Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Matthew 18:18
Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
18. Taking up the word “Church,” Jesus passes from its present meaning the ruling body in the synagogue to its meaning in the future. The ruling body is the Christian Church.
Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven ] What was spoken to Peter alone is now spoken to all the disciples, representing the Church. “Whatsoever you as a Church declare binding or declare not binding, that decision shall be ratified in heaven.”
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Whatsoever ye shall bind … – See the notes at Mat 16:19. These words were spoken to the apostles. Jesus had before addressed the same words to Peter, Mat 16:19. He employs them here to signify that they all had the same power; that in ordering the affairs of the church he did not intend to give Peter any supremacy or any exclusive right to regulate it. The meaning of this verse is, whatever you shall do in the discipline of the church shall be approved by God or bound in heaven. This promise, therefore, cannot be understood as extending to all Christians or ministers, for all others but the apostles may err.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Mat 18:15; Mat 18:18
Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee.
How to meet offences
Observe the method Christ has laid down-
I. The trespass supposed, whether accidental or designed. Whether it regards reputation, or property, or feelings, etc. Then, the direction given-
II. Seek a private interview. That he may explain, if possible. Better adapted for him to confess. More faithfully and affectionately admonished.
III. If this fail, take one or two more. Let them be unobjectionable, peaceable, prudent persons. These are to witness and aid by their counsel and influence. If this fail-
IV. Bring it to the church. Do so for these reasons:
1. For the offenders sake. He may hear the Church.
2. For Christianitys sake.
3. For the worlds sake, that they may see we are neither indifferent or malevolent. If he refuse to hear the Church, then he must-
V. Be removed from christian communion. This is the last act, and if this is rightly done, it is ratified in heaven (Mat 18:18). Do not let us neglect this order. You object He is not worthy of all this, etc.; This is troublesome, etc. But it is your duty; Christ demands it. (J. Burns, LL. D.)
Tell the offender his fault
A person came one day to see Mr. Longdon, of Sheffield, and said, I have something against you, and I am come to tell you of it. Do walk in, sir, he replied; you are my best friend. If I could but engage my friends to be faithful with me, I shall be sure to prosper. But, if you please, we will both pray in the first place, and ask the blessing of God upon our interview. After they rose from their knees, and had been much blessed together, he said, Now I will thank you, my brother, to tell me what it is you have against me. Oh, said the man, I really dont know what it is; it is all gone, and I believe I was in the wrong! (Anon.)
Private reproof
A reprover is like one that is taking a mote out of his brothers eye-now this must be done very tenderly. For this purpose it would be convenient, where it may be, that reproofs be given privately. If thy brother offend thee, tell him his fault between him and thee. The presence of many make him take up an unjust defence, who in private would have taken upon him a just shame. The open air makes sores to rankle-others crimes are not to be cried at the market. Private reproof is the best grave to bury private faults in. (Swinneck.)
Brotherly reproof
I. Whom are we to reprove? Our brother. This term, in general, comprehends all mankind.
II. For what are we to reprove our brother? It is for trespassing against us.
III. How we are to reprove.
1. Be sure that the person whom you are about to reprove is really guilty of the sin.
2. See that the sin, which you are about to reprove, be that heinous sin which you have taken it to be. We are not for every trifle to fly in the face of our brother, and to hale him before our tribunal.
3. When you are about to reprove a brother, you should consider whether there is any probability of your doing him any good by your reproofs. If the goldsmith were persuaded that his toil and sweat at the refining pot would answer no good but to injure his health, and perhaps to shorten his days, he would sooner break his utensils in pieces, and burst his bellows apart than engage in such unprofitable and unhealthy employment. Equally fruitless ii is to reprove some men. To reprove successfully requires no small degree of dexterity and penetration. It must be the combined work of a cool head, and a gracious compassionate heart.
