Matthew 5:41
Strong	Used	Unique	Word	Part of speech
G2532	8954	8954	και	conjunction
G3748	145	26	οστις	relative pronoun nominative singular masculine
G4771	1069	197	σε	personal pronoun 2nd person accusative singular
G29	3	1	αγγαρευσει	verb future active indicative 3rd person singular
G3400	1	1	μιλιον	noun accusative singular neuter
G1520	335	62	εν	adjective accusative singular neuter
G5217	78	26	υπαγε	verb present active imperative 2nd person singular
G3326	468	131	μετ	preposition
G846	5547	1404	αυτου	personal pronoun genitive singular masculine
G1417	132	123	δυο	adjective Number

A typical ARMS (Attractive Refrigerator Magnet Sermons) would go into detail about being required to carry the gear or baggage of a Roman soldier.

• Anything carried by others would not include any weapons.
• Roman soldiers in Judea were, for the most part, in garrison and not traveling between places.
• Roman soldiers would never travel alone. Their weapons were valued for insurrection, etc.

Only those who looked able to carry anything would have been chosen. Those people would have tried to keep their distance from any Roman soldier carrying a pack.

More: Attractive refrigerator magnet sermons

The main battle fronts were in England, on the Rhine, on the Danube, and towards the Euphrates (Parthia).

Roman soldiers in Judea were more of a police force than a military fighting force.
Let us see how that view corresponds with the actual Greek language used and context of the verse within the Sermon on the Mount.

The Latin word "quicumque" ≈ "whoever, whosoever, whatever" where any play on words is lost. Thus, a context (e.g., a Roman soldier, etc.) needs to be created to make sense of or rationalize what Jesus is saying.

Using the play on words, the "whosoever" appears to be the dead man's "bones" of the religious establishment who, in a play on words with Latin, "hostile" as in the "enemy" of what God and Jesus really want.

Discuss: Are there "enemies" of Jesus in churches today? To help answer the question, think about the following. Are there sayings of Jesus that churches do not allow into their church? Are there people who say some of these things that Jesus says welcome in that church?

Matthew 5:41
Strong	Used	Unique	Word	Part of speech

Whatever "compel" means, the "thee" or "you" is the direct object or accusative.

Greek can have a double accusative. It is not clear of the "mile" "one" constitutes a double accusative as it may go with the second "go" or "go away".

The ancient Greek word "ἀγγαρεύω" ≈ "dispatch as a courier, press into service" and appears to be of Persian origin. The ancient Greek word "ἁγγᾶρήιον" ≈ "system of mounted couriers" (in the Persian empire). This is related to the following words.

• "ἄγγαρος" ≈ "mounted courier" for carrying royal dispatches.
• "το ἄγγελμα" ≈ "message" (neuter)
• "ο ἄγγελος" ≈ "messenger" (masculine) and the source of the English words "angel" and "evangelism" (good message).

Herodotus reports on the Persian system of mounted couriers that was similar to the Pony Express in the 19th century.They could take messages from Susa to Sardis, about 1700 miles, in nine days.

The Latin word "angarium" ≈ "system of mounted couriers" comes from the Greek. The word appears to come from the Old Persian "angara" for "missive" or "letter".

• "το ἄγγελμα" ≈ "message" (neuter)
• "το επἄγγελμα" ≈ "promise" (neuter)
• "παραγγέλλω" ≈ "pass on a message".

• "το ἄγγελμα" ≈ "message" (neuter)
• "το επἄγγελμα" ≈ "promise" (neuter)

• "το ἄγγελμα" ≈ "message" (neuter)
• "το επἄγγελμα" ≈ "promise" (neuter)

The primary definition of the word translated as "compel" is to "press into service as a courier". If the context permits, it can be "press into service" for some other task. This appears to be the usage at the crucifixion where Simon is "compelled" to carry the cross for Jesus.

Might the "cross", unlike the baggage of a Roman soldier, somehow, represent a "message"? That is, the "message" of the "cross".

What if an "evil" entity "compelled" you to be "pressed into service as a courier" to deliver a false message or indistinct message to a "member", or go a "mile" doing or "speaking" so?

The ancient Greek word "ἀγγαρεύω" ≈ "dispatch as a courier, press into service".

The ancient Greek word "παράγω" ≈ "lead past, move along, go past".

