandango MovieClips and posted by Rotten Tomatoes MovieClips on YouTube.

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[1]  Richard T. France, “Matthew” in The New Bible Commentary, edited by G.J. Wenham, J.A. Motyer, D.A. Carson, and R.T. France (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2010), 928.