4. When you are about to reprove a brother, go to him yourselves. Do not wait until he comes of his own accord to you.
5. He who would reprove with success, should be as unblemished as possible in his own conduct.
IV. For what end we are to reprove him. Not to please ourselves, or to gratify our private resentments-not to triumph over his infirmities or to display our superiority to him; not to insult him, or to make ourselves merry with his faults; but that we may win him over from the camp of the aliens, and restore him to his rightful owner. (Daniel Rowland.)
The necessity of ecclesiastical discipline
I. The gospel cannot be preserved without salt; nor-
II. Fraternal love without frankness; nor-
III. A particular Church without discipline; nor-
IV. The Church in general without a spirit of discipline. (J. P. Lange.)
Correction of fault a duty
He who sees his brother commit a sin and keeps silence, is equally in fault with him who does not forgive him who repents. The very elements teach us the benefit of this correction. For so fire chastises, and by burning purifies the air. The air by the blasts of winds chastises and purifies the water. In like manner, so does the water the earth. There can be no Christian charity in any one unless he afford the medicine of correction to an erring brother. (Anon.)
Private admonition best
It is true open sinners deserve open censures; but private admonitions will best suit private offences. While we seek to heal a wound in our brothers actions, we should be careful not to leave a scar upon his person. We give grains of allowance in all current coin. That is a choice friend who conceals our faults from the view of others, and yet discovers them to our own. That medicine which rouses the evil burnouts of the body, and does not carry them off, only leaves it in a worse condition than it found it. (Archbishop Secker.)
Do not parade other peoples faults
They are fittest to find fault in whom there is no fault to be found. There is no removing blots from the paper by laying upon them a blurred finger. What do you get by throwing stones at your enemys windows while your own children look out at the casements? He that blows into a heap of dust is in danger of putting out his own eyes. (Archbishop Secker.)
Test of friendship
It is one of the severest tests of friendship to tell your friend of his faults. If you are angry with a man, or hate him, it is not hard to go to him and stab him with words; but so to love a man that you cannot bear to see the stain of sin upon him, and to speak painful truth through loving words-that is friendship. But few have such friends. Our enemies usually teach us what we are at the point of the sword. (H. W. Beecher.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 18. Whatsoever ye shall bind, c.] Whatever determinations ye make, in conformity to these directions for your conduct to an offending brother, will be accounted just, and ratified by the Lord. See on Mt 16:19 and, to what is there said, the following observations may be profitably added.
– . Binding and loosing, in this place, and in Mt 16:19, is generally restrained, by Christian interpreters, to matters of discipline and authority. But it is as plain as the sun, by what occurs in numberless places dispersed throughout the Mishna, and from thence commonly used by the later rabbins when they treat of ritual subjects, that binding signified, and was commonly understood by the Jews at that time to be, a declaration that any thing was unlawful to be done; and loosing signified, on the contrary, a declaration that any thing may be lawfully done. Our Saviour spoke to his disciples in a language which they understood, so that they were not in the least at a loss to comprehend his meaning; and its being obsolete to us is no manner of reason why we should conclude that it was obscure to them. The words, bind and loose, are used in both places in a declaratory sense, of things, not of persons. It is and , in the neuter gender, both in chap. 16, and here in this: i.e. Whatsoever thing or things ye shall bind or loose. Consequently, the same commission which was given at first to St. Peter alone, (Mt 16:19), was afterwards enlarged to all the apostles. St. Peter had made a confession that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God. His confession of the Divinity of our Lord was the first that ever was made by man; to him, therefore, were given the keys of the kingdom of heaven: i.e. God made choice of him among all the apostles, that the Gentiles should first, by his mouth, hear the word of the Gospel, and believe. He first opened the kingdom of heaven to the Gentiles, when he preached to Cornelius. It was open to the Jews all along before; but if we should suppose that it was not, yet to them also did St. Peter open the kingdom of heaven, in his sermon at the great pentecost. Thus, then, St. Peter exercised his two keys: that for the Jews at the great pentecost; and that for the Gentiles, when he admitted Cornelius into the Church. And this was the reward of his first confession, in which he owned Jesus to be the promised Messiah. And what St. Peter loosed, i.e. declared as necessary to be believed and practised by the disciples here, was ratified above. And what he declared unlawful to be believed and practised, (i.e. what he bound,) was actually forbidden by God himself.
