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Matthew 18:6

But whoever shall offend one of these little ones who believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.

All Commentaries on Matthew 18:6 Go To Matthew 18

Hilary of Poitiers

AD 368

These important items of comparison are not idle. Such an offender is to be sunk in the sea with both a millstone and an asses’ pack load, and even this is better for him! What is better in the accepted sense of the word is always beneficial. What then is the utility of being sunk with an asses’ millstone hung around one’s neck? So harsh a death will profit him in terms of future punishment. In some way it will be beneficial to meet that death which is the ultimate of evils. But how should we understand this spiritually? That is the deeper question. The millstone stands for blind toil, for pack animals are driven around in a circle with their eyes closed. And we frequently find the Gentiles referred to under the name ass. The Gentiles do not know what they do. They are in ignorance, and their life’s work is like blind labor. Not so the Jews. For them the path of knowledge has been set forth in the law. Insofar as they gave offence to Christ’s apostles, it was more just for them to be sunk in the sea with an asses’ millstone tied to their neck.

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Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation - 2 Peter 1:20