Was Simon carrying a message?

The ancient Greek word "παράγω" ≈ "lead past, move along, go past".

The ancient Greek word "παράγω" ≈ "lead past, move along, go past".

The ancient Greek word "παράγω" ≈ "lead past, move along, go past".

This "blessing" is that of a "good word" as in "eulogy" and not the more common "happy" or "content".

More: Matthew 5: A eulogy of some blessed words on being blissfully happy

In Matthew 5:41, there is no context for the generic "press into service". Thus, the primary meaning would be "press into service as a courier" as in "messengerize"

Any courier would obviously, without being stated, be carrying a "message". A pronoun could refer to this "message" as an "it" (neutral gender). The same Greek word would be used if the gender were masculine as "him".

Which makes more sense?

• You are my messenger. Go with me a mile.. Who is "me"?
• You are my messenger. Go with it a mile. What is "it"?

[NLP (Natural Language Processing) difficulties with missing pronouns]

Why would one recruit a messenger to go along? Why not just carry your own message to deliver?

A "stadia" was about one eight of a mile and often translated in the KJV (King James Version) as "furlong". The ancient Greek word "στάδιος" ≈ "firm, fixed, upright". The measure of distance appears to have come from the Latin and is found only in the GNT.

The English word "stadium" comes from the Latin word "stadium" ≈ "measure of length, race course".

Note that the distance of 15 "furlongs" would have been greater than what one was allowed to legally travel on the Sabbath.

The ancient Greek word "μίλιον" ≈ "mile" is from the Latin word "mille" ≈ "mile" and is the source of the English word "mile" . The Roman mile was 1,000 paces or 5,000 feet. The modern day mile, for various reasons, was standardized at 5,280 feet.

Since the word translated as "compel" is that of "press into service as a messenger", one would apparently need to take the "message" "one" "mile".

The ancient Greek word "ἑν" ≈ "one". The "one" is translated as "a" and placed after the word for "mile". Word order:

• Greek: "mile" "one"
• English: "a" as on "one" "mile".

It appears that smaller numbers were often put before the object counted while larger numbers were often put after the object counted.

The ancient Greek word "μίλιον" ≈ "mile" is from the Latin word "mille" ≈ "mile" and is the source of the English word "mile" . The Roman mile was 1,000 paces or 5,000 feet. The modern day mile, for various reasons, was standardized at 5,280 feet. Not correct in this context:

• supercalifragisisticespalidosus (word made up in the 1964 Disney movie Mary Poppins).
• antidisestablishmentarianism (from 18th century opposition to the disestablishment of the Church of England, that is, the church should still be supported by the state, made popular by the TV show The $64,000 Question in the 1950's)

Here are some (related to each other) Greek words that might be a play on words with "mile". This might be one reason why "mile" is not repeated after "two". The proper inflection ending might destroy any play on words.

• "μέλλω" ≈ "likely, destined, bound" as in a "destiny". Might one be following "one" destiny and, instead, be directed to "go away" to a "second" destiny?
• "μέλος" ≈ "member" as in a part of a body. Would one need to take a "message" to a "member"? It could also be a "tune" or "melody" or "song".

Only the first part of a word can be used as a play on words since that is all that is needed to be understood. If you do not believe this, then go ask your bro or sis for info 'bout it.

There appears to be a better play on words for the Greek "mile" one.

• "ὅμῑλος" ≈ "crowd, gathering of people" who would invariable do a lot of talking.
• "ὁμιλία" ≈ "speech, communication", but could have sexual connotations, and is the source, through Latin and French, of the English word "homily".

Over the years, many Greek words starting with "ο" (omicron) had that first letter, which sounded like a definite article, was dropped. A similar thing could have been done informally where people would recognize the word without the first letter. Do you need more examples 'bout this idea? This provides a play on words of "speech" as communication with "mile" as a measure of distance.

• The modern Greek word "ομιλία" (o-mee-LEE-a) ≈ "talk, speech".

A similar thing happened in English where, for example, "a napron" sounded like "an apron" which changed the original word.

This verse in Exodus 21:10 in the LXX (Septuagint) uses many of the words that are in the "garment" and "mile one" verses. The "three" things according to the LXX are as follows.