I own myself obliged to Dr. Lightfoot for this interpretation of the true notion of binding and loosing. It is a noble one, and perfectly agrees with the ways of speaking then in use among the Jews. It is observable that these phrases, of binding and loosing, occur no where in the New Testament but in St. Matthew, who is supposed to have written his Gospel first in Hebrew, from whence it was translated into Greek, and then the force and use of the expression will better appear. Dr. Wotton’s Miscell. Discourses, vol. i. p. 309, &c., &c.
“The phrases to bind and to loose were Jewish, and most frequent in their writers. It belonged only to the teachers among the Jews to bind and to loose. When the Jews set any apart to be a preacher, they used these words, ‘Take thou liberty to teach what is BOUND and what is LOOSE.'” Strype’s preface to the Posthumous Remains of Dr. Lightfoot, p. 38.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
We met with this sentence, Mat 16:19, where we observed that by binding and loosing was signified (according to the usage of the Jews of those times) declaring of propositions true or false, or judging things lawful or unlawful. Some think that it hath no further import here; but it is the opinion of Mr. Calvin, and other very judicious interpreters, that it is here to be extended to the censures of the church, the sentence of the church pronounced justly in the case of offences; and is added, lest persons justly denied the communion of the church should contemn such censures. Christ assures these persons that such censures ought not to be slighted, for God would confirm them in heaven; as also to their absolutions, or readmissions of such persons into their communion, upon their true repentance and acknowledgment of their errors. Not that our Lord by this intended to confirm all sentences of excommunication, or to patronize any cheat or hypocrisy in any, to gain an absolution, or restoration to the church. But only, as to the first, to assure stubborn and impenitent sinners that he would ratify what his church did, according to the rule he had given them to act by. It is therefore a terrible text to those who are justly and duly cut off from the communion of the church, for notorious and scandalous sins, such as whoso committeth and doth not repent of, they shall never enter into the kingdom of God. And as comfortable to those who, being so cast out, do truly repent, and are under temptations to be swallowed up of too much sorrow. If therefore any be cast out of any church for professing or standing to any truth of the gospel, or because he will not do what is sinful, we must not understand them bound in heaven, though they be bound on earth, nor have any such excommunications any terror in them. How forcible are right words! But these arguings, what do they reprove? The church is not by this text made infallible, nor is the holy God by it engaged to defend their errors.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
18. Verily I say unto you,Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; andwhatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heavenHere,what had been granted but a short time before to Peter only (see onMt 16:19) is plainly extendedto all the Twelve; so that whatever it means, it means nothingpeculiar to Peter, far less to his pretended successors at Rome. Ithas to do with admission to and rejection from the membership of theChurch. But see on Joh 20:23.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Verily I say unto you,…. To them all, what he had said before to Peter; See Gill “Mt 16:19”: what is said here, refers to things and not persons, as there also.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Shall be bound in heaven ( ). Future passive periphrastic perfect indicative as in “shall be loosed” ( ). In 16:19 this same unusual form occurs. The binding and the loosing is there addressed to Peter, but it is here repeated for the church or for the disciples as the case may be.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
18. What things soever you shall bind. He now repeats the same words which he had formerly used, (Mat 16:19,) but in a different sense; for there he intended to maintain their authority in doctrine, but here he appoints discipline, which is an appendage to doctrine. There Christ declared that the preaching of the Gospel would not be without effect, but that the odor of it would either be life-giving or deadly, (2Co 2:15 🙂 here he affirms that, though wicked men ridicule the judgment of the Church, it will not be ineffectual. We must attend to this distinction, that there our Lord’s discourse relates to the preached word, but here to public censures and discipline. Let the reader go to that passage for the import of the metaphor, binding and loosin g. (561)
