Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
Luke 17:3 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 3. 3Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
Luke 17:3 joins self-watch, rebuke, repentance, and forgiveness instead of silencing harm.
A millstone for the one who trips little ones, and a rebuke that still forgives
This verse is one part of that explanation in Luke 17:1–17:4. The complete section carries the connected meaning and how it should shape life.
Read It With
- Luke 17:1–17:4
Read Luke 17:3 with 17:1–17:4. In isolation, this contribution—joins self-watch, rebuke, repentance, and forgiveness instead of silencing harm—can be detached from its speaker, audience, scene or teaching sequence, and outcome. The complete unit establishes: Jesus warns that stumbling blocks will come but pronounces severe accountability for causing little ones to fall, then commands rebuke and repeated forgiveness when a person repents.
Follow the Context
- Identify the actors, setting, and initiating speech or action in Luke 17:1–17:4.
- Jesus warns that stumbling blocks will come but pronounces severe accountability for causing little ones to fall, then commands rebuke and repeated forgiveness when a person repents.
- Hold this material interpretive limit in view: The unit joins protection, confrontation, repentance, and forgiveness; it does not collapse them into unconditional trust or continued access for an unsafe person.
What This Verse Is Not Saying
This verse does not detach its specific contribution—joins self-watch, rebuke, repentance, and forgiveness instead of silencing harm—from the complete unit or override the unit's explicit boundary: The teaching does not silence victims, eliminate reporting, restore access automatically, forbid boundaries, or let leaders hide repeated harm.
What Remains True
Luke 17:3 joins self-watch, rebuke, repentance, and forgiveness instead of silencing harm. Read inside Luke 17:1–17:4, this contribution supports the unit's proportionate truth: Jesus warns that stumbling blocks will come but pronounces severe accountability for causing little ones to fall, then commands rebuke and repeated forgiveness when a person repents. Its use remains accountable to affected people and the unit's explicit boundary.
Continue in Context
Read the complete section for the connected explanation and how it should shape life. This verse is a doorway into that passage, not a saying that stands alone.
Read Luke 17:1–17:4 — Protect Little Ones and Practice Accountable ForgivenessSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and coverage.
Exact location: Luke 17:1–17:4, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Open source ↗Greek textual evidence
The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition
Michael W. Holmes, editor; Society of Biblical Literature and Logos
Society of Biblical Literature and Logos Bible Software, 2010
Supports: Greek wording and sentence relations; the edition is not treated as a complete apparatus.
Exact location: Faithlife SBLGNT official repository, data/sblgnt/text/Luke.txt, 17:1–17:4
Open the Luke Greek text file ↗open translation and translator notes
NET Bible First Edition Notes: Luke
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: Verse-level translation, syntax, KJV-language clarification, historical notes, Synoptic parallels, and textual alternatives.
Exact location: NET Bible First Edition Luke PDF, exact tn/tc/sn entries attached to Luke 17:1–17:4
Open source ↗