Matthew 18:5 (DBY)

Passage

and whosoever shall receive one such little child in my name, receives me.

Nearby Context

Matthew 18:3 and said, Verily I say to you, Unless ye are converted and become as little children, ye will not at all enter into the kingdom of the heavens.

Matthew 18:4 Whoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, *he* is the greatest in the kingdom of the heavens;

Matthew 18:5 and whosoever shall receive one such little child in my name, receives me.

Matthew 18:6 But whosoever shall offend one of these little ones who believe in me, it were profitable for him that a great millstone had been hanged upon his neck and he be sunk in the depths of the sea.

Matthew 18:7 Woe to the world because of offences! For it must needs be that offences come; yet woe to that man by whom the offence comes!

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "whosoever", "shall", "receive", "such", "little", "child", "name", and "receives". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "whosoever" and "shall", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 4's "Whoever therefore shall humble himself as this..." into verse 6's "But whosoever shall offend one of these...", so "whosoever" and "shall" belong inside that flow. In Matthew context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "whosoever" and "shall" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.