The substance of it is this: Whoever, after committing a crime, humbly confesses his fault, and entreats the Church to forgive him, is absolved not only by men, but by God himself; and, on the other hand, whoever treats with ridicule the reproofs and threatenings of the Church, if he is condemned by her, the decision which men have given will be ratified in heaven. If it be objected, that in this way God is made a sort of petty judge, who concurs in the sentence of mortal men, the reply is at hand. For when Christ maintains the authority of his Church, he does not diminish his own power or that of his Father, but, on the contrary, supports the majesty of his word. As in the former case (Mat 16:19) he did not intend to confirm indiscriminately every kind of doctrine, but only that which had proceeded out of his mouth, so neither does he say in this place that every kind of decision will be approved and ratified, but only that in which he presides, and that too not only by his Spirit, but by his word. Hence it follows, that men do no injury to the authority of God, when they pronounce nothing but what comes from his mouth, and only endeavor faithfully to execute what he has commanded. For, though Christ alone is the Judge of the world, yet he chooses to have ministers to proclaim his word. (562) Besides, he wishes that his own decision should be pronounced by the Church; and thus he takes nothing from his own authority by employing the ministry of men, but it is Himself alone that looses and binds
But here a question arises. Since the Church endures many hypocrites, and likewise absolves (or looses) many whose professions of repentance are hypocritical, does it follow that such persons will be absolved (or loosed) in heaven? I reply, the discourse is addressed to those only who are truly and sincerely reconciled to the Church. For Christ, wishing to administer comfort to trembling consciences, and to relieve them from fear, declares that any who may have offended are freed from guilt in the sight of God, provided that they be reconciled to the Church For he has appointed this as the pledge of heavenly grace, which has no reference to hypocrites, who pervert the proper use of reconciliation, but awakens in the godly no ordinary confidence, when they hear that their sins are blotted out before God and angels, as soon as they have obtained forgiveness from the Church
In the other clause, Christ’s meaning is not at all ambiguous; for, since obstinate and haughty men are strongly inclined to despise the decision of the Church on this pretense, that they refuse to be subject to men — as wicked profligates often make bold appeals to the heavenly tribunal (563) — Christ, in order to subdue this obstinacy by terror, threatens that the condemnation, which is now despised by them, will be ratified in heaven. He encourages his followers, at the same time, to maintain proper severity, and not to yield to the wicked obstinacy of those who reject or shake off discipline. (564)
Hence, too, we may see how absurdly the Papists torture this passage to cloak every species of tyranny. That the right of excommunication is granted to the Church is certain, and is acknowledged by every person of sound judgment; but does it follow that any individual, even though not called by the Church, but elected (565) by a mitered and disguised beast, shall at his own caprice throw out the useless squibs of excommunications? (566) On the contrary, it is evident that the lawful government of the Church is committed to elders, and not only to the ministers of the word, but to those also who, taken from among the people, have been added to them for the superintendence of morals. And yet, not satisfied with this impudence, they endeavor even to prove from this passage that we must bear all the burdens which they shall impose. I do not mention that the power which has been granted to the Church is basely seized and carried off by those outrageous enemies of the Church; and I only mention that, since Christ speaks only about correcting offenders, those who by their laws ensnare souls are chargeable with not less folly than wickedness in abusing this passage. Of the same stamp is their defense of their auricular confession on this pretense; for if Christ intended that those who by their own fault had been brought even to a public sentence should be reconciled to the Church, he does not therefore lay an obligations (567) on every individual to pour his sins into the ear of the priest. But their fooleries are so ridiculous, that it is unnecessary to spend any longer time in refuting them.
(561) See page 293 of this volume.
(562) “ Il vent toutesfois cependant que les ministres soyent ambassadeurs pour porter et publier sa parole;” — “yet he wishes that ministers should be ambassadors to carry and publish his word.”
(563) “ Comme souventesfois on verra de meschans garnemens sans crainte de Dieu, qui diront tout haut et hardiment qu’ils appellent au jugement celeste;” — “as we shall often see wicked profligates without the fear of God, who will quite loudly and boldly say that they appeal to the heavenly tribunal.”
