Maleakhi 2:8

2:8 You, however, have turned from the way. You have caused many to violate the law; ¹  you have corrupted the covenant with Levi,” ²  says the Lord who rules over all.

Matius 5:21-22

Anger and Murder

5:21 “You have heard that it was said to an older generation, ³  ‘Do not murder,’ ⁴  and ‘whoever murders will be subjected to judgment.’ 5:22 But I say to you that anyone who is angry with a brother ⁵  will be subjected to judgment. And whoever insults ⁶  a brother will be brought before ⁷  the council, ⁸  and whoever says ‘Fool’ ⁹  will be sent ¹⁰  to fiery hell. ¹¹ 

Matius 5:27-28

Adultery

5:27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’ ¹²  5:28 But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to desire her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

Matius 5:33-37

Oaths

5:33 “Again, you have heard that it was said to an older generation, ¹³  ‘Do not break an oath, but fulfill your vows to the Lord.’ ¹⁴  5:34 But I say to you, do not take oaths at all – not by heaven, because it is the throne of God, 5:35 not by earth, because it is his footstool, and not by Jerusalem, ¹⁵  because it is the city of the great King. 5:36 Do not take an oath by your head, because you are not able to make one hair white or black. 5:37 Let your word be ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no.’ More than this is from the evil one. ¹⁶ 

Matius 5:43-44

Love for Enemies

5:43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor’ ¹⁷  and ‘hate your enemy.’ 5:44 But I say to you, love your enemy and ¹⁸  pray for those who persecute you,

Matius 19:17-18

19:17 He said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.” 19:18 “Which ones?” he asked. Jesus replied, “Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony,

Matius 23:16-24

23:16 “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple is bound by nothing. ¹⁹  But whoever swears by the gold of the temple is bound by the oath.’ 23:17 Blind fools! Which is greater, the gold or the temple that makes the gold sacred? 23:18 And, ‘Whoever swears by the altar is bound by nothing. ²⁰  But if anyone swears by the gift on it he is bound by the oath.’ 23:19 You are blind! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred? 23:20 So whoever swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. 23:21 And whoever swears by the temple swears by it and the one who dwells in it. 23:22 And whoever swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and the one who sits on it.

23:23 “Woe to you, experts in the law ²¹  and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You give a tenth ²²  of mint, dill, and cumin, ²³  yet you neglect what is more important in the law – justice, mercy, and faithfulness! You ²⁴  should have done these things without neglecting the others. 23:24 Blind guides! You strain out a gnat yet swallow a camel! ²⁵ 

Markus 7:8-13

7:8 Having no regard ²⁶  for the command of God, you hold fast to human tradition.” ²⁷  7:9 He also said to them, “You neatly reject the commandment of God in order to set up ²⁸  your tradition. 7:10 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ ²⁹  and, ‘Whoever insults his father or mother must be put to death.’ ³⁰  7:11 But you say that if anyone tells his father or mother, ‘Whatever help you would have received from me is corban’ ³¹  (that is, a gift for God), 7:12 then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother. 7:13 Thus you nullify ³²  the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like this.”

Lukas 10:29

10:29 But the expert, ³³  wanting to justify ³⁴  himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

Lukas 11:42

11:42 “But woe to you Pharisees! ³⁵  You give a tenth ³⁶  of your mint, ³⁷  rue, ³⁸  and every herb, yet you neglect justice ³⁹  and love for God! But you should have done these things without neglecting the others. ⁴⁰ 

Roma 7:7-10

7:7 What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Absolutely not! Certainly, I ⁴¹  would not have known sin except through the law. For indeed I would not have known what it means to desire something belonging to someone else ⁴²  if the law had not said, “Do not covet.” ⁴³  7:8 But sin, seizing the opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of wrong desires. ⁴⁴  For apart from the law, sin is dead. 7:9 And I was once alive apart from the law, but with the coming of the commandment sin became alive 7:10 and I died. So ⁴⁵  I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life brought death! ⁴⁶ 

[2:8]  ¹ tn The definite article embedded within בַּתּוֹרָה (battorah) may suggest that the Torah is in mind and not just “ordinary” priestly instruction, though it might refer to the instruction previously mentioned (v. 7).

[2:8]  ² tn Or “the Levitical covenant.”

[5:21]  ³ tn Grk “to the ancient ones.”

[5:21]  ⁴ sn A quotation from Exod 20:13; Deut 5:17.

