Bible Study Series: Matthew 5:21-26. This is the first of the six antitheses. “You have heard it said … but I tell you.” They actually intensify and clarify the Torah, in kingdom relationships, person to person.
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In the next link to the original chapter, I comment more and offer the Greek text. At the bottom you will find a “Summary and Conclusion” section geared toward discipleship. Check it out!
In this post, links are provided for further study.
Let’s begin.
Scripture: Matthew 5:21-26
21 You have heard that it was said to the people of old: “You shall not murder.” [Exod. 20:13; Deut. 5:17] Whoever murders shall be liable to judgment. 22 But I tell you that everyone who get angry with his brother or sister will be liable to judgment. Whoever says to his brother or sister “Raca!” will be liable to the council. Whoever says, “Fool!” will be liable to fiery Gehenna.
23 Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and while there you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar and go first to be reconciled with your brother or sister and then go and offer your gift. 25 Make friends with your opponent quickly, while you are on the road, so that your accuser not hand you over to the judge and he to his assistant and you be thrown in prison. 26 I tell you the truth: you will not get of out there until you repay the last penny. (Matthew 5:21-26)
Comments
Jesus has six antitheses. They are the intensification of some elements of the Torah (Osborne, p. 189).
First Antithesis: “You have heard it said … but I tell you.” See v. 20 for more comments.
Recall the verse from Jeremiah 31:33. The New Covenant goes to the heart.
21:
This is the Sixth Commandment (Exod. 20:13; Deut. 5:18). Liable to judgment means the crime has to be investigated. It is not necessarily the case that he will be found guilty.
22:
“gets angry” is a present-tense participle. It could be translated: “is (continually) angry with his brother or sister.”
Brother or sister is a friend / citizen in the kingdom community or a literal sibling. The Greek says “brother,” but the context here is generic. The term can include women.
“liable to judgment”: it does not mean he cannot repent, as vv. 24-25 teach us. In fact, Jesus is raising the standard so that we do repent. The King will not allow his kingdom citizens to keep anger at other members of the kingdom community.
“Fool”: The Greek term appears in here in Matt. 5:22, where Jesus said not to call someone a fool, but he was speaking in the context of a thoughtless, mean-spirited remark. It appears in Matt. 7:26 about the foolish man who built his house on a sandy foundation. In Matt. 23:17, he called the Pharisees and teachers of the law “fools!” He was being thoughtful and had analyzed and sized them up accurately. And finally it appears in Matt. 25:2, 3, 8 (see also 1 Cor. 1:25, 27; 3:8; 4:10; 2 Tim. 2:23; Ti. 3:9). Matthew is the only Gospel writer who uses it.
BDAG is considered by many to be the authoritative lexicon of the Greek NT, and it defines the term simply: “foolish, stupid.” It also adds that the foolish person is a godless, obstinate person (see Deut. 32:6; Is. 32:6). So be careful about calling a kingdom citizen a “fool!” because you may be overreaching by judging him excessively and inaccurately. Please take this verse in context, and don’t believe that you cannot see that people behave foolishly, because Proverbs, and many other passages, says everywhere that it is possible to spot a fool.
Further, the King will not allow his kingdom subjects to insult one another. One simply cannot shout in anger, “You idiot!” It is one thing to point out foolish behavior or even a fool; but it is another to do so in the context of hurling insults in anger.
Notice that Jesus did not say angrily insulting people shall be and must be and actually be thrown into Gehenna; rather, he said they are liable to the fires of Gehenna.
“Gehenna”: it is related to the Valley of Hinnom, which over the centuries was a garbage heap where things rotted and burned, even bodies. Evil acts were done there, like sacrificing children. It was outside Jerusalem. The name got tweaked into Gehenna, and in Jesus’s day it was an image or metaphor for punishment and a hellish place. At this dump, wicked kings of Israel / Judea worshipped Baal-Molech, including offering children in fiery sacrifices—they put children to the flames (2 Kings 16:3; 23:10; 2 Chron. 28:3; 33:6; Is. 66:24; Jer. 7:31-32; 19:4-6; 32:34-35). So it is apt to say that Gehenna is the place where people go who have done wicked deeds and are not saved, after final judgment.
