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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadBob Utley You Can Understand the Bible - Matthew 5:17 - 5:19
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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Mat_5:17-19
17"Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. 18For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven."
Mat_5:17 "Do not think" This is a negative aorist active subjunctive which was a grammatical construction that meant "do not ever start!"
▣ "that I came to abolish the Law" The context of Mat_5:17-20 is a statement affirming the inspiration and eternality of the Old Covenant. Jesus acted in a sense as the second Moses, the new Law-giver. Jesus Himself was the fulfillment of the Old Covenant. The New Covenant is a person, not a set of required rules. The two covenants are radically different, not in purpose but in the means of accomplishing that purpose. The thrust here is not on the inability of the Old Covenant to make man right with God as in Galatians 3, but rather on the rabbis'incomplete and improper interpretation of the biblical texts by means of their Socratic or dialectical method of interpretation.
Jesus, in effect, expanded the scope of the Law from overt actions to mental thoughts. This takes the difficulty of true righteousness through the Old Covenant to a level of utter impossibility (cf. Gal_3:10; Gal_3:21-22). This impossibility will be met by Christ Himself and given back to the repentant/believing faith community through imputed righteousness or justification by faith (cf. Rom_4:6; Rom_10:4). Mankind's religious life is a result of a relationship with God, not a means to that relationship.
▣ "the Law or the Prophets" This was an idiom referring to two of the three divisions of the Hebrew Canon: Law, Prophets, and Writings. It was a way of designating the entire Old Testament. It also showed that Jesus' understanding of Scripture was closer to the theology of the Pharisees than of the Sadducees, who only accepted the Torah, or Law (Genesis-Deuteronomy) as authoritative.
NASB, NKJV,
NRSV "but to fulfill"
TEV "but to make their teachings come true"
NJB "to complete"
This was a common term (pleroô) which was used in several senses. In this context it meant to consummate or to come to a designated completion (cf. Rom_10:4). The Mosaic Covenant has been fulfilled and surpassed by the New Covenant. This is the main truth of the book of Hebrews and Galatians 3!
Mat_5:18 "truly" This is literally "Amen." See Special Topic below.
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▣ "heaven and earth" In the OT these two permanent entities were used as the two required witnesses to confirm YHWH's statements (cf. Num_35:30; Deu_17:6; Deu_19:15). They are aspects of our world that will remain as long as this age remains. This statement was like an oath from YHWH.
NASB "not the smallest letter or stroke"
NKJV "one jot or one tittle"
NRSV "not one letter, not one stroke of a letter"
TEV "not a letter, not a dot"
NJB "not one dot, not one little stroke"
This referred to
1. the smallest letter of the Hebrew alphabet, yodh, paralleled in the smallest letter in Greek alphabet, iota
2. the ornamental additions to squared Hebrew script, similar to serifs in modern calligraphy
3. a small stroke that distinguishes between two similar Hebrew letters
The point is that the OT is significant in all its parts; even its most seemingly insignificant parts were from God. Yet the OT was completely fulfilled in the person, work, and teachings of Christ.
NASB "shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished"
NKJV "will by no means pass. . .till all is fulfilled"
NRSV "will pass. . .until all is accomplished"
TEV "will not be done away with-not until the end of all things"
NJB "is to disappear. . .until all its purpose is achieved"
The first term usually referred to destroying something by pulling it down, like a wall. The second term was used in Mat_1:22 to fulfill, as in accomplishing its declared function. Although this term had several other meanings in other parts of the NT, here it speaks of the OT finding its completion in Christ. Jesus' teachings are like the new wine that cannot be contained in the old wine skins (cf. Mat_9:16-17).
This fulfillment referred to Jesus' life, death, resurrection, second coming, judgment, and eternal reign, which are, in some sense, incipient in the Old Testament. The OT points to Christ and His work. The Apostles interpreted it in a typological or Christological sense!
Mat_5:19 This verse is not a threat directed toward modern interpreters and teachers, but a rejection of Pharisaic traditional legalism, spiritual arrogance, and sectarian dogmatism. Jesus Himself clearly set aside the Oral Tradition (Talmud), but also parts of the written Law! Two examples would be (1) the concept of divorce in Deu_24:1-4 rejected in Mat_5:31-32 (cf. Mar_7:15; Mar_7:19-23) and (2) the food laws of Leviticus 11 rejected in Mar_7:15-23.
The use of "least" and "greatest" may be evidence for some type of gradation within the Kingdom (cf. Mat_20:20-28; Luk_12:47-48; 1Co_3:10-15).