“Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment:”
You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment. The first antithesis begins with the sixth commandment against murder (Exodus 20:13) and its legal consequence. The you have heard construction addresses the tradition of interpretation that had grown up around the commandment — not the commandment itself but the understanding of it as essentially a prohibition against killing. The ancient times indicates that this interpretation has a long history. Jesus is about to go deeper than the tradition and deeper than the surface reading of the commandment to the interior reality that the commandment is addressing.
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