See my post about the Bible basics on hell:
Once again, the kingdom subject has the chance to repent, so his being thrown into Gehenna is not a done deal. King Jesus is simply teaching his kingdom subjects that they better make things right, or else their punishment will be severe. The severer the punishment, the more important the teaching.
“Raca … fool”: these are thoughtless and destructive insults, like shouting at your child and calling him a dummy. Or you thoughtlessly and angrily say to an adult, “You’re an idiot!” In God’s kingdom you are not allowed to just throw around careless insults and certainly not in anger. (In my limited experience, losing one’s temper and shouting happens often in certain sectors of the globe, like the Mediterranean world and the Middle East.)
However, the rest of the Bible allows you and me to evaluate behavior and conclude that after a person behaves foolishly over and over again, then he can thoughtfully be called a fool. How many times does a person behave foolishly to earn the epithet fool? No, it is not once, but I cannot place a number on the behavior. You know a fool when you see repeated foolish behavior, however. You know it when you see it. In Jerusalem, during Passover, when things were coming to a head, and Jesus had predicted his death three times before then, he, using the same Greek word, called the Pharisees and teachers of the law “blind fools” (Matt. 23:17), but that was after a considered judgment of them because he had dealt with their opposition many times. His words were carefully, not carelessly, chosen. His words were accurate.
23-26:
These are the most important verses in this pericope (pronounced puh-RIH-koh-pea) or section or unit of Scripture (vv. 21-26), for it offers hope of reconciliation.
So now you are at the altar in the temple or a designated holy place, and then you suddenly remember that your kingdom co-citizen has something against you. Ouch. Leave your gift right in front of the alter, depart, and look for him. You may find him on the road. Be reconciled with him.
Here’s a possible conversation, using popular first-century names. Simon remembers that he owes Jacob money. Jacob may not be in the kingdom, but let’s say that he is.
“Jacob! I owe you an apology and some money.”
“Yeah, you do. I was looking for you,” retorts Jacob
Simon says, “Come with me to my house. I got the money.”
They reach Simon’s house. Simon hands him the money and repeats the apology. Now everything is right again.
If Simon does not make things right, Jacob might hand Simon over to the judge, who will hand him over to the assistant who will throw Simon in prison. He would not get out until he repaid everything. Yet how can he repay everything while he is in prison? This prison imagery illustrates that unforgiveness and hatred among co-citizens is bad—awful. Simon will be in the prison of his soul. It is a blessing that Jesus can free Simon from his internal prison. In any case, this is sound kingdom advice.
The temple is eighty miles (128.7km) from Galilee, so Jesus is using another startling image—he does this often in Matthew’s Gospel, particularly in the Sermon on the Mount (France, p. 203).
Paul, receiving revelation from the Lord through inspiration, later said that brothers should not sue each other, but rather be willing to be defrauded or to settle the lawsuit among brothers—out of court; that is, they should lay the case before those who have standing in the church (1 Cor. 6:4-8). In other words, kingdom citizens take care of their own and settle matters within the kingdom.
Reconciliation is the key to this entire pericope or section.
The Greek for “penny” is a Latin loanword (“quadrans”), and it one of the smallest coins in the Roman world (Osborne, comment on 5:26).
GrowApp for Matt. 5:21-26
1. Do you have a grudge or bitterness or anything against someone else? How can you use wisdom and the right timing and the right words to make things right?
2. Do you know someone who has something against you? How can you make things right, using wisdom and without lashing back or snide remarks?
RELATED
9. Authoritative Testimony in Matthew’s Gospel
1. Church Fathers and Matthew’s Gospel
2. Archaeology and the Synoptic Gospels
14. Similarities among John’s Gospel and the Synoptic Gospels
1. The Historical Reliability of the Gospels: Introduction to Series
SOURCES
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