Translations
F.O.G.MPrimary
F.O.G MessageJesus answered him, "I tell you, not up to seven times—but up to seventy times seven.
F.O.GSecondary
The F.O.GYeshua said to him, "I do not say to you up to seven times—but up to seventy-seven times.
KJV
King James VersionJesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.
BSB
Berean Standard BibleJesus answered, “I tell you, not just seven times, but seventy-seven times!
Footnotes
Hebdomēkontakis hepta (ἑβδομηκοντάκις ἑπτά): This phrase is genuinely ambiguous—it can mean "seventy-seven" or "seventy times seven" (490). The LXX of Genesis 4:24 uses this exact phrase for Lamech's savage boast of unlimited vengeance—a context where the number is almost certainly 77, not 490. The F.O.G renders "seventy-seven" to preserve this direct intertextual reversal: where Lamech declared unlimited retribution, Yeshua commands unlimited forgiveness—the curse of Genesis 4 inverted by the grace of the new covenant community. The F.O.G Message uses "seventy times seven" to foreground the overwhelming, incalculable abundance of forgiveness the parable that follows dramatically illustrates.
