Matthew 18:3 (KJV)
“And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.”
Text and Immediate Context
The verse is Jesus’ direct response to the disciples’ question in 18:1 (“Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”). He has just placed a small child (παιδίον) in their midst (18:2). The parallel accounts (Mark 9:33–37; Luke 9:46–48) show the same scene arising from an argument among the disciples about rank.
The full saying is:
ἐὰν μὴ στραφῆτε καὶ γένησθε ὡς τὰ παιδία, οὐ μὴ εἰσέλθητε εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τῶν οὐρανῶν.
Lexical and Grammatical Analysis of “Be Converted”
The verb is στραφῆτε (straphēte):
- Root: στρέφω (strephō) — “to turn, turn around, reverse direction, change course.”
- Form: second aorist passive subjunctive, second person plural.
- Morphology: aorist (punctiliar/summary action), passive voice, subjunctive mood.
The KJV “be converted” reflects the traditional English rendering of this verb in religious contexts. The underlying sense is simply “turn” or “be turned.” Modern translations commonly render it “turn” (ESV, NASB) or “change” (NIV).
Grammatically the clause is a third-class condition (ἐὰν μή + subjunctive). The double negative οὐ μή + aorist subjunctive (εἰσέλθητε) is strongly emphatic: “you will by no means / in no way enter.”
The passive form of στραφῆτε is sometimes noted (cf. the same verb in John 12:40). It can allow the nuance of being turned (by an external agent), yet in the immediate context the force is hortatory: the disciples must reverse their present direction.
Contextual Meaning
“Be converted” here does not function as a technical term for initial regeneration or the first turning from unbelief to faith. The addressees are already disciples. The problem is their present mindset: they are discussing greatness and precedence in the kingdom, operating with categories of status, rank, and self-advancement.
The required “turning” is therefore a reorientation away from that ambition. Classic commentators make this point consistently:
- Albert Barnes: the word means “changed or turned.” Their ideas about the kingdom (expecting temporal grandeur and offices) had to change.
- Pulpit Commentary and others: it is a turning from proud, ambitious thoughts of worldly dignity—not the popular technical sense of conversion from habitual sin, but a change in the present state of mind.
- A. T. Robertson: they were headed the wrong way with selfish ambition and needed to turn around.
Verse 4 immediately clarifies the positive content of the turning: “Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child…”
“Become as Little Children”
The child is not held up as sinless. The point is the relative absence of the status-seeking the disciples were displaying. A small child in that culture had no rank, no claims to precedence, and no capacity for self-promotion. The qualities in view are humility, dependence, and lack of pretension—the same posture as “poor in spirit” (Matt. 5:3).
Theological Summary
Jesus defines both entrance into and greatness within the kingdom by the opposite of the world’s values. One must turn from self-exalting ambition and take the posture of a child. The strong negative (“ye shall not enter”) makes the posture non-negotiable.
In the wider New Testament framework this turning is the fruit of grace. The regenerate heart is characterized by poverty of spirit and childlike reliance rather than self-sufficiency or status. Pride remains antithetical to the kingdom; humility is its necessary and ongoing posture. The passive form of the verb is compatible with the recognition that such a turning is ultimately the work of God, even while it is demanded of the disciples.
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