(564) “ Qui reietteront la discipline, et n’y voudront ployer le col;” — “who will reject discipline, and will refuse to bend the neck to it.”
(565) “ Mais estant cree et ordonne;” — “but being created and appointed.”
(566) “ Et les face peter pour faire peur a qui bon luy semble;” — “and make them crack to frighten whomsoever he pleases.”
(567) “ Il ne s’ensuit pas pourtant qu’il ait impose loy.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(18) Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth.(See Note on Mat. 16:19.) The promise before made to Peter is now extended not only to the other Apostles, but to the whole society of which they were the representatives, and is, of course, to be understood as dependent on the same implied, though not expressed, condition. So far as the Ecclesia was true to its Lord, and guided by His Spirit, it was not to think that its decisions depended on any temporal power. They were clothed, as truth and righteousness are ever clothed, with a divine authority. As connected with the treatment of individual offenders, the words bind and loose may seem here to approximate more closely than in Mat. 16:19, to condemning and absolving in their force, but there is no ground for setting aside, even here, their received meaning in the language of the scribes. The Christian had to apply general laws to particular instances. The trial of each offender became a ruling case. It was binding or loosing, directly as interpreting the Law, only secondarily and indirectly as punishing or pardoning.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
18. Shall be bound in heaven As you are but executing the laws of Christ, the great Head of the Church, even in expelling from his family an obstinate and impenitent trespasser, so he in heaven will ratify your sentence.
We here see that Christ has authorized his Church to exist, and to exercise judicial powers in order to secure her purity and peace. And if she proceeds in the performance of these duties in temper and process as he prescribes, she but executes his laws, and she will be sustained by God himself. But the divine ratification follows only when the whole procedure is required by and accords with the spirit and law of Christ.
The binding and loosing, therefore, bestowed upon Peter belong to all collectively. It belongs to no pope or potentate. It resides in the body of the Church.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
“Truly I say to you, whatever things you shall bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever things you shall loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.”
But the congregation must seek to ensure that the verdict reached and the judgment carried out is approved of by Heaven. It is essentially Heaven’s verdict that must be reached. Nevertheless the congregation is necessarily given the authority to express that verdict and carry out the sentence, still acting in meekness and considering carefully the genuineness of their own hearts (Gal 6:1). And God will be behind them in their decision (if genuinely and spiritually reached)
When the Jews wanted to know how to apply the Law they looked to the Scribes who would determine the application of the Law by either enforcing its strict requirements (‘binding it’), or by ‘loosing’ it by some interpretative method. In the same way the congregation of disciples was given the authority to seek the mind of God on the Law and then apply it, as they might well have done in the case of this person just excluded from the congregation.
But this declaration parallels that made to Peter in Mat 16:19, indicating that there Peter received the promise as an individual disciple who would share the authority with other individual disciples, rather than as someone who was unique. Thus here it also has a more general application to all matters to be decided among the people of God, a procedure which we find carried out officially in Acts 15.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The power of the congregation:
v. 18. Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
v. 19. Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of My Father which is in heaven.
v. 20. For where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them. Christ here fulfills the promise which He made to Peter and through him to all the apostles, chapter 16:18. In a solemn declaration He gives to them the keys of heaven. The entire congregation, of which He has just spoken as exercising the power of declaring an excommunication, has the power to bind and to loose, to forgive the sins of the penitent sinners unto them, but to retain the sins of the impenitent, so long as they do not repent. If this power is exercised in accordance with Christ’s injunction and order, the sentence is valid before God in heaven. Every local congregation, even the smallest and poorest, has this peculiar church power. But it must never be forgotten that this power is given to edification and not to destruction, 2Co 13:10. It is intended to be a wonderful means for gaining poor sinners and for comforting the weak. “For when thy sins torment thee in thy conscience, thou mayest, in order to awaken a special joy, use the words of Christ, Mat 18:18: ‘Whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. ‘ If, therefore, thou hast been absolved by a servant of God or, if need be, by another pious Christian, and really art attentive to this promise of God, whereby He absolves thee from sins and receives thee into His grace, and if thou dost not run somewhere else: then thou hast found the safest haven of peace and of joy. For God does not lie and deceive; only believe thou steadfastly His promise.”
