We will now consider the Antitheses (Mt. 5:21-48). These are verses in which Jesus / Rabbi Yeshua compares his teaching to the traditional Jewish Law, that is, the Torah. It will be seen that he never abolishes the commandments of the Torah, but consistently "raises the bar," lifting them to a still higher ethical level.
Verses 21-24 ("On Murder") are not paralleled in either Luke or Mark. Again, Rabbi Yeshua's comparison of his teaching to that of the Torah may not have been of great interest to ethnikoi / goyim / Gentiles of that time. It is, however, of great interest to us. Here, Rabbi Yeshua goes well beyond the injunction of the Torah. Literally, the famous "Thou shalt not kill" of the Ten Commandments really means "you shall not murder." The verb used in Hebrew (both in the Old Testament and in Matthew) is רצח, which does not mean "to kill;" it means "to murder." In other words, many types of killing, including the institutionalized killing of nationalistic wars, are acceptable. But Rabbi Yeshua extends the prohibition to include unkindness and psychological abuse. Think about that.
I have written elsewhere about verses 25-26, which are paralleled in Luke, But the most important part of this section was not paralleled for the Gentiles.
In Mt. 5:27-30 ("On Adultery"), Rabbi Yeshua again raises the bar:
Again he said to them: You have heard what was said to those of long ago: You shall not commit adultery.
But I say to you that everyone who sees a woman and covets her has already committed adultery with her in (his) heart.
In other words, we are not only responsible for our outward actions, but also for our thoughts and attitudes. By the time of Rabbi Yeshua, over a thousand years had passed since Moses and the Ten Commandments; some progress was to be expected. Then as now, women are not to be treated as sex objects. This, too, is worth thinking about.
Mt. 5:31-32 ("On Divorce"):
Again Jesus said to his disciples: You have heard what was said to those of long ago that everyone who leaves his wife and divorces [her] is to give her a bill of divorce.
And I say to you that everyone who leaves his wife is to give her a bill of divorce. But concerning adultery, he is the one who commits adultery and he who takes her commits adultery.
Here, Rabbi Yeshua places the onus on the men, who were the holders of power in his society. He does not say (as in canonical, Greek Matthew) "except on the ground of unchastity."
Mt. 5:33-37 ("On Swearing"):
Again you have heard what was said to those of long ago: You shall not swear by my name falsely, but you shall return to the Lord your oath.
But I say to you not to swear in vain in any matter, neither by heaven because it is the throne of God,
nor by earth because it is the footstool of his feet, nor by (Jerusalem) because it is the city of God,
nor by your head for you are not able to make one hair white or black.
But let your words be yes yes or no no. Everything in addition to this is evil.
What interests me here is that this passage was not paralleled by either Mark or Luke, presumably because Gentile culture had no particular sensitivity to use or misuse of the Divine name. Again, he goes farther than the Torah, while not contradicting it.
Mt. 5:38-42 ("On Retaliation"):
Again you have heard what is said in the Torah: An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.
But I say to you, do not repay evil for evil; but he who smites your right cheek provide for him the left.
He who wishes to oppose you in judgment and to rob your shirt, leave to him your garment.
He who asks you to go with him a thousand steps, go with him two thousand.
To him who asks from you give and from him who wishes to borrow from you do not hold back.
First of all, we need to clarify that the words of the Torah "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth" represented a great advance in human society. Those words are not an exhortation to retaliation, but a limitation to retaliation. Before that, if someone from a camp across the river came across and raped one of your women, you would cross the river and wipe out their whole tribe. Here, though, we are instructed to practice nonviolence, More than a thousand years had passed from Moses to Yeshua, and from Yeshua to us, two thousand more. Some progress was, and is, to be expected.
Interestingly, the Hebrew version is clearer and less problematic than the Greek: "Do not repay evil for evil" makes a good deal more sense than "Do not resist one who is evil."
Mt. 5:43-48 ("On Love of One's Enemies"):
Again Jesus said to his disciples: You have heard what was said to those of long ago that you shall love the one who loves you and hate the one who hates you.
But I say to you, love your enemies and do good to the one who hates you and vexes you and pray for those who persecute you and oppress you,
in order that you might be sons of your father who is in heaven who causes his sun to shine on the good and evil and causes it to rain on the bad and the just.
If you love those who love you what is your reward? Do not the impudent love those who love them?
Be you (perfect) as your father is perfect.
We note that the canonical, Greek version says "tax collectors" instead of "the impudent." We also note that the Hebrew text, which was used in debates with Gentiles, leaves out verse 47: "And if you salute only your brethren, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?" At some point, the verse must have been left out to avoid offending the Gentiles. It has also been omitted from the parallel in Luke, no doubt for the same reason.
In general I would say that these words speak for themselves, and it is a high calling, indeed.
Text (except for Biblical quotations) and image © 2020 by Donald Jacobson Traxler.
