Matthew 5:1-12

This passage occurs in the Epiphany season of the Revised Common Lectionary (Year A), most recently January 2023.  It also occurs on All Saints Day, Year A, most recently November 2023.
 
Summary:
A very familiar passage.  What caught me this time was the focus on Jesus teaching them:  διδασκω.  Jesus is presented as a teacher in the Gospels.  Sometimes in our (Lutheran) emphasis on Jesus as savior we overlook Jesus as teacher.  This passage, if not Matthew's Gospel, can rub us the wrong way as theologians because it portrays Jesus as moralistic; in fact, it even seems to be moralistic and therapeutic.  So where is the theology of the cross?  Well, in the beatitudes, God once again is showing up in the wrong places for the wrong people.  This is the theology of the cross and something worth teaching.

στομα ('mouth'; 5:2)  The prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel all use this expression to talk about the Word coming from the mouth of the Lord.  The Lord also tells Moses he will open his mouth to speak before Pharoah.  It does not seem an entirely common phrase, but one really picked up by these four prophets, all of whom faced false prophets.  I suggest with this strange wording, Matthew harkens back to this prophetic tradition, portraying Jesus as the Word of God who had spoken through the prophets.

εδιδασκεν ('began to teach'; imperfect form of διδασκω; 5:2)  Jesus teaches in all four Gospels.  The question is, what is he teaching them?  About heaven?  About how to live?  About how they are all sinners in need of grace?  Sometimes as Lutherans we want to avoid Jesus as teacher - making him into Moses - but the Gospels have no problem with Jesus teaching!

παρακληθησονται ('they will be comforted', future passive of παρακαλεω; 5:4)  This is a major word in the Bible; in fact, the word for Holy Spirit (the advocate in John 14:26) comes from this verb.  In Isaiah 40, God promises to comfort the people.  Have fun with the concordance on this one!  It is fair to say that, although Jesus is not simply a big teddy bear, part of the mission of God is comfort.

ονειδιζω ('reproach' or 'insult'; see also 5:11; 11:20; 27:44).  This word appears twice more in Matthew's Gospel...once when Jesus rebukes the unrepentant and finally when Jesus himself is on the cross.  This would mean that Jesus is blessed even on the cross.  Moreover, it shows that Jesus is not simply talking about his disciples' conduct, but talking about his own ministry.

μακάριος (‘blessed’ or ‘happy’: 5:3 and throughout the passage): The theological Lexicon of the New Testament (Spicq) gets to the core of this word and its striking use in the beatitudes. After a long summary of the Greek understanding of what it means to be blessed (pretty much what average Americans think, namely, healthy, wealthy and wise), the Lexicon finally assesses Jesus' use: “It is impossible to insist too strongly on the meaning of this μακάριος …This is much more than contentment; it is an interior joy that becomes external, elation translated into shouts, songs, acclamations. …Secondly, the new faith implies a reversal of all human values; happiness is no longer attached to wealth, to having enough, to a good reputation, power, possessions of the goods of this world, but to poverty alone.”

η βασιλεια των ουρανων (5:3; the kingdom of heaven): Matthew's Gospel does not use the phrase kingdom of God.  Some scholars speculate this may be out of deference to the word God that comes from Matthew's Jewish piety.  Generally Matthew only uses θεος in quoting the OT; κυριος (often the NT translation of YHWH) is reserved for its more secular meaning, "master." 

Grammar review and verse translation:  To be or not to be?
NRS Matthew 5:3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
μακαριοι οι πτωχοι τω πνεθματι οτι αυτων εστιν η βασιλεια των ουρανων

First clause:  μακαριοι οι πτωχοι τω πνεθματι
In Greek, you do not (always) need to use the verb "to be."  You can simply add it.  So the sentence reads:  "Blessed the poor in spirit."  You supply the "are." 

 
The phrase τω πνεθματι is challenging for a translator, even though the words are straight forward.  The simplest translation is to interpret the dative as indicating location (where it is).  But then what does "Poor in the spirit" mean?  Psalm 34:18 has a similar phrase often translated "discouraged." 

