Read the passage and its setting
Luke 18:15–18:17, King James Version
Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.
Luke 18:15–18:17
Jesus Welcomes Infants and Defines Receiving
The Main Point
People bring infants for touch, disciples rebuke them, Jesus calls the children, declares God's kingdom belongs to such, and says it must be received like a child.
What Is Happening Here?
People bring infants for touch, disciples rebuke them, Jesus calls the children, declares God's kingdom belongs to such, and says it must be received like a child. Its form is gospel_narrative and parable_or_example_story within Luke's first-volume Gospel narrative.
What Came Before—and What Comes Next?
Luke 18:9–18:14 established the preceding movement: Jesus addresses self-trusting contempt through two temple prayers: a Pharisee lists practices and comparisons, while a tax collector asks mercy; the latter goes home justified, and self-exaltation is reversed.
Luke 18:18–18:30 continues Luke's narrative with this movement: A ruler asks about eternal life, hears commandments, and is told to distribute possessions to the poor and follow Jesus; sorrow exposes wealth's grip, impossibility yields to God, and disciples receive community with persecution.
Follow Luke's Narrative Movement
See why this section appears here and how the author's narrative movement leads to its meaning.
Why Is This Passage Here?
Luke places this unit after Luke 18:9–18:14 so the reader carries the prior scene into this development: People bring infants for touch, disciples rebuke them, Jesus calls the children, declares God's kingdom belongs to such, and says it must be received like a child.
Follow the Scene or Teaching
Identify the actors, setting, and initiating speech or action in Luke 18:15–18:17.
People bring infants for touch, disciples rebuke them, Jesus calls the children, declares God's kingdom belongs to such, and says it must be received like a child.
Hold this material interpretive limit in view: Luke's word includes infants, emphasizing low status, dependence, and reception; it does not define children as morally innocent in every theological system.
What Is the Author Saying?
Why This Interpretation Fits
What the scene or teaching communicates
People bring infants for touch, disciples rebuke them, Jesus calls the children, declares God's kingdom belongs to such, and says it must be received like a child.
What remains disputed or limited
Luke's word includes infants, emphasizing low status, dependence, and reception; it does not define children as morally innocent in every theological system.
What responsible use must refuse
The scene does not sentimentalize children, bypass safeguarding or consent, exclude caregivers, or excuse adult irresponsibility as childlikeness.
Understand the Meaning and Its Boundaries
Clarify the words that matter and keep the conclusion no broader than the passage allows.
Words That Matter
Jesus Welcomes Infants and Defines Receiving
See the cited Greek text for the unit's distinct wording ·
Jesus Welcomes Infants and Defines Receiving
What the Passage Is Not Saying
Reading Luke 18:15–18:17 inside Luke-Acts, its Jewish and Roman world, and its complete thought unit rules out this use:
The scene does not sentimentalize children, bypass safeguarding or consent, exclude caregivers, or excuse adult irresponsibility as childlikeness.
Context check: People bring infants for touch, disciples rebuke them, Jesus calls the children, declares God's kingdom belongs to such, and says it must be received like a child. Luke's word includes infants, emphasizing low status, dependence, and reception; it does not define children as morally innocent in every theological system.
What Remains True Today
Faithful reading keeps Jesus' good news, mercy, justice, prayer, Spirit, cross-shaped service, and resurrection hope joined to the complete context and to protection of people with less power. The scene does not sentimentalize children, bypass safeguarding or consent, exclude caregivers, or excuse adult irresponsibility as childlikeness.
Respond and Remember
Let the meaning shape life carefully, then practice explaining the section in context.
How This Should Shape Us
Why these applications follow
People bring infants for touch, disciples rebuke them, Jesus calls the children, declares God's kingdom belongs to such, and says it must be received like a child.
People bring infants for touch, disciples rebuke them, Jesus calls the children, declares God's kingdom belongs to such, and says it must be received like a child. Luke's word includes infants, emphasizing low status, dependence, and reception; it does not define children as morally innocent in every theological system.
Faithful reading keeps Jesus' good news, mercy, justice, prayer, Spirit, cross-shaped service, and resurrection hope joined to the complete context and to protection of people with less power. The scene does not sentimentalize children, bypass safeguarding or consent, exclude caregivers, or excuse adult irresponsibility as childlikeness.
What accountable response follows?
When Luke 18:15–18:17 is used now, first name its actors, first-century Jewish and Roman setting, literary role, and stated uncertainty; then trace this contextual meaning—People bring infants for touch, disciples rebuke them, Jesus calls the children, declares God's kingdom belongs to such, and says it must be received like a child.—into an accountable action that protects affected people and obeys this boundary: The scene does not sentimentalize children, bypass safeguarding or consent, exclude caregivers, or excuse adult irresponsibility as childlikeness.
A Concrete Example
When Luke 18:15–18:17 is cited in teaching, name the speaker, people affected, Jewish and Roman horizon, and uncertainty before proposing an analogy; then test the proposed action against this boundary: The scene does not sentimentalize children, bypass safeguarding or consent, exclude caregivers, or excuse adult irresponsibility as childlikeness.
