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NASB | Matthew 5:17 ¶ "Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Matthew 5:17 ¶ "Do not think that I came to do away with or undo the Law [of Moses] or the [writings of the] Prophets; I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. |
Subject: Is the Law abolished? |
Bible Note: Matthew wrote in Hebrew, not Greek . . . but before we get into that statement; thanks for the reply. Honestly, I did not expect a reply, and to have one so soon was a real joy. Nothing excites me more than studying scripture, and the greatest moments are when I learn something new, or learn that I was wrong about something. That being said, let me explain why my original post was both correct, and that Hebrew, not Greek, was the predominate language in Jesus time and therefore any interpretation of Jesus words must be seen in the Hebrew language (and idioms), the 1st century Hebrew culture, and the 1st century interpretations of the Tanak and Torah (the Old Testament). Many scholars who study the 1st century languages now believe that Hebrew was the common language for both the Rabbis and the common people. (Josephus says so; only Hebrew, Greek, and Latin were found in Temple Mount excavations – no Aramaic; the Mishnah and other rabbinic works are in Hebrew; and the grand daddy of them all, the Dead Sea Scrolls are mostly in Hebrew, including commoner scrolls.) Also, every single early church father who mentions language, says that Matthew was written in Hebrew and was later translated into Greek: Papias, Irenaeus, Origen, Eusebius, and Jerome (the most learned in the Hebrew Language and who translated the Vulgate) even says that the Hebrew original of Matthew was “still preserved in the library at Caesarea.” Then there are the evidences in the Greek text itself, but that might get too winded for our discussion here at this time. Regardless of what language Matthew wrote in; however, he was quoting Jesus, who certainly spoke in Hebrew, particularly on this occasion being in the Galilee, and speaking to his disciples (not just the 12 closest). Hebrew is full of Idioms of which this particular text is only one. To make my point, allow me to stray over to Matthew 6:22-23. Jesus talks about a “good eye.” “If your eye is good, your whole body if full of light…” What does this mean? In Greek, it means virtually nothing. In English, it means virtually nothing. But in Hebrew is means a lot. This is a Hebrew idiom not unlike an English idiom, “The cat’s got his tongue.” We know this means, “He can’t talk.” But in any other language it is crazy talk. Here the Hebrew idiom is: Good Eye -is- Generous; Bad Eye -is- Miserly. Now re-read that passage in context. It does make sense now. Back to our present passage: Jesus was either answering a direct attack, or an assumed attack, or answering an attack He knew would be forthcoming, on His interpretations of scripture. When you understand the Hebrew idiom as I stated in my first post, this whole passage in context makes sense and also fits perfectly into the rest of the scriptures. Jesus’ very next words are: “not so much as a ‘yod’ or a tittle will pass away from the [Torah]”. (yod being the smallest letter of the Hebrew alphabet, and the tittle being the smallest mark made on the Yod.) There is not much more I can say concerning this since your reply did not give an alternate interpretation. I have addressed the language issue and I think gave a good refutation as to why Hebrew is the key to understanding this and many of Jesus teachings. I truly look forward to a further discussion should you also desire this. A good book on this whole subject is, “Understanding the Difficult Words of Jesus: New Insights From a Hebraic Perspective” by David Bivin, and Roy Blizzard Jr. ISBN: 1-56043-550-X |