The second clause:  οτι αυτων εστιν η βασιλεια των ουρανων
is more interesting.  In this case we have a "to be" verb - "εστιν"
What is most peculiar is the genitive case in which we find "αυτων" and "ουρανων."  The genitive can be translated a number of ways.  Consider how many relationships the word "of" can imply in English:  Kingdom of Fish.  Does this mean possessive (it belongs to the fish) or partitive (it consists of fish) or objective (kingdom for fish).  So in this case, "αυτων" might be a possessive genitive, like "the kingdom of heaven BELONGS to them."  However, nothing suggests why it couldn't be partitive, ie, "the kingdom of heaven CONSISTS of them." In fact, it might even be "objective," as in "the kingdom of heaven is for them."  I think "belongs" (possessive) is probably the most natural use of the genitive, but this exercise reminds us possibilities.  Likewise, "heaven" is in the genitive, which mean all of these translation possibilities exist for it as well.  (Also worth throwing in there is that οτι  can mean "because" or "that")

So, this sentence could read:
"Happy are the poor in spirit that the kingdom belonging to God consists of them."
or
"Blessed are the poor in spirit because the kingdom which belongs to God belongs to them."
or
"Blessed are the discouraged because the kingdom from God is for them."
And so forth!

Matthew 5:21-37

This passage occurs in the Epiphany season of the Revised Common Lectionary (Year A).  Most recently it occurred in February 2023.
 
Summary:
This passage is brutal, even in the Greek. 

Typically English translations water down the Greek.  For example, in 5:25, most translations have Jesus saying, "Settle the matter."   He is more likely saying, "Get on good and friendly terms." 

However, the Greek makes the passage on divorce and adultery more complex, not necessarily more intense.  The word for a divorced woman in 5:32 is "the freed one."  The grounds for adultery, furthermore, probably mean more than simply lustful looking.  I am not sure if these subtleties change the preaching approach (which is "Lord have mercy"), but they might be helpful in studies with people to talk about lust, marriage, freedom and reconciliation.

Key Words for Preaching and Teaching:
ευνοων ("make friends" (participate of ευνεοω), 5:25).  This word occurs only once in the New Testament. 

The NRSV and NIV translate this along the lines of "come to terms quickly."  The original Greek here is sharper, meaning "make friends with."  Jesus wants more than simply a truce, he wants friendship!

επιθυμησαι ("desire" (aorist infinitive of επιθυμεω), 5:28).  This word does not necessarily imply sexual desire.  It simply means desire (literally:  upon-soul).  The NT uses this verb to refer to good desire, such as a desire for the coming of Jesus (Matthew 13:17).  So the verb is itself not sexual or "dirty."  Furthermore, given the use of this verb (within a "προς" infinitive construct), Jesus here means more than simply "looking at a woman" but means something more like, "looking with the purpose of desiring her" or "looking with the result that your heart is upon her."  Jesus is not saying that all looking at a woman is lustful, but lustful looking is already adultery. 

λογου πορνειας ("matter of unchastity", 5:32).  Jesus offers this a potentially acceptable reason for divorce.  But what does it mean?  Both of these words have easy English cognates:  "logos" comes into English in the many words that end in -logy; "porneias" comes into English in the word pornography.  The combination is a bit strange, though.  "A word of porn" might be one literal translation.  A better translation is probably to treat λογου (here in genitive) as "matter." 

But what about πορνειας?  This can mean having sex out of wedlock and includes prostitution.  It covers the spectrum of "non permitted sexual intercourse."  It is odd that Jesus, while discussing adultery as a sin before God, expands the definition of adultery; when discussing grounds for divorce he seems to narrow the scope of adultery.  Maybe he wants to make sure that people don't think that lustful looking constitutes divorce?  If anything, he seems to offer narrow grounds for divorce:  sexual misconduct, which includes but is not limited to prostitution.  The NRSV (unlike the NET here, yuck), hits the nail on the head.  The Message also offers a helpful translation:  "If you divorce your wife, you're responsible for making her an adulteress (unless she has already made herself that by sexual promiscuity)."

