Verse Lens · Context pointer
Matthew 18:2 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 2. 2And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them,
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Role in This Section
Places a called child in their midst.
Read It With
- Matthew 18:1–18:5
Read Matthew 18:2 with 18:1–18:5. In isolation, this verse's contribution—places a called child in their midst—can be detached from its speaker, audience, narrative or teaching sequence, and outcome. The complete unit establishes: Disciples ask about greatness, Jesus places a child among them, calls for a childlike turn and humility, and identifies receiving such a child with receiving him.
Why It Needs Context
Places a called child in their midst. Its force depends on the complete movement and outcome of Matthew 18:1–18:5; the isolated line is connective rather than a complete teaching claim.
Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Matthew 18:1–18:5 — Kingdom greatness receives the lowly childSources used for this context pointer
How certain is this explanation? strong
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, order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and thought-unit coverage.
Exact location: Matthew 18:1–18:5, 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 punctuation control without treating one edition as a complete apparatus.
Exact location: SBLGNT official text file data/sblgnt/text/Matt.txt, Matthew 18:1–18:5
Open the Matthew Greek text file ↗