Word Pictures in the New Testament - David Cox

Word Pictures in the NT [Matthew: Chapter 18].
denounces the Pharisaism in the bud He had to deal with" (Bruce).
The strong double negative \ou m• eiselth•te\ means that they
will otherwise not get into the kingdom of heaven at all, let
alone have big places in it.
18:4 {This little child} (\to paidion touto\). This saying about
humbling oneself Jesus repeated a number of times as for instance
in Mt 23:12. Probably Jesus pointed to the child by his side.
The ninth-century story that the child was Ignatius is worthless.
It is not that the child humbled himself, but that the child is
humble from the nature of the case in relation to older persons.
That is true, however "bumptious" the child himself may be. Bruce
observes that to humble oneself is "the most difficult thing in
the world for saint as for sinner."
18:5 {In my name} (\epi t•i onomati mou\). For "one such little
child" (\any believer in Christ\) Luke (Lu 9:48) has "this
little child" as a representative or symbol. "On the basis or
ground of my name," "for my sake." Very much like \eis onoma\ in
10:41 which does not differ greatly from \en onomati\ (Ac
10:48).
18:6 {These little ones} (\t•n mikr•n tout•n\). In the same sense
as "one such little one" above. The child is the type of
believers. {A great millstone} (\mulos onikos\), literally, "a
millstone turned by an ass." The upper millstone was turned by an
ass (\onos\). There were no examples of the adjective \onikos\
(turned by an ass) outside the N.T. until the papyri revealed
several for loads requiring an ass to carry them, stones
requiring an ass to move them, etc. Deissmann (_Light from the
Ancient East_, p. 81) notes it also in papyri examples about the
sale of an ass and tax for an ass's burden of goods. {The depth
of the sea} (\t•i pelagei t•s thalass•s\). "The sea of the sea."
\Pelagos\ probably from \pl•sso\, to beat, and so the beating,
splashing waves of the sea. "Far out into the open sea, a vivid
substitute for \eis t•n thalassan\" (McNeile).
18:7 {Through whom} (\di' ou\). Jesus recognizes the
inevitableness of stumbling-blocks, traps, hindrances, the world
being as it is, but he does not absolve the man who sets the trap
(cf. Lu 17:1).
18:8 In verses 8 and 9 we have one of the dualities or
doublets in Matthew (5:29-30). Jesus repeated his pungent
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