απολελυμενην ("divorced" (passive feminine participle of απολοω), 5:32).  This participle does not naturally mean divorced, but actually, "freed" or "released."  It is interesting that Jesus used this word here -- if you marry one who is freed, you commit adultery.  It is also interesting that the woman is not seen here as the one committing adultery.  The Message bible translation connects these two by suggesting that the one "freed" is the one who committed the sins earlier in the passage.  Not necessarily!  I find it powerful that the word for divorced is "freed."  Many divorced people might find a glimmer of comfort in this!

αρχαιοις ("ancient" from αρχαιος (dative plural); found in 5:21; 33). This word, from which we get "archeology," simply means old or ancient. It is used in the form here "the ancients." The question is, what is Jesus speaking about: the ancient days, the ancient times, the ancient generations? Not much worth investigating here, but wanted to point it out why translations differ.  Jesus implicitly critiques but affirms the tradition.   

Translation and Grammar Review:
Matthew 5:27, You have heard:  "Do not commit adultery."  Let's unpack what should be an easy sentence!  (And get around the road blocks it throws up!).
ηκουσατε οτι ερρεθη ου μοιχευσεις

ηκουσατε:  Remember here that Jesus is speaking not to individuals, but to everyone.  Hence the plural ending.  Also, this verb is really a familiar one, but the aorist changes the first letter.  If you run across words beginning with η switch it to an α and see if you recognize it.  ακου...should be a familiar root!

οτι:  Can mean because or that.  When used with a sense verb (hear, say) it is almost always "that"

ερρεθη:  This is an odd form (aorist passive) of a very common verb:  λεγω.  Unless you read Greek a fair amount, the odd forms of words in the aorist or aorist passive are probably not going to be remembered.  No big deal.  This is what Bible works is for.  "To speak" in the aorist passive is simply, "was said"

ου:  When Jesus retells the OT commands, he presents them in an unusual way. The 10 commandments, when given to Moses in Hebrew, are not really commandments in terms of their linguistic form. They read, literally, "You are not murdering" instead of "Do not murder."  (If they were "Do not murder" they would be in the form with μη+aorist verb).  The odd use of language here is meant to emphasize the strict nature of these commandments.  Hence why Jesus (and everyone else in the New Testament) uses "ου" instead of "μη."  As a way to express this in English, most translators have used "shall" instead of "do" (natural English command form) or "will" (most linguistically faithful word to original Greek and Hebrew).

μοιχευσεις:  Adultery.  Now what that means is tough.  Does this include premarital sex?  Ten years ago I would have said no, but now I think it does.  (In Biblical times, one does not conceive of sex outside of wedlock - it is either prostitution or you are going to get married).

Alas, sometimes easy words make for hard sentences to translate!

Matthew 5:13-20

This passage occurs in the Epiphany season of the Revised Common Lectionary (Year A), most recently February 2023.

Summary:
The basic meaning of the passage should not be lost:  Discipleship of Jesus means living our lives in contrast to the world's general order.  This might invite the preacher to lean heavily on the law for such a sermon.  A closer examination of verses 18-20 suggests that Jesus clearly rejects the law as a path to salvation.  First, those who don't do law are still in the kingdom of heaven; second, those who love the law do not have the necessary righteousness and finally, the law eventually will give way in the new creation. 

Key words:
μωρανθη ("lost flavor" or "made fools," aorist passive subjunctive of μωραινω, 5:13):  The word here means "lose flavor" but elsewhere means "make fools."  Paul uses this saying that people, thinking they are wise, have become fools (Romans 1:22; 1 Cor 1:20).  Interesting to think about salt (ie, us) becoming fools!  Maybe this is precisely the call of the beatitudes and the sermon on the mount:  We are to become beaten down by the world, trampled underfoot.  Perhaps more inviting -- when we've lost our way in life, the way forward is humility, falling back to the ground.  Our hope is not in the world's kindness, but the power of Christ's resurrection to renew and restore us.

αλας (salt, 5:13)  Salt was valuable in the ancient world.  It is a working mineral, not one to be observed.  It receives no benefit from its own actions either.  Lastly, one molecule isn't particularly useful; why you plural are the salt of the earth!