The fact that this power is actually vested in the Christian congregation, He explains: If two, the smallest number that can be considered a congregation, agree, consent together, come to a perfect agreement on any matter which they want to bring before God in prayer, their petition will receive the full attention of God. Such a full agreement can be wrought by the Holy Spirit only. “The Church may commence, continue, and be reformed with two individuals. The prayer of these two humble individuals on earth brings down the gracious answer of the Father who is in heaven, thereby attesting and confirming the character of the Church. ” A significant hint: If at any time, it is especially necessary when the case of an erring brother is to be discussed that there be prayerful harmony among the brethren of the congregation, under the guidance of the Spirit. A last gracious promise: “Where,” namely, wherever, “two or three,” the minimum number composing a Christian society, are assembled, gathered as believers in Me, “there am I,” now and always, till the end of time, “in the midst of them. ” This is true, above all, of the public profession of Christ and His Gospel, whether this be in church services or in other assemblies in which questions pertaining to His name and Word are discussed.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Mat 18:18. Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth, &c. Our Saviour here confers on his disciples in general the power of binding and loosing, which he had formerly conferred on Peter singly: but the present grant, from the connection in which it stands, appears manifestly to refer to something further than the former, which had respect to nothing but doctrine and precept. Whatever Peter declared lawful and unlawful should be held so in heaven; whereas here it relates not only to doctrine, but to discipline. If by their admonitions, whether public or private, the Apostles brought their brethren to repentance, they loosed the guilt of their sins, the fetters by which the divine justice detains men its prisoners; or, as it is expressed above, they gain their brethren. On the other hand, if the offending brother continued impenitent, after the methods prescribed were all tried, theybound his guilt the faster upon him; because, according to the laws of heaventhe terms of salvation which they were to preach by inspiration, none but penitents shall obtain pardon. Wetstein gives the following explanation of this verse: “If any one shall despise your sentence passed upon him, according to your appointed rules, he will do it to his own extreme hazard; for, refusing to returninto favour with you, he will be esteemed guilty before God. On the contrary, if he shall reconcile himself to you, he shall also obtain from God pardon for the sin committed against you.” See Macknight, Grotius, and ch. Mat 16:19.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Mat 18:18 f. By way of giving greater confidence in the exercise of this last stage of discipline at which the matter is finally disposed of by the church, let me assure you of two things: (1) Whatever you (in the church) declare to be unlawful on the one hand, or permissible on the other (see note on Mat 16:19 ), will be held to be so in the sight of God; your judgment in regard to complaints brought before the church is accordingly ratified by divine warrant. (2) If two of you agree as to anything that is to be asked in prayer, it will be given you by God; when, therefore, your hearts are thus united in prayer, you are assured of the divine help and illumination, in order that, in every case, you may arrive at and, in the church, give effect to decisions in accordance with the mind of God.
Those addressed in the second person ( , . . .) are the apostles (Hofmann, Schriftbew. II. 2, p. 266 f.), but not the disciples in the more comprehensive sense of the word (Weiss, Bibl. Theol. p. 103), nor the church (Bleek, Schenkel, Keim, Ahrens), nor its leaders (Euthymius Zigabenus, de Wette), nor the parties who have been injured (Origen, Augustine, Theophylact, Grotius). In order to a clear understanding of the whole discourse from Mat 18:3 onwards, it should be observed generally, that wherever the address is in the second person plural (therefore in Mat 18:3 ; Mat 18:10 ; Mat 18:12 ; Mat 18:14 ; Mat 18:18-19 ), it is the Twelve who came to Jesus, Mat 18:1 , that are intended; but that where Jesus uses the second person singular (as in Mat 18:8-9 ; Mat 18:15-17 ), He addresses every believer individually (including also the ). But as far as the is concerned, it is to be understood as meaning the congregation of believers, including the apostles . It is the possessor and guardian of the apostolic moral legislation, and consequently it is to it that the offender is in duty bound to yield obedience . Finally, since the power of binding and loosing, which in Mat 16:19 was adjudged to Peter , is here ascribed to the apostles generally , the power conferred upon the former is set in its proper light, and shown to be of necessity a power of a collegiate nature, so that Peter is not to be regarded as exclusively endowed with it either in whole or in part, but is simply to be looked upon as primus inter pares .
