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Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Matthew 5:22

Whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause - ὁ οργιζομενος - εικη , who is vainly incensed. "This translation is literal; and the very objectionable phrase, without a cause, is left out, εικη being more properly translated by that above." What our Lord seems here to prohibit, is not merely that miserable facility which some have of being angry at every trifle, continually taking offense against their best friends; but that anger which leads a man to commit outrages against... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Matthew 5:19

Verse 19 19.Whoever then shall break Christ here speaks expressly of the commandments of life, or the ten words, which all the children of God ought to take as the rule of their life. He therefore declares, that they are false and deceitful teachers, who do not restrain their disciples within obedience to the law, and that they are unworthy to occupy a place in the Church, who weaken, in the slightest degree, the authority of the law; and, on the other hand, that they are honest and faithful... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Matthew 5:20

Verse 20 Matthew 5:20.Unless your righteousness shall be more abundant. He takes a passing notice of the Scribes, who were laboring to throw a stain on the doctrine of the Gospel, as if it were the ruin of the Law. True, he does not reason on this subject, but only points out briefly, that nothing has less influence over their minds than zeal for the law. “They pretend, that their hostility to me arises from their strong desire, that the law should not be violated. But their life makes it... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Matthew 5:21

Verse 21 21.You have heard that it was said. This sentence, and those which immediately follow, are connected with what we have just considered: for our Lord explains more fully, by minute instances, by what tortuous methods (396) the Pharisees debase the law, so that their righteousness is mere filth. It is a mistake, however, to suppose that this is an ἐπανόρθωσις , or correction (397) of the Law, and that Christ raises his disciples to a higher degree of perfection, than Christ could raise a... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Matthew 5:22

Verse 22 22.But I say to you His reply is not opposed to the command of Moses, (Exodus 20:13; Leviticus 24:21; Numbers 35:16;) but to the interpretation usually put upon it by the scribes. Now, as the Pharisees boasted of antiquity, (for it is always the custom to plead the prescription of a long period in defense of errors,) (398) Christ reminds the people of his authority, to which all antiquity ought justly to give way. Hence we conclude, that truth is of greater weight than custom or the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 5:17-20

(1) With this aim he first states summarily and in nucleus the position that he himself holds towards the Law—a statement which was the more necessary as he had already ( Matthew 5:11 ) claimed to be the object of his disciples' devotion. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 5:17-20

The veneration of Law and prophets. The caution which Jesus Christ now addresses to his disciples was very probably owing to many things wont to be said, though not recorded, in the nature of hasty and often malevolent forecasts, of his likely tendency to innovations. How many things had been conjectured, and most vainly, respecting him "that should come "! And now that he had come, those who yielded but a hesitating and grudging assent to his Messiahship, in that very proportion were... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 5:17-20

The gospel of the Law. The Jews of our Lord's day expected that Messiah would dignify the Law and verify the prophets. In this they were correct, but they were utterly mistaken as to the manner in which these things were to take effect. The scribes and Pharisees, therefore, disputed the claims of Jesus to be the Christ because he reprobated the traditions of the elders, which they had strangely confounded with the Law; and because he did not establish a secular kingdom according to their... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 5:17-48

The second part of the sermon: the mount of the Beatitudes and Mount Sinai: the new Law and the old. I. CHRIST THE FULFILLER OF THE LAW . 1 . He came not to destroy. They must not misunderstand the purpose of his teaching. The Old Testament is not contrary to the New; both speak of Christ. The commandments are as binding now upon the Christian conscience as when they were first delivered amid the thunders of Mount Sinai. "We establish the Law," says the apostle of faith ( ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 5:17-48

Sermon on the mount: 3. Exceeding righteousness. A teacher who compels the public to look at an unfamiliar truth, the reformer who introduces a new style of goodness, will be misinterpreted just in proportion to the advance he makes upon former ideas. Our Lord renounced explicitly, and with warmth, the goodness of the Pharisees, and the cry was at once raised against him as a destroyer of the Law, a libertine, a companion or' loose people. He thus found himself called on publicly to... read more

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