Teach It Back
Explain Luke 18:15–18:17 in your own words. Name the unit's movement, its place after Luke 18:9–18:14, one source-controlled uncertainty, one affected person or group, and one conclusion the passage does not authorize.
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Go Deeper
The main explanation above stands on its own. Open these optional sections for fuller language, history, disagreements, and source locations.
Read it sentence by sentenceEach line inside the larger movement
What the scene or teaching communicates
People bring infants for touch, disciples rebuke them, Jesus calls the children, declares God's kingdom belongs to such, and says it must be received like a child.
What remains disputed or limited
Luke's word includes infants, emphasizing low status, dependence, and reception; it does not define children as morally innocent in every theological system.
What responsible use must refuse
The scene does not sentimentalize children, bypass safeguarding or consent, exclude caregivers, or excuse adult irresponsibility as childlikeness.
Original-language wording and grammarTechnical detail appears only where it helps
Jesus Welcomes Infants and Defines Receiving
This reader phrase gathers Luke 18:15–18:17's particular movement without pretending the title is one Greek lemma: People bring infants for touch, disciples rebuke them, Jesus calls the children, declares God's kingdom belongs to such, and says it must be received like a child.
How certain? probableWhat the first readers would have understoodRelevant history and culture
Recoverable setting and its limits
Luke's word includes infants, emphasizing low status, dependence, and reception; it does not define children as morally innocent in every theological system. Historical reconstruction is used only where it changes how the first hearers could understand the unit, and uncertainty remains visible.
How certain? probableWhy translations sometimes differMaterial translation choices
Pinned KJV and Greek control for Luke 18:15–18:17
The pinned KJV remains the displayed text. SBLGNT, STEP morphology, and the NET notes were checked at Luke 18:15–18:17; older English and a material alternative are explained only to the degree they change understanding. Luke's word includes infants, emphasizing low status, dependence, and reception; it does not define children as morally innocent in every theological system.
How certain? probableEarlier Scripture and inherited backgroundSupported quotations, allusions, and inherited ideas
Israel's Scriptures and Jewish life
Luke 18:15–18:17 belongs inside Israel's covenant story, Scripture, prayer, temple, synagogue, Sabbath, Passover, purity, poverty care, prophetic hope, and intra-Jewish debate as locally relevant. Christian interpretation must preserve that first horizon and reject antisemitic or supersessionist caricature.
How certain? strongHow this connects with the rest of ScriptureThe passage's own meaning remains primary
Synoptic relationships and Luke-Acts
Luke's own wording, sequence, and first-volume purpose control Luke 18:15–18:17. Markan priority is widely supported, while Two-Source, Farrer, Matthean-priority, and other models remain disputed; Synoptic parallels and Acts illuminate literary relationships but may not overwrite this unit.
How certain? strongTextual variantsManuscript differences only when they affect meaning
The inspected SBLGNT and verse-attached NET notes do not expose a variant that changes Luke 18:15–18:17's central movement; no technical filler is added.
Where careful interpreters disagreeThe strongest options and their difficulties
Which judgment needs visible uncertainty?
Best judgment: Luke's word includes infants, emphasizing low status, dependence, and reception; it does not define children as morally innocent in every theological system.
How certain? probableTheology that emerges from this passageConclusions drawn after reading the complete section
Theological contribution
Luke presents God's faithfulness to Israel's promises through Jesus, the Holy Ghost, prayer, mercy, reversal, embodied restoration, costly discipleship, the cross, resurrection, and witness in this movement: People bring infants for touch, disciples rebuke them, Jesus calls the children, declares God's kingdom belongs to such, and says it must be received like a child.
How certain? strongTheological contribution
The theological claim remains bounded by the unit's genre, speaker, first audience, affected people, and uncertainty; it cannot authorize the misuse explicitly rejected here.
How certain? strongCommon ways this passage gets misusedFair explanation, context check, and stronger reading
The scene does not sentimentalize children, bypass safeguarding or consent, exclude caregivers, or excuse adult irresponsibility as childlikeness.
A memorable line in Luke 18:15–18:17 can be detached from Luke's narrator, speaker, Jewish setting, Roman power, Synoptic relationship, affected people, and later Luke-Acts controls.
People bring infants for touch, disciples rebuke them, Jesus calls the children, declares God's kingdom belongs to such, and says it must be received like a child. The material uncertainty is: Luke's word includes infants, emphasizing low status, dependence, and reception; it does not define children as morally innocent in every theological system.
Read Luke 18:15–18:17 as the complete unit, distinguish description, dialogue, authorial judgment, theology, and analogy, and preserve the explicit negative before applying it.
People bring infants for touch, disciples rebuke them, Jesus calls the children, declares God's kingdom belongs to such, and says it must be received like a child.
Research trail and exact locationsThe source record behind this section
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and coverage.