• "necessities" which, according to the HOT (Hebrew Old Testament), represents "food".
• "apparel" which is a symbol of "righteousness" or "unrighteousness" depending on point of view.
• "companionship" or "speech" which would be a play on words with "mile".

In the "mile on" verse in Matthew 5:41, Jesus uses the words for "one" and "two". This verse uses the word for "three".

• Are the "three" things (from the previous verse) important?
• Is there any connection?

Keep in mind that, using the analogy, Jesus is the "groom" and the church is the "bride".

The "turn the cheek", "take the garment" and "mile one" verses in Matthew were preceded by the "eye" in place of an "eye" verse. Is there a connection to the two verses in Exodus 21:10-11 that appear to relate? Go thirteen more verses to Exodus 21:24.

More: Matthew 5:38 Seeing aye to aye

What is the cost of a message?

☐ Does the sender pay?
☐ Does the recipient pay?

History:

• Benjamin Franklin: Most letters for a penny. Overnight riders to cut delivery time.
• Charles Babbage: Got Britain to use a standard uniform rate for most letters.

Discuss: Who pays for the cost of the delivery of the "Good News"?

The play on words of "mile" "one" appears to be with "black" as in "indistinct" (for a sound) four (and five) verses earlier.

Paraphrase: ... compel you as a messenger to go mile one [with an indistinct message] ...

A different Greek word is now used that is translated as "go" but means "go away" as in "flee".

This appears to be the only place in the GNT where "go away" is translated as "go". It appears that the translators assumed "with" "him" rather than "with" "it" where the "it" was not whoever did the "compel to go" but something else.

The Greek might be better expressed as "go away with it". To what does "it" or "he" refer?

Matthew 5:41
Strong	Used	Unique	Word	Part of speech

• "μετά" ≈ "after (accusative), with (genitive)".
• "αυτού" ≈ "him, it" (genitive case, masculine or neuter)

The phrase has two primary meanings.

• ... go away with him ... (grammatical masculine)
• ... go away with it ... (grammatical neuter)

What is the "him" or "it"? Note how Strongs assumes masculine.

Paraphrase: Whosoever compels (you) to be a messenger .... go away with it ...

What is "it"? The ancient Greek word "το ἀγγελμα" ≈ "message, announcement, news" and has the grammatical gender of neuter to match "it". Notice that it is possible for a pronoun to refer to something that does not explicitly appear in the sentence.

Paraphrase: Whosoever compels (you) to be a messenger .... go away with the message ...

Might the "message" or "news" be the "good" "news" (same Greek word with a "good" added as a prefix)? Why would you "go away" with the "whosoever" with "the message"?

Go with "him" or "it" "two". To what does "two" refer?

The ancient Greek word "δύο" ≈ "two". Here are possible play on words.

• "δύω" ≈ "cause to sink, plunge".
• "δέω" ≈ "bind, lack".
• "θεού" ≈ "of god" (genitive) where "θεός" ≈ "god" (nominative)
• "θείου" ≈ "of the gods" (genitive) where "θεῖος" ≈ "godly" (nominative)

The Latin word "deo" ≈ "god" (dative singular). Yes, Jesus appears to, at times, use Latin play on words in addition to using certain Aramaic words. The Aramaic words appear to help keep the temple spies off track and later theologians, commentators, pastors, etc., off track as well.

However, there is another interesting pair of words five verses earlier in verse 36.

• "δε" ≈ "but not, not" and "ο" ≈ "the" "λογος" ≈ "reasoning" as in a "message".
• "δύο" ≈ "two" (the what is not specified, perhaps a "message")

Might there be a connection here? Is it just a coincidence?

Note that this combination of words occurs often in the GNT. However, this occurrence is nearby and has words that relate to this verse.

Of the ten Greek words in this verse, four of the words have corresponding words or play on words in Latin.


Jesus appears to, at times, use Latin play on words in addition to using certain Aramaic words.

5:41 paraphrase: Whosoever compels (you) to be a messenger with a message one mile [with an indistinct message] go away with the message two (of God).

Many translations of this verse make assumptions that can not be supported from the Greek. Many are tradition.

• NLT (New Living Translation): If a soldier demands that you carry his gear for a mile, carry it two miles.
• NIV (New International Version): If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles.
• Good News Translation: And if one of the occupation troops forces you to carry his pack one mile, carry it two miles.