Matthew 18:15 (YLT)

Passage

`And if thy brother may sin against thee, go and show him his fault between thee and him alone, if he may hear thee, thou didst gain thy brother;

Nearby Context

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.

Matthew 18:15 `And if thy brother may sin against thee, go and show him his fault between thee and him alone, if he may hear thee, thou didst gain thy brother;

Matthew 18:16 and if he may not hear, take with thee yet one or two, that by the mouth of two witnesses or three every word may stand.

Matthew 18:17 `And if he may not hear them, say <FI>it<Fi> to the assembly, and if also the assembly he may not hear, let him be to thee as the heathen man and the tax-gatherer.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "brother", "against", "thee", "show", "fault", "between", and "alone". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "brother" and "against", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 14's "so it is not will in presence..." into verse 16's "and if he may not hear take...", so "brother" and "against" 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 "brother" and "against" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.