. .] Once more a solemn assurance! and that to the effect that, etc. Comp. Mat 19:24 . For with the indicative ( , see critical notes), see note on Luk 19:40 , and Buttmann, Neut. Gramm. p. 192 [E. T. 222]; Bremi, ad Lys. Alc. 13. The construction is a case of attraction; should have been the subject of the principal clause of the sentence, but was attracted to the subordinate clause and joined to , so that without the attraction the passage would run thus: . . , , . Comp. Khner, II. 2, p. 925. For the contrast implied in . , comp. Mat 9:6 .
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
18 Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
Ver. 18. Whatsoever ye shall bind ] Let no man despise your censure, for I will ratify it. Whatever you bind, i.e. forbid, prohibit, &c. As whatever ye loose, that is, command, permit, shall be seconded and settled by me in heaven, so that your word shall surely stand. Further, to bind, saith Cameron, is to pronounce a thing profane; to loose is to pronounce it lawful; as when the Jews say that David and Ezekiel bound nothing that was not bound in the law.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
18. ] This verse reasserts in a wider and more general sense the grant made to Peter in ch. Mat 16:19 . It is here not only to him as the first stone, but to the whole building. See note there, and on Joh 20:23 , between which and our ch. Mat 16:19 this is a middle point.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Mat 18:18 . enewed promise of power to bind and loose, this time not to Peter alone, as in Mat 16:19 , but to all the Twelve, not qua apostles, with ecclesiastical authority, but qua disciples, with the ethical power of morally disciplined men. The Twelve for the moment are for Jesus = the ecclesia : they were the nucleus of it. The binding and loosing generically = exercising judgment on conduct; here specifically = treating sin as pardonable or the reverse a particular exercise of the function of judging.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Whatsoever, &c. See Mat 16:19
on = upon. Greek. epi.
earth = the earth. Greek. ge. App-129.
heaven = the heaven. See notes on Mat 6:9, Mat 6:10.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
18.] This verse reasserts in a wider and more general sense the grant made to Peter in ch. Mat 16:19. It is here not only to him as the first stone, but to the whole building. See note there, and on Joh 20:23, between which and our ch. Mat 16:19 this is a middle point.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Mat 18:18. , whatsoever) i.e. all things with regard to which the power of binding and loosing holds good, especially offences.[832]-, ye shall bind) see the end of Mat 18:17.-, ye shall loose) see the end of Mat 18:15. There is an intimate connection between the retention of a private[833] and that of a public offence, and so also in the case of remission. See Mat 18:15-35. Our Lord teaches that His disciples can bind and loose the sins of their neighbours in His name; see Mat 18:20. Neither is it totally void of effect when they, even for their own sake, through anger, bind and hold the offences of their brethren.
[832] Christ gave this power to His disciples then, and not till then, when, having had experience of the gracious will of our Heavenly Father (Mat 18:14), they had recognised Himself, i.e. Jesus, as the Son of GOD (ch. Mat 16:16), and had received the Holy Spirit, Joh 20:22.-V. g.
[833] Privat, private, i.e. not one privately committed, but one against the individual: communis public, i.e. not one committed in public, but one of a public character.-(I. B.)
