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Matthew 5:38 Seeing aye to aye
1. Links
2. Matthew 5:38-42 Verses with Greek
Matthew 5:38 Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: [kjv]
ηκουσατε οτι ερρεθη οφθαλμον αντι οφθαλμου και οδοντα αντι οδοντος [gnt]
5:39 But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. [kjv]
εγω δε λεγω υμιν μη αντιστηναι τω πονηρω αλλ οστις σε ραπιζει εις την δεξιαν σιαγονα σου στρεψον αυτω και την αλλην [gnt]
5:40 And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also. [kjv]
και τω θελοντι σοι κριθηναι και τον χιτωνα σου λαβειν αφες αυτω και το ιματιον [gnt]
5:41 And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. [kjv]
και οστις σε αγγαρευσει μιλιον εν υπαγε μετ αυτου δυο [gnt]
… quicumque … angariaverit mille passus … cum illo … duo [v]
5:42 Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away. [kjv]
τω αιτουντι σε δος και τον θελοντα απο σου δανισασθαι μη αποστραφης [gnt]
3. Matthew 5:38
KJV: Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:
Greek: ηκουσατε οτι ερρεθη οφθαλμον αντι οφθαλμου και οδοντα αντι οδοντος
4. Verse patterns
After the introduction and two pairs of seven verses, the verse pattern throughout the rest of the Sermon on the Mount is (usually) the following.
Introduce the idea using a distractor comment. This creates a certain line of thinking that in psychology is called "framing".
Elaborate on the distractor using a somewhat plausible literal idea so that people hear what they want to hear.
Within that plausible literal idea, add double meanings, play on words, code words with meanings, etc., to provide one or more additional meanings.
In Luke, from what people remembered, many of the additional meanings were forgotten or never understood so that the more literal meanings were reported (by Luke). Translators tended to back-patch the words in Luke into the corresponding verses in Matthew. Some appear to have mistranslated Matthew on purpose in order to achieve what they thought was Bible inerrency.
Note: Chapter and verse divisions were decided in the Middle Ages so the pattern used by Jesus may not exactly fit the verse pattern decided later.
5. Matthew 5:38 Seeing aye to aye
6. The prefix anti in place of against
Matthew 5:38 Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: [kjv]
ηκουσατε οτι ερρεθη οφθαλμον αντι οφθαλμου και οδοντα αντι οδοντος [gnt]
Which is it?
"eye" "for" an "eye"
"eye" "against" an "eye"
"eye" "in place of" an "eye"
The English word and prefix
"anti", from the Latin, means
"against" or
"opposite".
The ancient Greek word
"ἀντί" ≈ "in place of" and, if context permits,
can mean
"against" or
"opposite". The same holds for the modern Greek word
"αντί" (an-TEE) ≈ "in place of". Thus, the "
anti-Christ" will set himself up
"in place of" Christ, as in "
impersonator" of Christ rather than just "
imitator" of Christ.
7. Antonym
The English word
"antonym", from 1870, means a word that has the
opposite meaning of another word. It was constructed from the English prefix "
anti" meaning "
opposite" or "
against" from the Greek prefix "
anti" for "
in place of" and the Greek word for "
word" (or "
noun").
The modern Greek word
"αντωνυμία" (an-to-nee-MEE-a) ≈ "pronoun" comes from the Greek prefix "
anti" and the Greek word for "
noun". The meaning is that of a something used "
in place of" a noun which is a
pronoun.
8. Tot for tat
Exodus 21:24 Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, [kjv]
οφθαλμον αντι οφθαλμου οδοντα αντι οδοντος χειρα αντι χειρος ποδα αντι ποδος [lxx]
Matthew 5:38 Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: [kjv]
ηκουσατε οτι ερρεθη οφθαλμον αντι οφθαλμου και οδοντα αντι οδοντος [gnt]
This idea is repeated in various forms in the
OT. The ancient Greek phrase
"ἴσα πρὸς ἴσα" ≈ "tit for tat" which is, literally, "
equals for equals".