ορος ("mountain" or "hill", 5:14).  A small reminder that this passage takes place during the sermon on the mount!  In another blog post I look at how Matthew uses mountains.

λαμπει ("shine," of λαμπω, 5:15; also 5:16; also 17:2, during transfiguration).  The only time anyone truly shines in the Gospel of Matthew is Jesus during the transfiguration.  A reminder that the church only functions as the light when it reflects the light of Christ.

As someone said in Bible study:  American culture teaches the first half: let your light so shine... ; the church must confess and instill the second half, to glorify your father in meaven!

νομισητε ("think," aorist subjunctive of νομιζω, 5:17).  Jesus kind of does a play on words here.  He says that he has not come to abolish the law (νομος).  He starts out the sentence with a verb that has the same root.  Okay, nothing here for a sermon, more a little smile when you read the Greek :-)

ιωτα  ("iota," 5:18).  This is fascinating.  The law here has already been translated from Hebrew to Greek.  The tiddle of Hebrew has been changed.  Yet Jesus argues that even the smallest point of the law remains.  So do we assume here that this means the law is so eternal that it transcends language?

εως ("until," 5:18).  It is worth stopping for a second here -- until heaven and earth pass away, the law remains in power.  This suggests that the law is incredibly enduring, yet not eternal.  It too shall pass away.  It is worth remembering that the law was given to deal with sin (Galatians 3:19).  Once sin is gone, no more need for the law.  However, we will not get rid of sin until heaven and earth pass away and therefore, the law is with us.

ποιηση ("do" aorist subjunctive of ποιεω, 5:19):  Alas my Lutheran heart sinks.  Jesus actually expects us to do stuff.  It is fascinating to look up the word faith in the Gospel of Matthew.  Faith leads to sins being forgiven (9:2), heals people (9:22; 9:29; 13:58; 15:28), moves mountains (17:20), empowers prayer (21:22).  So it is not that faith and justification are separate in Matthew's Gospel.; rather, Jesus expects people to do stuff!

δικαιοσυνη ("righteousness"; 5:20)  If the Pharisees and teachers of the law have not achieved enough righteousness before the law to get into the Kingdom of Heaven, what hope do we all have?  Practically, I think Jesus reminds us that observation of the law is not just about the letter, but also the Spirit (which the Pharisees miss).  Existentially and ultimately, this verse, like so many others in Scripture, reveals that our righteousness before the law is not what gets us into heaven.  Even the most law observing people cannot achieve righteousness.  However, Jesus said in the verse prior that  people who don't do the right things are the least in the Kingdom.  So we need a righteousness that exceeds the most moral of people to get in; yet the least moral get in.  Clearly, righteousness before the heavenly throne is not based on the law.

Grammar review α:

Hebrew poetry rhymes in images rather than sounds.  I can't help but think this is a Hebrew rhyme: salt of the earth and light of the world.  In what way do they play off each other?  Resonate and clarify each other?

Grammar review β:  How to translate the aorist subjunctive
As you can tell from the words above, Greek likes to employ the aorist subjunctive.  This is both complex yet simple for the English reader.  It is complex because it is used in many and unusual ways.  "Subjunctive" normally refers to hypothetical events.  However, Greek conceives of the subjunctive in some different ways than English.  So understanding what is signified by the aorist subjunctive may not be very intuitive or directly translatable.  What makes it simple is that there are basically six (or so) categories of use and they all have a translation formula.  This passage has a most of the categories for translation.

εαν clause
In 5:13, you have the aorist subjunctive in εαν clause: μωρανθη
The word εαν signifies an uncertain event (technically ει αν) and will almost certainly have a verb in the subjunctive mood.  In this case, Jesus is saying that the salt may or may not lose its flavor.  The way to translate this is with the word "if."  If salt loses its flavor...

