St Matthew Chapter V : Verses 17-20
Contents
- Matt. v. 17-20 (Douay-Rheims text) & Latin text (Vulgate)
- Notes on text
Matt. v. 17-20
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| He taught them. J-J Tissot. Brooklyn Museum. |
Nolite putare quoniam veni solvere legem, aut prophetas : non veni solvere, sed adimplere.
18 For amen I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot, or one tittle shall not pass of the law, till all be fulfilled.
Amen quippe dico vobis, donec transeat cælum et terra, jota unum aut unus apex non præteribit a lege, donec omnia fiant.
19 He therefore that shall break one of these least commandments, and shall so teach men, shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven. But he that shall do and teach, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
Qui ergo solverit unum de mandatis istis minimis, et docuerit sic homines, minimus vocabitur in regno cælorum : qui autem fecerit et docuerit, hic magnus vocabitur in regno cælorum.
20 For I tell you, that unless your justice abound more than that of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Dico enim vobis, quia nisi abundaverit justitia vestra plus quam scribarum, et pharisaeorum, non intrabitis in regnum cælorum.
Notes
(a) Relation between the Old and the New Law.
Note. — Having promulgated the constitutions of the Messianic kingdom, our Lord now proceeds to condemn the doctrines of the Scribes and Pharisees. He accuses them —
(a) Of attaching more importance to the letter than to the spirit of the Law.
(b) Of annulling even the letter of the Law by their vain traditions.
17. Do not think, etc. Our Lord seems to imply that men had begun to think that He had come to abolish the Mosaic Law. It was not unnatural that such a conclusion should have suggested itself to those who had heard the perfect code of the Beatitudes promulgated. Our Lord therefore is either refuting or anticipating the accusation which later was so frequently brought against Him and His disciples, e.g. —
(a) When the disciples plucked the ears of corn, some of the Pharisees said to them : Why do you that which is not lawful on the sabbath days ? (St Luke vi. 2).
(b) When Jesus healed the man with the withered hand : The scribes and Pharisees watched if he would heal on the sabbath, that they might find an accusation against him (St Luke vi. 7).
(c) When St Stephen was brought before the council : They set up false witnesses, who said : This man ceaseth not to speak words against the holy place and the law. For we have heard him say, that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place, and shall change the traditions which Moses delivered unto us (Acts vi. 13, 14).
that I am come. Better, “that I came ” (veni,ὅτι ἦλθον).
the law or the prophets. In popular language the “ law and the prophets ” included the whole of the Old Testament, which strictly speaking was thus divided —
(a) The Law, i.e. the Pentateuch.
(b) The Prophets, i.e. the prophetic and historical books.
(c) The Hagiographa (“holy writings”), which includes the poetical and miscellaneous works.
In St Luke xxiv. 44 we find the Old Testament summarized under the following headings : — The law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms.
I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. Our Lord emphasizes by repeating His assertion in the positive form. Christ fulfilled the law by perfecting it —
“As a painter by putting the finishing touches and adding colour to a picture, which he has sketched in outline, destroys the first draft and produces a new one ” (Theophylact). “He destroys indeed, not by dissolving but by completing, not by blotting out” (Maldonatus).
18. amen. This word is derived from the Hebrew “ Aman,” and in the New Testament means “so be it,” or “ so it is.”
till heaven and earth pass. Better, “pass away” (παρέλθῃ). This is a Hebraism we frequently find in the New Testament (see infra, xxiv. 35 ; 2 St Peter iii. 10). It has the force of never. Heaven and earth can only be said to pass in the sense that they will be changed. A parallel passage is found in St Luke xvi. 17. Our Lord uses the same phrase with reference to the stability of His words : Heaven and earth shall pass away, hut my words shall not pass away (St Luke xxi. 33).
The Jews had a saying which resembles this passage : “ Everything has its end ; heaven and earth have their end ; one thing alone has no end, namely, the law.”
one jot. Yodh is the smallest of the Hebrew letters, corresponding to the Greek “ἰῶτα .” According to Wordsworth this letter is found 66,000 times in the Hebrew Scriptures.
one tittle, (κεραίαν.) The tip or horn of a Hebrew letter. Some of these letters only differed by this curve ; e.g. (D) and (R).
Lightfoot gives several quotations shewing how important it was to write most carefully those letters which differed so slightly in form, e.g. “ It is written (Lev. xxii. 32) ye shall not profane my holy name : whosoever shall change the letter ‘ Cheth ’ into the letter ‘ He ’ destroys the world, for the words then make this sense, ‘ Ye shall not praise my holy name’” (Horæ Hebr., St Matt., p. 102).
till all he fulfilled. Lit. “till all things have come to pass” ( ἕως ἂν πάντα γένηται.). The law was only to last until then ; hence there is no contradiction between these words and other passages of Scripture where the abrogation of the ceremonial details of the Law is mentioned, e.g. Now in saying a new, he hath made the formef old, and that, which decayeth and groweth old, is near its end. (Heb. viii. 13).
19. shall break. Lit. “shall abrogate or annul” ( λύσῃ). Jesus distinguishes between the greater and smaller precepts, but He insists on the observance of all, even of those which are compared to a jot or tittle.
shall so teach men. These words were evidently addressed to the apostles, whose office it was to teach men. Two interpretations have been given to this passage. Of these, the first is the more generally accepted.
(а) Whoever despises the least of the commandments, and teaches others to do likewise, shall be least in the kingdom of heaven.
(b) Whoever shall himself break the least commandment, while he exacts its observance from others, shall be least in the kingdom of heaven.
the least in the kingdom of heaven. Some of the Fathers interpret this as meaning “he shall not enter the kingdom of heaven,” but the majority of commentators take the words literally, and this view agrees with —
(a) The teaching of Holy Scripture concerning the different degrees of glory enjoyed by the blessed in heaven. Cf. For star differeth from star in glory, so also is the resurrection of the dead (1 Cor. xv. 41, 42).
(b) The doctrine that all sins are not equally heinous ; hence the distinction made by the Catholic Church between mortal and venial sins, and the punishment due to them. The Scriptures clearly teach that though all iniquity is sin, yet nevertheless there is a sin which is not to death, and also there is a sin unto death (1 St John v. passim).
do and teach. The Christian teacher must imitate his Master, of whom it is said : Jesus began to do and to teach (Acts i. 1). Our Lord denounced the Pharisees for not acting up to their own teaching : They say and do not (infra, xxiii. 3).
20. I tell you. Jesus contrasts His teaching with that of the Scribes and Pharisees.
your justice, — i.e. “holiness,” as in verse 6.
you shall not enter, etc. Christ here speaks of a third class of men who will be excluded from the kingdom of heaven.
Note.— Our Lord draws “from this class another proof for the statement that He did not come to destroy the Law but to perfect it. He has proved this, first, from the perpetuity of the Law' in itself ; secondly, from the sanction of the Law in the New Testament ; now He proves the same from the superiority of the Law in the Messianic dispensation ” (Maas, St Matt., p. 68).
Totus tuus ego sum
Et omnia mea tua sunt;
Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam.
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