The game theory idea is that of "
tit" for "
tat" as in "
this" for "
that" (in various languages). The idea here is that of
"eye" "in place of" "eye", etc. And that's the
truth (i.e.,
"tooth").
9. Exodus 21:24
KJV: Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,
Hebrew: עין תחת עין שן תחת שן יד תחת יד רגל תחת רגל׃
Greek: οφθαλμον αντι οφθαλμου οδοντα αντι οδοντος χειρα αντι χειρος ποδα αντι ποδος
10. Animal analogies
Exodus 21:24 Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, [kjv]
Matthew 5:38 Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: [kjv]
Why does Jesus stop with just "
eye" and "
tooth"? Why not continue with "
hand" and "
foot" and others from Exodus? The animal analogy goes as follows.
"sheep" are the true believers.
"birds" sit in the seat of the scornful and are the false leaders or "eyes".
"pigs" get in the way of sinners wanting to repent and work (influence, rend, etc.) for the "birds" as the "hands".
"fish" of the "sea" (humanity) walk/swim in sin and are attracted to the false light as the "feet".
Perhaps the four verses that follow relate more to the "
birds" or "
eyes" or false leaders and not to the "
pigs" as "
hands" or "
fish" as "
feet" roles. In those verses, it appears that the "
you" refers to "
sheep".
11. Matthew 5:29-30 : The ayes came in handy, if not plucked out
1 Corinthians 12:12 For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. [kjv]
Matthew 5:29 And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. [kjv]
18:9 And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire. [kjv]
The verse pairs in
Matthew 5:29-30 and
18:8-9 are similar in that they talk about
plucking out eyes as members of the body and cutting off
hands and
feet rather than being cast into "
hell" or "
everlasting" "
fire". Are we "
better together"? Is there "
strength in numbers"? Do we need to "
protect each other's reputation"? Do we need to "
have each other's back"?
Matthew 5: "eye", "hand" ("right" only, just "disciples")
Matthew 18: "eye", "hand", "foot" (no restriction to "right", entire "church")
This similarity appears to connect the two passages but there are some differences. Understanding one pair may help in understanding the other pair.
Paul in
1 Corinthians 12 talks of eyes as members of the body of the church. Is there a connection to the verses in Matthew?
12. Apple of the eye
Psalms 17:8 Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings, [kjv]
φυλαξον με ως κοραν οφθαλμου εν σκεπη των πτερυγων σου σκεπασεις με [lxx]
The
"eye" is a "
chamber" into which
"light" enters and is recognized by the "
brain" as something - such as an object. The eye is a "
sensor", in contrast to a "
transducer".
In Greek, the word for
"eye" is, literally, an "
opening" into a "
chamber" (heart, brain, etc.) and is the source of the English word
"ophthalmologist".
The ancient Greek word
"ὀφθαλμός" ≈ "eye" and appears to come from two Greek words.
"ὀπή" ≈ "opening, hole, hollow" and is from the same root as the ancient Greek word "ὄμμα" ≈ "eye" often in a poetic sense.
"θάλαμος" ≈ "chamber, room".
13. Matthew 5:38 Teeth
Matthew 5:38 Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: [kjv]
ηκουσατε οτι ερρεθη οφθαλμον αντι οφθαλμου και οδοντα αντι οδοντος [gnt]
The "
idiom" of "
gnashing of the teeth" appears in the Bible. This phrase appears
9 times in the
GNT (Greek New Testament) and
5 times in the
LXX (Septuagint). In the
LXX the phrase appears to be related to "
anger" against someone else.
The English word "
gnashing" does not quite express the idea (unless one uses a hard "
g" sound), but the ancient Greek word
"βρυγμος" ≈ "gnash". The modern Greek word
"βρύγμος" (VREE-gmos) ≈ "gnash". Try saying it a few times - fast. The modern Greek word for tooth is
"δόντι" (THON-tee) ≈ "tooth" from which we get the English word "
dental" and "
orthodontist".
The phrase appears to have a more restricted meaning when used by Jesus in the
GNT in that it appears to be "
anger" against oneself as in "
regret" in a counterfactual sense. This is in a similar sense of how Jesus use the word "
offend" as "
entrap" in the sense of "
misinterpret".