[5:22]  ⁵ tc The majority of mss read the word εἰκῇ (eikh, “without cause”) here after “brother.” This insertion has support from א² D L W Θ 0233 Ë^1,13 33 Ï it sy co Ir^lat Or^mss Cyp Cyr. Thus the Western, Caesarean, and Byzantine texttypes all include the word, while the best Alexandrian and some other witnesses (Ì⁶⁴ א* B 1424^mg pc aur vg Or Hier^mss) lack it. The ms evidence favors its exclusion, though there is a remote possibility that εἰκῇ could have been accidentally omitted from these witnesses by way of homoioarcton (the next word, ἔνοχος [enocos, “guilty”], begins with the same letter). An intentional change would likely arise from the desire to qualify “angry,” especially in light of the absolute tone of Jesus’ words. While “without cause” makes good practical sense in this context, and must surely be a true interpretation of Jesus’ meaning (cf. Mark 3:5), it does not commend itself as original.

[5:22]  ⁶ tn Grk “whoever says to his brother ‘Raca,’” an Aramaic word of contempt or abuse meaning “fool” or “empty head.”

[5:22]  ⁷ tn Grk “subjected,” “guilty,” “liable.”

[5:22]  ⁸ tn Grk “the Sanhedrin.”

[5:22]  ⁹ tn The meaning of the term μωρός (mwros) is somewhat disputed. Most take it to mean, following the Syriac versions, “you fool,” although some have argued that it represents a transliteration into Greek of the Hebrew term מוֹרֵה (moreh) “rebel” (Deut 21:18, 20; cf. BDAG 663 s.v. μωρός c).

[5:22]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “subjected,” “guilty,” “liable.”

[5:22]  ¹¹ tn Grk “the Gehenna of fire.”

[5:22]  sn The word translated hell is “Gehenna” (γέεννα, geenna), a Greek transliteration of the Hebrew words ge hinnom (“Valley of Hinnom”). This was the valley along the south side of Jerusalem. In OT times it was used for human sacrifices to the pagan god Molech (cf. Jer 7:31; 19:5-6; 32:35), and it came to be used as a place where human excrement and rubbish were disposed of and burned. In the intertestamental period, it came to be used symbolically as the place of divine punishment (cf. 1 En. 27:2, 90:26; 4 Ezra 7:36).

[5:27]  ¹² sn A quotation from Exod 20:14; Deut 5:17.

[5:33]  ¹³ tn Grk “the ancient ones.”

[5:33]  ¹⁴ sn A quotation from Lev 19:12.

[5:35]  ¹⁵ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[5:37]  ¹⁶ tn The term πονηροῦ (ponhrou) may be understood as specific and personified, referring to the devil, or possibly as a general reference to evil. It is most likely personified, however, since it is articular (τοῦ πονηροῦ, tou ponhrou). Cf. also “the evildoer” in v. 39, which is the same construction.

[5:43]  ¹⁷ sn A quotation from Lev 19:18.

[5:44]  ¹⁸ tc Most mss ([D] L [W] Θ Ë¹³ 33 Ï lat) read “bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who mistreat you,” before “those who persecute you.” But this is surely a motivated reading, importing the longer form of this aphorism from Luke 6:27-28. The shorter text is found in א B ˹ pc sa, as well as several fathers and versional witnesses.

[23:16]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing.”

[23:18]  ²⁰ tn Grk “Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing.”

[23:23]  ²¹ tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[23:23]  ²² tn Or “you tithe mint.”

[23:23]  ²³ sn Cumin (alternately spelled cummin) was an aromatic herb native to the Mediterranean region. Its seeds were used for seasoning.

[23:23]  ²⁴ tc ‡ Many witnesses (B C K L W Δ 0102 33 565 892 pm) have δέ (de, “but”) after ταῦτα (tauta, “these things”), while many others lack it (א D Γ Θ Ë^1,13 579 700 1241 1424 pm). Since asyndeton was relatively rare in Koine Greek, the conjunction may be an intentional alteration, and is thus omitted from the present translation. NA²⁷ includes the word in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.

[23:24]  ²⁵ tn Grk “Blind guides who strain out a gnat yet who swallow a camel!”

[7:8]  ²⁶ tn Grk “Having left the command.”

[7:8]  ²⁷ tc The majority of mss, mostly Byzantine ([A] ˹³ 33 Ï), have at the end of v. 8 material that seems to have come from v. 4 and v. 13: “the washing of pots and cups, and you do many other similar things.” A slight variation on the wording occurs at the very beginning of v. 8 in mostly Western witnesses (D Θ 0131^vid 28 565 it). Such floating texts are usually signs of scribal emendations. The fact that the earliest and most reliable mss, as well as other important witnesses (Ì⁴⁵ א B L W Δ 0274 ˹ 2427 co), lacked this material also strongly suggests that the longer reading is secondary.

