Jesus said to him: I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times. The seventy-seven (or seventy times seven) transcends the limit-setting framework entirely: the kingdom's forgiveness does not count. The number communicates the principle rather than a new limit: forgiveness in the kingdom does not operate within a counting framework. The reference to Genesis 4:24 (Lamech's seventy-seven-fold vengeance) is the reverse image: where Lamech demanded unlimited vengeance, Jesus commands unlimited forgiveness.

COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS

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