Luke 18:15–18:17, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Supports: Greek wording and sentence relations; the edition is not treated as a complete apparatus.
Faithlife SBLGNT official repository, data/sblgnt/text/Luke.txt, 18:15–18:17
Supports: Greek forms, morphology, and lexical ranges only where the unit discusses them; local syntax controls sense.
STEP Bible Data official repository, TAGNT Matthew-Acts rows for Luke 18:15–18:17
Supports: Verse-level translation, syntax, KJV-language clarification, historical notes, Synoptic parallels, and textual alternatives.
NET Bible First Edition Luke PDF, exact tn/tc/sn entries attached to Luke 18:15–18:17
Supports: Critical orientation to the unit's place in Luke-Acts, narrative structure, sources, social questions, Passion, or resurrection.
Yale Bible Study Gospel of Luke course, Lost and Found study guide, Luke 15:1-19:27; applied to Luke 18:15–18:17
Supports: Current reader-oriented synthesis of anonymity, date, Jewish setting, salvation, marginalized people, parables, wealth, and whole-book movement.
Enter the Bible Luke course, Summary, Outline, Background, Introductory Issues, Theological Themes, Bible in the World, and linked passage index; applied to Luke 18:15–18:17
Supports: One complete confessional reading of the unit, independently checked against critical, textual, and ethical controls.
Bolt, “Luke,” commentary heading and paragraphs explicitly covering Luke 18:15–18:17
Supports: Literary relationship evidence and material alternatives among Luke, Mark, and Matthew without treating dependence as a historicity verdict.
Goodacre, The Synoptic Problem, chapters 1-5 on Synoptic data and Markan priority and chapters 6-10 on Q and Farrer alternatives; applied to Luke 18:15–18:17
Supports: Women's narrative, material, and discipleship agency, with social reconstructions kept provisional.
Penner, The Work of Wealthy Women, PDF pp. 15-18, 30-61, and 76-100; applied to the named women, households, bodies, work, resources, or witness in Luke 18:15–18:17
Sources for This Section
These records identify the source, the claim it supports, and the exact location used. A source remains evidence to evaluate; it does not replace the biblical text.
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 18:15–18:17, 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, 18:15–18:17
Open the Luke Greek text file ↗Lexical and grammatical evidence
STEP Bible Data
Tyndale House Cambridge
Tyndale House Cambridge, repository snapshot verified 2026
Supports: Greek forms, morphology, and lexical ranges only where the unit discusses them; local syntax controls sense.
Exact location: STEP Bible Data official repository, TAGNT Matthew-Acts rows for Luke 18:15–18:17
Open source ↗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 18:15–18:17
Open source ↗open university bible study course
The Gospel of Luke Course and Study Guides
Yale Divinity School faculty
Yale Bible Study, 2020; current online edition
Supports: Critical orientation to the unit's place in Luke-Acts, narrative structure, sources, social questions, Passion, or resurrection.
Exact location: Yale Bible Study Gospel of Luke course, Lost and Found study guide, Luke 15:1-19:27; applied to Luke 18:15–18:17
Open source ↗modern scholarly book introduction
Luke: Summary, Outline, Background, Introductory Issues, Theological Themes, and Bible in the World
Matthew L. Skinner
Enter the Bible, Luther Seminary, 2024 revision; current course inspected 2026
Supports: Current reader-oriented synthesis of anonymity, date, Jewish setting, salvation, marginalized people, parables, wealth, and whole-book movement.
Exact location: Enter the Bible Luke course, Summary, Outline, Background, Introductory Issues, Theological Themes, Bible in the World, and linked passage index; applied to Luke 18:15–18:17
Open source ↗open confessional commentary
Luke
Peter G. Bolt
The Gospel Coalition Bible Commentary, 2023
Supports: One complete confessional reading of the unit, independently checked against critical, textual, and ethical controls.
Exact location: Bolt, “Luke,” commentary heading and paragraphs explicitly covering Luke 18:15–18:17
Open source ↗modern scholarly open monograph
The Synoptic Problem: A Way Through the Maze
Mark Goodacre
T&T Clark; open access supplied by the author and Duke University, 2001; open release 2011
Supports: Literary relationship evidence and material alternatives among Luke, Mark, and Matthew without treating dependence as a historicity verdict.
Exact location: Goodacre, The Synoptic Problem, chapters 1-5 on Synoptic data and Markan priority and chapters 6-10 on Q and Farrer alternatives; applied to Luke 18:15–18:17
Open source ↗open access masters thesis
The Work of Wealthy Women: Female Discipleship in Luke 8:1-3
Kimberly Penner
University of Waterloo, 2011
Supports: Women's narrative, material, and discipleship agency, with social reconstructions kept provisional.
Exact location: Penner, The Work of Wealthy Women, PDF pp. 15-18, 30-61, and 76-100; applied to the named women, households, bodies, work, resources, or witness in Luke 18:15–18:17
Open source ↗