Matius 5:18

5:18 I ¹  tell you the truth, ²  until heaven and earth pass away not the smallest letter or stroke of a letter ³  will pass from the law until everything takes place.

Matius 5:20

5:20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness goes beyond that of the experts in the law ⁴  and the Pharisees, ⁵  you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Matius 5:22

5:22 But I say to you that anyone who is angry with a brother ⁶  will be subjected to judgment. And whoever insults ⁷  a brother will be brought before ⁸  the council, ⁹  and whoever says ‘Fool’ ¹⁰  will be sent ¹¹  to fiery hell. ¹² 

Matius 5:32

5:32 But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

Matius 5:39

5:39 But I say to you, do not resist the evildoer. ¹³  But whoever strikes you on the ¹⁴  right cheek, turn the other to him as well.

[5:18]  ¹ tn Grk “For I tell.” Here an explanatory γάρ (gar) has not been translated.

[5:18]  ² tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[5:18]  ³ tn Grk “Not one iota or one serif.”

[5:18]  sn The smallest letter refers to the smallest Hebrew letter (yod) and the stroke of a letter to a serif (a hook or projection on a Hebrew letter).

[5:20]  ⁴ tn Or “that of the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[5:20]  ⁵ sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.

[5:22]  ⁶ tc The majority of mss read the word εἰκῇ (eikh, “without cause”) here after “brother.” This insertion has support from א² D L W Θ 0233 Ë^1,13 33 Ï it sy co Ir^lat Or^mss Cyp Cyr. Thus the Western, Caesarean, and Byzantine texttypes all include the word, while the best Alexandrian and some other witnesses (Ì⁶⁴ א* B 1424^mg pc aur vg Or Hier^mss) lack it. The ms evidence favors its exclusion, though there is a remote possibility that εἰκῇ could have been accidentally omitted from these witnesses by way of homoioarcton (the next word, ἔνοχος [enocos, “guilty”], begins with the same letter). An intentional change would likely arise from the desire to qualify “angry,” especially in light of the absolute tone of Jesus’ words. While “without cause” makes good practical sense in this context, and must surely be a true interpretation of Jesus’ meaning (cf. Mark 3:5), it does not commend itself as original.

[5:22]  ⁷ tn Grk “whoever says to his brother ‘Raca,’” an Aramaic word of contempt or abuse meaning “fool” or “empty head.”

[5:22]  ⁸ tn Grk “subjected,” “guilty,” “liable.”

[5:22]  ⁹ tn Grk “the Sanhedrin.”

[5:22]  ¹⁰ tn The meaning of the term μωρός (mwros) is somewhat disputed. Most take it to mean, following the Syriac versions, “you fool,” although some have argued that it represents a transliteration into Greek of the Hebrew term מוֹרֵה (moreh) “rebel” (Deut 21:18, 20; cf. BDAG 663 s.v. μωρός c).

[5:22]  ¹¹ tn Grk “subjected,” “guilty,” “liable.”

[5:22]  ¹² tn Grk “the Gehenna of fire.”

[5:22]  sn The word translated hell is “Gehenna” (γέεννα, geenna), a Greek transliteration of the Hebrew words ge hinnom (“Valley of Hinnom”). This was the valley along the south side of Jerusalem. In OT times it was used for human sacrifices to the pagan god Molech (cf. Jer 7:31; 19:5-6; 32:35), and it came to be used as a place where human excrement and rubbish were disposed of and burned. In the intertestamental period, it came to be used symbolically as the place of divine punishment (cf. 1 En. 27:2, 90:26; 4 Ezra 7:36).

[5:39]  ¹³ tn The articular πονηρός (ponhro", “the evildoer”) cannot be translated simply as “evil” for then the command would be “do not resist evil.” Every instance of this construction in Matthew is most likely personified, referring either to an evildoer (13:49) or, more often, “the evil one” (as in 5:37; 6:13; 13:19, 38).

[5:39]  ¹⁴ tc ‡ Many mss (B D K L Δ Θ Ë¹³ 565 579 700 1424 pm) have σου (sou) here (“your right cheek”), but many others lack the pronoun (א W ˹ 33 892 1241 pm). The pronoun was probably added by way of clarification. NA²⁷ has σου in brackets, indicating doubt as to its authenticity.