Anakalypsis / Unveiling the Word

Matthew 5:21

Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment:

KJV

Ἠκούσατε ὅτι ἐρρέθη τοῖς ἀρχαίοις, οὐ φονεύσεις· ὃς δ’ ἂν φονεύσῃ, ἔνοχος ἔσται τῇ κρίσει.

Greek NT

Audistis quia dictum est antiquis : Non occides : qui autem occiderit, reus erit judicio.

Vulgate

Ye have heard that it was said to them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment:

ASV

You have heard that it was said to them of old: Thou shalt not kill. And whosoever shall kill, shall be in danger of the judgment.

Douay-Rheims

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In the original Greek

13 distinct Greek words appear in this verse.

δέ
de
conjunction · 2781×
εἰμί
eimi
verb · 2461×
κρίσις
krisis
noun · 47×
οὐ
ou
particle · 1626×
φονεύω
phoneuo
verb · 12×
ἀκούω
akouo
verb · 427×
ἀρχαῖος
archaios
adjective · 11×
ἄν
an
particle · 165×
ἐρέω
ereo
verb · 96×
ἔνοχος
enochos
adjective · 10×
ὁ
o
article · 19778×
ὅς
os
relative_pronoun · 1404×
ὅτι
oti
conjunction · 1299×

Intertextual echoes

This verse quotes or alludes to 1 earlier text.

  • Exod 20:13 · exact_quote
    "Thou shalt not kill."
    Exodus: you shall not murder — Jesus quotes in Sermon on the Mount

Historic Christian voices

14 passages from patristic writers, Reformers, and church catechisms citing this verse.

§2054Jesus acknowledged the Ten Commandments, but he also showed the power of the Spirit at work in their letter. He preached a "righteousness [which] exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees"5 as well as that of the Gentiles.6 He unfolded all the demands of the Commandments. "You have heard that it was said to the men of old, 'You shall not kill.' . . . But I say to you that every…
§2262In the Sermon on the Mount, the Lord recalls the commandment, "You shall not kill,"62 and adds to it the proscription of anger, hatred, and vengeance. Going further, Christ asks his disciples to turn the other cheek, to love their enemies.63 He did not defend himself and told Peter to leave his sword in its sheath.64 Legitimate defense
§2302By recalling the commandment, "You shall not kill,"93 our Lord asked for peace of heart and denounced murderous anger and hatred as immoral. Anger is a desire for revenge. "To desire vengeance in order to do evil to someone who should be punished is illicit," but it is praiseworthy to impose restitution "to correct vices and maintain justice."94 If anger reaches the point of a …
Further exposure of the wicked and blasphemous doctrines of the heretics. 1. Moreover, this impious opinion of theirs with respect to actions — namely, that it is incumbent on them to have experience of all kinds of deeds, even the most abominable — is refuted by the teaching of the Lord, with whom not only is the adulterer rejected, but also the man who desires to commit adult…
Christ did not abrogate the natural precepts of the law, but rather fulfilled and extended them. He removed the yoke and bondage of the old law, so that mankind, being now set free, might serve God with that trustful piety which becomes sons. 1. And that the Lord did not abrogate the natural [precepts] of the law, by which man is justified, which also those who were justified b…
2. They thought that He, thus speaking, did so with a view to the abrogation of the ancient institutions. This suspicion therefore He heals; nor here only does He so, but elsewhere also again. Thus, since they accounted Him no less than an adversary of God, from this sort of reason, namely, His not keeping the sabbath; He, to heal such their suspicion, there also again sets for…
1. On the subject of attention in hearkening it is superfluous to exhort you any more, so quickly have you shown by your actions the effects of my advice. For your manner of running together, your attentive postures, the thrusting one another in your eagerness to get the inner places, where my voice may more clearly be heard by you, your unwillingness to retire from the press u…
1. Of the men of that time some clung to their error, others laid hold on the truth, while of these last, some having retained it for a little while again fell off from it. Alluding to these, Christ compared them to seeds not deeply sown, but having their roots upon the surface of the earth; and He said that they should quickly perish. And these the Evangelist has here pointed …
Source. Translated by J. Walker, J. Sheppard and H. Browne, and revised by George B. Stevens. From Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, Vol. 11. Edited by Philip Schaff. (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1889.) Revised and edited for New Advent by Kevin Knight. <https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/210212.htm>. Contact information. The editor of New Adven…
Thou shalt not kill. We have now completed both the spiritual and the temporal government, that is, the divine and the paternal authority and obedience. Here we go forth from our house among our neighbors to learn how we should live with one another. Therefore God has hedged this commandment, guarding and protecting body and life.
Q. What is God's will for you in the sixth commandment? A. I am not to belittle, insult, hate, or kill my neighbor — not by my thoughts, my words, my look or gesture, and certainly not by actual deeds — and I am not to be party to this in others; rather, I am to put away all desire for revenge. I am not to harm or recklessly endanger myself either. Prevention of murder is also …

Cross-references

  • 1John 3:15 — Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.
  • 1Kgs 2:5 — Moreover thou knowest also what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me, and what he did to the two captains of the hosts of Israel, unto Abner the son of Ner, and unto Amasa the son of Jether, whom he slew
  • Deut 5:17 — Thou shalt not kill.
  • Deut 5:17 — Thou shalt not kill.
  • Deut 16:18 — Judges and officers shalt thou make thee in all thy gates, which the LORD thy God giveth thee, throughout thy tribes: and they shall judge the people with just judgment.
  • Deut 21:7 — And they shall answer and say, Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen it.
  • Exod 20:13 — Thou shalt not kill.
  • Exod 20:13 — Thou shalt not kill.
  • Exod 21:12 — He that smiteth a man, so that he die, shall be surely put to death.
  • Gen 9:5 — And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man’s brother will I require the life of man.
  • Jas 2:11 — For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law.
  • Job 8:8 — For enquire, I pray thee, of the former age, and prepare thyself to the search of their fathers:
  • Matt 5:27 — Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery:
  • Matt 5:27 — Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery:
  • Matt 5:33 — Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths:
  • Matt 5:38 — Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:
  • Matt 5:43 — Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
  • Matt 19:18 — He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness,
  • Neh 8:8 — So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading.
  • Num 35:12 — And they shall be unto you cities for refuge from the avenger; that the manslayer die not, until he stand before the congregation in judgment.
  • Num 35:16 — And if he smite him with an instrument of iron, so that he die, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death.
  • Num 35:30 — Whoso killeth any person, the murderer shall be put to death by the mouth of witnesses: but one witness shall not testify against any person to cause him to die.