Matthew 5:21 — Community Reflections

MATTHEW 5:21 — KING JAMES VERSION 0

“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.

Church Fathers on Matthew 5:21

Beautiful entrance He here makes to a teaching beyond the works of the Law, declaring to the Apostles that they should have no admission to the kingdom of heaven without a righteousness beyond that of Pharisees.
Hilary of Poitiers · 4th century

By righteousness is here meant universal virtue. But observe the superior power of grace, in that He requires of His disciples who were yet uninstructed to be better than those who were masters unto the Old Testament. Thus He does not call the Scribes and Pharisees unrighteous, but speaks of 'their righteousness.' And see how ever herein He confirms the Old Testament that He compares it with the New, for the greater and the less are always of the same kind.
Chrysostom · 4th century

The righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees are the commandments of Moses; but the commandments of Christ are the fulfilment of that Law. This then is His meaning; Whosoever in addition to the commandments of the Law shall not fulfil My commandments, shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. For those indeed save from the punishment due to transgressors of the Law, but do not bring into the kingdom; but My commandments both deliver from punishment, and bring into the…
Pseudo-Chrysostom · 5th century

Read all 31 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain

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