Matthew 5:21-48_Overview the SIX antitheses and [1.] Murder and contempt
24/11/24
Matthew 5:21-22: Murder and Contempt»
Questions
Jesus’ understanding of keeping the law meant a great deal more than making sure that the letter of the law was not infringed. For him it was important that the deeper implications of what God had commanded be understood and put into practice.
Leon Morris1
What is the Sermon on the Mount?
How many antitheses does Jesus give to illustrate finding God's wisdom in the laws of the Torah?
What is the first command from the Torah that Jesus quotes in this passage?
How does Jesus expand on the meaning of the command "You will not murder" in his teaching?
What is the significance of the Aramaic word ρακά in Jesus' teaching?2
What is the Sanhedrin? How does Jesus use it in his example?
What is the origin and meaning of the term γέεννα as used by Jesus?
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Midrash
It was observed by the Jewish scholar David Daube that this style of teaching is very rabbinical3. In the Midrashim [pl.] the rabbis would quote a scripture followed by an interpretation4. Jesus is unequivocally positioning himself as a teacher of the law, as THE teacher of Torah.
BibleProject Podcast/Sermon on the Mount»
Leon Morris, The Gospel according to Matthew, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: W.B. Eerdmans; Inter-Varsity Press, 1992), 112.
"ῥακά (T, ῥαχά), usually taken to represent the Aram. רֵיקָא, a shortened form of רֵיקָן, “empty,” as vocalized in the Galilæan dialect; an expression of contempt, raca: Mt 5:22 (cf. DB, iv, 191 f.; and for other explanations, v. Zorell, s.v.).†" G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1922), 396.
Daube, David. The New Testament and Rabbinic Judaism. Salem, New Hampshire: Ayer Co Pub, 1973.
Burton L. Visotzky, “Midrash,” in The New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, ed. Katharine Doob Sakenfeld (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 2006–2009) 83.