εαν + μη or ει + μη clause
In 5:20 you have this in εαν μη περισσευση.  The way to translate this is with "unless"

ος αν clause
This is akin to εαν in terms of hypothetical translations.  In 5:19 you have this with ποιηση, when its used with ος αν.  In this case you can translate it with, "whoever"

μη prohibition
5:17 reads μη νομισητε.  Greek will put simple commands in the μη + aorist subjunctive.  This implies that the listener should do this activity without implication of the action being on-going.  You could think of this as a prohibition.  It is how Greek does negative aorist prohibitions.  Like "Don't eat that" would employ aorist subjunctive.  In contrast, when Jesus says, for example, "Do not let your hearts be troubled," he uses the present tense, implying that they were worrying and they shouldn't ever again.  The way you translate this use of the aorist subjunctive is by saying, "Do not XYZ."  Aorist subjunctive makes no implication about past or future action.

ου μη prohibition
5:20  ου μη εισελθητε.  This simply should be translated as "no, not ever"  Strongest negative possible in Greek!

Matthew 5:38-48

This passage occurs in the Epiphany season of the Revised Common Lectionary (Year A), most recently February 2017.
 
Summary:  Once again, Jesus offers us challenging words.  He calls us as a church, as the community of disciples, to act differently than the rest of the world.  He calls us to turn the other cheek; to love our neighbor and to give without counting the costs.  Yet he also points to the cross and God's act of self-giving.  Jesus is the one who will be slapped (ῤαπιζω), his coat (ιματιον) will be taken and finally Simon will be put into service (αγγαρευσω) to carry Jesus' cross.  Furthermore, Jesus will teach his disciples not simply to "give" but to pray to the heavenly father to "give" them their daily bread.  Lastly, the very gentiles (εθνικος) Jesus seems to chastise will be those Jesus calls us to baptize.  Read in isolation, these verses are simply moral exhortation, but read in the context of the whole, they powerfully remind us of the Gospel.

ῤαπιζει ("slap," 5:39; 26:67)  A rather rare word in the Bible (4x).  Interestingly though, the word comes back in Matthew's Gospel during the passion when Jesus is the one who is slapped.  (Ι included the accent mark to make it clear that the word is pronounced with a "her" at the beginning.)

ιματιον ("coat" 5:40, 27:31, 27:35)  A very common word in the Bible.  Like ῤαπιζω, this word comes back into Matthew's Gospel during the passion when they take Jesus' coat.

αγγαρευσει ("put into service", 5:41, 27:32)  The word only appears twice in the Bible, both times in Matthew's Gospel.  Here and in the passion narrative, when Simon or Cyrene is "put into service" to carry the cross.  Someone was asked to go the mile; now a "second" has come in its place.

δος ("give," aorist imperative of διδημι, 5:42; very common but also 6:11).  Jesus exhorts us to give to people who ask from us.  The same verb (in the same form) will appear only a bit later in the Sermon on the Mount, when Jesus teaches us how to pray, telling us to δος to God for our daily bread.  We are to live out of generosity, only dependent on God's graciousness.

διωκοντων ("persecute" or "persue," present participle of διωκω, 5:44)  The Gospel of Matthew never specifices that Jesus is himself persecuted, although the story clearly demonstrates that he is.  In fact, Jesus warns the disciples that they will be persecuted (10:23, 23:34).

εθνικος ("Gentile" or "Pagan," gentile as an adjective; 5:47)  Just a reminder of how "raw" the word for "Gentile" is:  Ethnic.  Gentile sounds so clean to us; I don't think it sounded this way in Greek!  Also, even though Jesus may disparriage the gentiles now, he will finally tell us to baptize them ("the nations") in his name!

Aorist tense as pastoral advice??
One mysterious issue I cannot solve is this:  Generally, the verbs describing the response of others are in the present tense; while the verb commanding our response are in the aorist tense -- for example the one "striking" us in the present tense, suggesting on-going action; we are commanded to "turn" the other check is in the aorist tense, suggesting this is a one time event.  Perhaps even Jesus here reminds us the limits of our passive response to the world's violence?  In comparison, the commands to love and pray are on-going.  I wonder if there is a real pastoral approach here to individuals (as opposed to systems) who are cruel to us -- in the short term, we are called to suffer abuse, but in the long term we are called to remove ourselves from the situation, only to offer prayers.