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Mat 16:19, Joh 20:23, Act 15:23-31, 1Co 5:4, 1Co 5:5, 2Co 2:10, Rev 3:7, Rev 3:8
Reciprocal: Lev 13:3 – pronounce Isa 22:22 – so he Mat 5:18 – verily Joh 9:34 – cast him out 2Co 13:3 – Christ 1Ti 3:15 – the pillar
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
8:18
This verse is explained at Mat 16:19.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
[Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth, etc.] these words depend upon the former. He had been speaking concerning being loosed from the office of a brother in a particular case: now he speaks of the authority and power of the apostles of loosing and binding “any thing” whatsoever seemed them good, being guided in all things by the Holy Ghost. We have explained the sense of this phrase at Matthew_16; and he gives the same authority in respect of this, to all the apostles here, as he did to Peter there; who were all to be partakers of the same Spirit and of the same gifts.
This power was built upon that noble and most self-sufficient foundation, Joh 16:13; “The Spirit of truth shall lead you into all truth.” There lies an emphasis in those words, “into all truth.” I deny that any one, any where, at any time, was led, or to be led, into all truth, from the ascension of Christ, unto the world’s end, beside the apostles. Every holy man, certainly, is led into all truth necessary to him for salvation: but the apostles were led into all truth necessary both for themselves and the whole church; because they were to deliver a rule of faith and manners to the whole church throughout all ages. Hence, whatsoever they should confirm in the law was to be confirmed; whatsoever they should abolish was to be abolished: since they were endowed, as to all things, with a spirit of infallibility, guiding them by the hand into all truth.
Fuente: Lightfoot Commentary Gospels
Mat 18:18. What things soever ye shall bind, etc. What was said to Peter (chap. Mat 16:19) is here addressed to the Twelve, with the solemn introduction: Verily I say unto you. A general application, to the organized Church, as well as to the Apostles, is possible. But the government is committed to our Lord; such an application without limitation has led to the greatest errors and crimes, and we may interpret. His spoken words by His Providence. This verse then, in its full meaning, refers to the special power and wisdom given to the Apostles by means of which their foundation work on earth corresponded to Gods designs in heaven. Mat 18:19-20, show the means by which the power of the Church may rise toward this Apostolic height. Were these conditions (agreement in prayer, and the presence of Christ) wanting in the case of the Apostles, even the promise of this verse would be invalid.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
That is, whomsoever the officers of my church shall justly excommunicate upon earth, shall, without repentance be shut out of heaven; and whosoever upon their true repentance, shall be absolved on earth, shall be absolved in heaven.
Learn, That Christ will ratify in heaven whatsoever the church assembled doth in his name upon earth; whether to the censuring of the guilty, or the absolving of the penitent. This power of binding and loosing is by Christ committed to his church.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Mat 18:18-20. Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth By excommunication, pronounced in the Spirit and power of Christ; whatsoever ye shall loose By absolution from that sentence. See note on chap. Mat 16:19. In the primitive church, absolution meant no more than a discharge from church censure. Again I say And not only your intercession for the penitent, but all your united prayers, shall be heard. How great then is the power of joint prayer! If two of you Suppose a man and his wife. Where two or three are gathered together in my name That is, to worship me; I am in the midst of them By my Spirit, to quicken their prayers, guide their counsels, and answer their petitions.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
This verse is identical to Mat 16:19. There Jesus was talking specifically about the messianic kingdom. Here He was speaking more generally about how His disciples should conduct themselves in humility. The "whatever" again seems to include people and privileges in view of how the Old Testament describes the stewards’ use of keys. The disciples would determine God’s will in a particular instance of rendering judgment in the church. Hopefully they would consult the Scriptures and pray to do this. Then they would announce their decision. With their announcement they would give or withhold whatever the judgment might involve, but they would really be announcing what God, the divine authority, had already decided. Their decision would be God’s will for the person being disciplined, assuming they had obtained the will of God before announcing it. [Note: See Craig S. Keener, "Exegetical Insight," in William D. Mounce, Basics of Biblical Greek: Grammar, p. 115.]
"To Peter the King promised authority in the kingdom, assuring him of guidance in the use of that authority. Now the Lord instructs His disciples concerning the subject of discipline in the church and also promises divine direction in their decisions." [Note: Toussaint, Behold the . . ., p. 218.]