[7:9]  ²⁸ tc The translation here follows the reading στήσητε (sthshte, “set up”) found in D W Θ Ë¹ 28 565 2542 it sy^s,p Cyp. The majority of mss here read τηρήσητε (thrhsete; א A L ˹³ 33 Ï co) or τηρῆτε (thrhte; B 2427), both translated “keep.” It is hard to know which reading is best: On the one hand, τηρήσητε/τηρῆτε has much stronger external support, but στήσητε is a more difficult reading. What makes “keep” suspect is that it appears in two different forms, suggesting independent alterations of a difficult reading. Further, scribes may have been influenced by the preceding “commandment of God” to change the text toward “keep” (TCGNT 81), a common enough expression (cf. Matt 19:17; John 14:15; 1 Tim 6:1; 1 John 5:3; Rev 14:12). Thus, the more difficult reading is “set up.” Also, the more natural opposite of “reject” (ἀθεῖτε [aqeite], literally “you set aside”) is “set up.” However, the Western reading may have been influenced by Exod 6:4 or Heb 10:9, but this likelihood seems remote. Thus, “set up” is more likely to be the original wording of Mark here.

[7:10]  ²⁹ sn A quotation from Exod 20:12; Deut 5:16.

[7:10]  ³⁰ sn A quotation from Exod 21:17; Lev 20:9.

[7:11]  ³¹ sn Corban is a Hebrew loanword (transliterated in the Greek text and in most modern English translations) referring to something that has been set aside as a gift to be given to God at some later date, but which is still in the possession of the owner (L&N 53.22). According to contemporary Jewish tradition the person who made this claim was absolved from responsibility to support or assist his parents, a clear violation of the Mosaic law to honor one’s parents (v. 10).

[7:13]  ³² tn Grk “nullifying.” This participle shows the results of the Pharisees’ command.

[10:29]  ³³ tn Grk “And he”; the referent (the expert in religious law, shortened here to “the expert”) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:29]  ³⁴ tn Or “vindicate.”

[10:29]  sn The expert in religious law picked up on the remark about the neighbor and sought to limit his responsibility for loving. Some believed this obligation would only be required toward the righteous (Sir 12:1-4). The lawyer was trying to see if that was right and thus confidently establish his righteousness (wanting to justify himself).

[11:42]  ³⁵ tn Grk “Woe to you…because you…” The causal particle ὅτι (Joti) has not been translated here for rhetorical effect (and so to the end of this chapter).

[11:42]  ³⁶ tn Or “you tithe mint.”

[11:42]  ³⁷ sn These small herbs were tithed with great care (Mishnah, m. Demai 2:1).

[11:42]  ³⁸ tn Grk “and rue.” Καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.

[11:42]  sn Rue was an evergreen herb used for seasoning.

[11:42]  ³⁹ sn Justice was a major theme of OT ethics (Mic 6:8; Zech 7:8-10).

[11:42]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “those”; but this has been translated as “the others” to clarify which are meant.

[7:7]  ⁴¹ sn Romans 7:7-25. There has been an enormous debate over the significance of the first person singular pronouns (“I”) in this passage and how to understand their referent. Did Paul intend (1) a reference to himself and other Christians too; (2) a reference to his own pre-Christian experience as a Jew, struggling with the law and sin (and thus addressing his fellow countrymen as Jews); or (3) a reference to himself as a child of Adam, reflecting the experience of Adam that is shared by both Jews and Gentiles alike (i.e., all people everywhere)? Good arguments can be assembled for each of these views, and each has problems dealing with specific statements in the passage. The classic argument against an autobiographical interpretation was made by W. G. Kümmel, Römer 7 und die Bekehrung des Paulus. A good case for seeing at least an autobiographical element in the chapter has been made by G. Theissen, Psychologische Aspekte paulinischer Theologie [FRLANT], 181-268. One major point that seems to favor some sort of an autobiographical reading of these verses is the lack of any mention of the Holy Spirit for empowerment in the struggle described in Rom 7:7-25. The Spirit is mentioned beginning in 8:1 as the solution to the problem of the struggle with sin (8:4-6, 9).

[7:7]  ⁴² tn Grk “I would not have known covetousness.”

[7:7]  ⁴³ sn A quotation from Exod 20:17 and Deut 5:21.

[7:8]  ⁴⁴ tn Or “covetousness.”

[7:10]  ⁴⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “So” to indicate the result of the statement in the previous verse. Greek style often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” but English style generally does not.

[7:10]  ⁴⁶ tn Grk “and there was found in/for me the commandment which was for life – this was for death.”