Matthew 18:12 (YLT)

Passage

`What think ye? if a man may have an hundred sheep, and there may go astray one of them, doth he not--having left the ninety-nine, having gone on the mountains--seek that which is gone astray?

Nearby Context

Matthew 18:10 `Beware! --ye may not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you, that their messengers in the heavens do always behold the face of my Father who is in the heavens,

Matthew 18:11 for the Son of Man did come to save the lost.

Matthew 18:12 `What think ye? if a man may have an hundred sheep, and there may go astray one of them, doth he not--having left the ninety-nine, having gone on the mountains--seek that which is gone astray?

Matthew 18:13 and if it may come to pass that he doth find it, verily I say to you, that he doth rejoice over it more than over the ninety-nine that have not gone astray;

Matthew 18:14 so it is not will in presence of your Father who is in the heavens, that one of these little ones may perish.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "sheep", "gone astray", "think", "hundred", "doth", "not--having", "left", and "ninety-nine". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "sheep" and "gone astray", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 11's "for the Son of Man did come..." into verse 13's "and if it may come to pass...", so "sheep" and "gone astray" 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 "sheep" and "gone astray" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.