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Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Matthew 5:27-32

We have here an exposition of the seventh commandment, given us by the same hand that made the law, and therefore was fittest to be the interpreter of it: it is the law against uncleanness, which fitly follows upon the former; that laid a restraint upon sinful passions, this upon sinful appetites, both which ought always to be under the government of reason and conscience, and if indulged, are equally pernicious. I. The command is here laid down (Matt. 5:27), Thou shalt not commit adultery;... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - Matthew 5:1-48

As we have already seen, Matthew has a careful pattern in his gospel. In his story of the baptism of Jesus he shows us Jesus realizing that the hour has struck, that the call to action has come, and that Jesus must go forth on his crusade. In his story of the Temptations he shows us Jesus deliberately choosing the method he will use to carry out his task, and deliberately rejecting methods which he knew to be against the will of God. If a man sets his hand to a great task, he needs his... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Matthew 5:27

Ye have heard that it was said ,.... These forms of speech, as well as what follows, by them of old time , have been explained, in ver. 21. The law here mentioned, thou shalt not commit adultery , is recorded in Exodus 20:14 and the meaning of our Lord is, not that the then present Jews had heard that such a law had been delivered "to the ancients", their fathers, at Mount Sinai; for that they could read in their Bibles: but they had received it by tradition, that the sense of it,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Matthew 5:28

But I say unto you, that whosoever looketh on a woman ,.... Many and severe are the prohibitions of the Jews, concerning looking upon a woman, which they aggravate as a very great sin: they say F11 T. Bab. Avoda Zara, fol. 1, 2. , it is not lawful to look upon a beautiful woman, though unmarried; nor upon another man's wife, though deformed; nor upon a woman's coloured garments: they forbid F12 T. Bab. Beracot, fol. 24. 1. Sabbat. fol. 64. 2. looking on a woman's little finger,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Matthew 5:29

And if thy right eye offend thee ,.... Or "cause thee to offend", to stumble, and fall into sin. Our Lord has no regard here to near and dear relations seeking to alienate us from God and Christ, and hinder us in the pursuit of divine things; whose solicitations are to be rejected with the utmost indignation, and they themselves to be parted with, and forsaken, rather than complied with; which is the sense some give of the words: for both in this, and the following verse, respect is had only... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Matthew 5:27

Ye have heard that it was said by them of old - By the ancients, τοις αρχαιοις , is omitted by nearly a hundred MSS., and some of them of the very greatest antiquity and authority; also by the Coptic, Ethiopic, Armenian, Gothic, and Sclavonian versions; by four copies of the old Itala; and by Origen, Cyril, Theophylact, Euthymius, and Hilary. On this authority Wetstein and Griesbach have left it out of the text. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Matthew 5:28

Whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her - Επιθυμησαι αυτην , earnestly to covet her. The verb, επιθυμεω , is undoubtedly used here by our Lord, in the sense of coveting through the influence of impure desire. The word is used in precisely the same sense, on the same subject, by Herodotus, book the first, near the end. I will give the passage, but I dare not translate it. To the learned reader it will justify my translation, and the unlearned must take my word. Της ΕΠΙΘΥΜΗΣΕΙ... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Matthew 5:29-30

Pluck it out - cut it off - We must shut our senses against dangerous objects, to avoid the occasions of sin, and deprive ourselves of all that is most dear and profitable to us, in order to save our souls, when we find that these dear and profitable things, however innocent in themselves, cause us to sin against God. It is profitable for thee that one of thy members - Men often part with some members of the body, at the discretion of a surgeon, that they may preserve the trunk, and die... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Matthew 5:27

Verse 27 Matthew 5:27.Thou shalt not commit adultery. Christ proceeds with his subject, and shows, that the law of God not only has authority over the life, in a political view, to form the outward manners, but that it requires pure and holy affections of the heart. We must remember what I have already stated, that though Christ quotes the very words of the law, it is the gross and false meaning, which had been put upon it by dishonest interpreters, that he blames. He has already told us, that... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Matthew 5:28

Verse 28 28.Whoever shall look upon a woman. The design of Christ was to condemn generally the lust of the flesh. He says, that not only those who have seduced their neighbors’ wives, but those who have polluted their eyes by an immodest look, are adulterers before God. This is a synec-doche: (406) for not only the eyes, but even the concealed flames of the heart, render men guilty of adultery. Accordingly, Paul makes chastity (1 Corinthians 7:34) to consist both in body and in mind. But Christ... read more

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