[Note, even more unusually, Jesus does tell us that we are to go the second mile continually.  This one I cannot figure out.]

Grammar + Translation:  Matthew 5:40
Translating participles when they connect with other verbs.

και τω θελοντι σοι κριθηναι και τον χιτωνα σου λαβειν, αφες αυτω και το ιματιον
NRSV  and if anyone wants to sue you and take your coat, give your cloak as well;

The second half of the sentence is more straight-forward:  αφες αυτω και το ιματιον

As usual, look for your subject and verb.  You don't have an obvious subject; this is because the verb "αφες" is an imperative (command) so, like English, you don't necessarily state the subject ("Give" instead of "You give").  It is important to recognize this as the subject (within the verb) because το ιματιον also could look like a subject.  το ιματιον (the coat) looks the same in the accustative or nominative!  But once you have the subject verb figured out, you have "forgive/permit/allow αυτω και the coat."  αυτω here is in the dative and simply means "to/for/with him." Now we have "permit him και the coat."  The και is probably best here translated as "even," so you end up with "permit him even the coat."

The first-half is where the action is:  και τω θελοντι σοι κριθηναι και τον χιτωνα σου λαβειν

You have three verbs:  θελοντι, κριθηναι, λαβειν
The first is a participle; the other two are verbs.
τω θελοντι is a substantive participle, which we translate as "the one who does X."  In this case, "the one who wants."  Now, the word "want" in both Greek and English is a helper verb (sometimes called modal); it often takes another verb.  I want to eat, for example.  The other verbs that it does with are in the infinitive.  And...wow...look, the other verbs in this sentence are in the infinitive!  So the outline of the sentence is:  "The one who wants to judge and take."  But we run into a problem here.  The verb κριθηναι is in the passive.  "be judged."  The one who wants to be judged doesn't make sense.  But if we add back in the σοι it helps a bit:  "The one who wants you to be judged."  Or as dictionaries suggest,  κριθηναι, should be translated (because it is passive) as "bring before court."  So, "The one who wants to sue you."  Then the second half becomes easy:  "Take your coat."  Do you see why σου becomes "your"?
Participles can act as helper verbs!  This can be confusing, but when you have verbs llike θελω, you should always look for another verb!

Matthew 5:1-20

This week the narrative lectionary presents us with a very large chunk of the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5:1-20.  I have looked at this passage as two smaller passages previously.  I am not sure if I am up to the task of capturing all of 5:1-20 in one sermon. That said, I like how the narrative lectionary wants to help people here the beatitudes as part of the Sermon on the Mount and not as a "single hit."
http://lectionarygreek.blogspot.com/2011/01/matthew-51-12.html
http://lectionarygreek.blogspot.com/2011/02/matthew-513-20.html

Side note:  Both these posts have a lot of grammar insights.  I guess I had more time four years ago when writing these!

Two other words
φως ('phos,' meaning 'light', 5:14 and 16)  Jesus calls us the light of the world.  Later in Matthew's Gospel, Jesus even tells his disciples that they have the light inside of them (6:23)  But where does this light come from?  We might go to John's Gospel and its proclamation about Jesus as THE light of the world.  But can we get there in Matthew's Gospel?  Well, a few verses back (Matthew 4:16), Matthew quotes from Isaiah that the people walking in darkness have seen a great light as a savior is born.  The original light is not the people, but Jesus Christ.    Furthermore, the only person who shines in Matthew's gospel is Jesus, during the transfiguration (17.2). 

ορος ('oros', meaning "mountain", 5:14).  Look at what happens on mountains in Matthew's Gospel
Chapter 4:  Devil tempts Jesus from mountain top
Chapter 5:  Sermon on the mountain begins (light must be on a mountain top, not hill; same word!)
Chapter 14 & 15:  Jesus prays on mountain top
Chapter 17:  Transfiguration
Chapter 21-24:  Mount of Olives is the starting and ending point of the passover experience
Chapter 28:  Jesus encounters his disciples on a mountain top

In short, when stuck on Matthew's, run for the hills and make a nifty connection.