Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
Luke 18:17 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 17. 17Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
Luke 18:17 makes receptive low status the kingdom analogy without sentimentalizing children.
Read It With
- Luke 18:15–18:17
Read Luke 18:17 with 18:15–18:17. In isolation, this contribution—makes receptive low status the kingdom analogy without sentimentalizing children—can be detached from its speaker, audience, scene or teaching sequence, and outcome. The complete unit establishes: 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 Context
- 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 This Verse Is Not Saying
This verse does not detach its specific contribution—makes receptive low status the kingdom analogy without sentimentalizing children—from the complete unit or override the unit's explicit boundary: The scene does not sentimentalize children, bypass safeguarding or consent, exclude caregivers, or excuse adult irresponsibility as childlikeness.
What Remains True
Luke 18:17 makes receptive low status the kingdom analogy without sentimentalizing children. Read inside Luke 18:15–18:17, this contribution supports the unit's proportionate truth: 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 use remains accountable to affected people and the unit's explicit boundary.
How It Can Shape Life
- Luke 18:17 makes receptive low status the kingdom analogy without sentimentalizing children. Its faithful response is proportionate to that role: Welcome infants and children as full recipients of care and God's reign, with consent-aware safeguarding; never use their access to obtain unchecked access to adults.
Teach It Back
Explain Luke 18:17's specific contribution to Luke 18:15–18:17: makes receptive low status the kingdom analogy without sentimentalizing children. Include the preceding and following movement, one source-controlled uncertainty, one affected person or group, and what the verse does not authorize.
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Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Luke 18:15–18:17 — Jesus Welcomes Infants and Defines ReceivingSources 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 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 ↗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 ↗