Discovery BoxMatthew 8:26 
Context8:26 But 1 he said to them, “Why are you cowardly, you people of little faith?” Then he got up and rebuked 2 the winds and the sea, 3 and it was dead calm.
Matthew 18:6
Context18:6 “But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, 4 it would be better for him to have a huge millstone 5 hung around his neck and to be drowned in the open sea. 6
Matthew 23:15
Context23:15 “Woe to you, experts in the law 7 and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You cross land and sea to make one convert, 8 and when you get one, 9 you make him twice as much a child of hell 10 as yourselves!
1 tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.
2 tn Or “commanded” (often with the implication of a threat, L&N 33.331).
3 sn Who has authority over the seas and winds is discussed in the OT: Ps 104:3; 135:7; 107:23-30. When Jesus rebuked the winds and the sea he was making a statement about who he was.
4 tn The Greek term σκανδαλίζω (skandalizw), translated here “causes to sin” can also be translated “offends” or “causes to stumble.”
5 tn Grk “the millstone of a donkey.” This refers to a large flat stone turned by a donkey in the process of grinding grain (BDAG 661 s.v. μύλος 2; L&N 7.68-69). The same term is used in the parallel account in Mark 9:42.
sn The punishment of drowning with a heavy weight attached is extremely gruesome and reflects Jesus’ views concerning those who cause others who believe in him to sin.
6 tn The term translated “open” here (πελάγει, pelagei) refers to the open sea as opposed to a stretch of water near a coastline (BDAG 794 s.v. πέλαγος). A similar English expression would be “the high seas.”
7 tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.
8 tn Or “one proselyte.”
9 tn Grk “when he becomes [one].”
10 tn Grk “a son of Gehenna.” Expressions constructed with υἱός (Juios) followed by a genitive of class or kind denote a person belonging to the class or kind specified by the following genitive (L&N 9.4). Thus the phrase here means “a person who belongs to hell.”
sn See the note on the word hell in 5:22.