It appears that the phrase "
gnashing of teeth" has to do with someone who "
thought" they were correct but gets surprised. This idea appears on the narrow and wide gates, the parable of the sheep and goats, etc. Let us investigate.
14. Crowning achievement
The hymn "
Crown Him with many crowns" is a favorite hymn of dentists.
I need to tell you this due to "
tooth in advertising" laws.
15. Verse analysis
Jesus says let your
"communication" (
"reasoning") be
"yes" "yes" or
"no" "no". Anything more is of
"evil" (
"oppression")
English: yes yes no no
Greek: ναι ναι ου ου
Interestingly, these words appear at the end of other words in these verses.
38. ηκουσατε οτι ερρεθη οφθαλμον αντι οφθαλμου και οδοντα αντι οδοντος
39. εγω δε λεγω υμιν μη αντιστηναι τω πονηρω αλλ οστις σε ραπιζει εις την δεξιαν σιαγονα σου στρεψον αυτω και την αλλην
40: και τω θελοντι σοι κριθηναι και τον χιτωνα σου λαβειν αφες αυτω και το ιματιον
41: και οστις σε αγγαρευσει μιλιον εν υπαγε μετ αυτου δυὀ
42: τω αιτουντι σε δος και τον θελοντα απο σου δανισασθαι μη αποστραφης
Is there a connection?
How much of a stretch, or cherry-picking, is needed to connect what Jesus says with these verses?
16. Verse analysis
Jesus says let your
"communication" (
"reasoning") be
"yes" "yes" or
"no" "no". Anything more is of
"evil" (
"oppression")
37: εστω δε ο λογος υμων ναι ναι ου ου το δε περισσον τουτων εκ του πονηρου εστιν
38. ηκουσατε οτι ερρεθη οφθαλμον αντι οφθαλμου και οδοντα αντι οδοντος
39. εγω δε λεγω υμιν μη αντιστηναι τω πονηρω αλλ οστις σε ραπιζει εις την δεξιαν σιαγονα σου στρεψον αυτω και την αλλην
40: και τω θελοντι σοι κριθηναι και τον χιτωνα σου λαβειν αφες αυτω και το ιματιον
41: και οστις σε αγγαρευσει μιλιον εν υπαγε μετ αυτου δυὀ
42: τω αιτουντι σε δος και τον θελοντα απο σου δανισασθαι μη αποστραφης
"ναι" ≈ "yes" and "ου" ≈ "no".
"πονηρού" ≈ "evil, oppression".
"αντι" ≈ "in place of" and "στη" ≈ "stand".
The
first two pairs are
"yes" "no" and
"yes" "no". Might the parts of these verses be of "
evil"? The
last pair is
"no" "no". Might the parts of these verse be what you are supposed to do?
17. Verse analysis - pronouns
To use the phraseology of Jesus, you may have heard that Greek is unambiguous. I tell you, many of the following marked pronouns,
present and
missing , are
not unambiguous. Those marked as
you appear to be clear.
38. ηκουσατε οτι ερρεθη οφθαλμον αντι οφθαλμου και οδοντα αντι οδοντος
39. εγω δε λεγω υμιν μη αντιστηναι τω πονηρω αλλ οστις σε ραπιζει εις την δεξιαν σιαγονα σου στρεψον αυτω και την αλλην (missing)
40: και τω θελοντι σοι (missing) κριθηναι και τον χιτωνα σου (missing) λαβειν (missing) αφες αυτω και το ιματιον (missing)
41: και οστις σε αγγαρευσει μιλιον εν (missing) υπαγε μετ αυτου δυὀ (missing)
42: τω αιτουντι σε (missing) δος και τον θελοντα απο σου (missing) δανισασθαι μη αποστραφης (missing)
Discuss: Is it right for a translator (theologian, pastor, etc.) to decide how to fill in those missing references? In many cases, there are multiple ways that makes sense. Some ways make more sense than other ways.
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