Matthew 5:40

And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also. AND IF ANY MAN WILL SUE THEE AT THE LAW, AND TAKE AWAY THY COAT, [ chitoona (G5509)] - the inner garment; in pledge for a debt (Exodus 22:26-2) -- LET HIM HAVE THY CLOAK ALSO, [ himation (G2440)] - the outer and more costly garment. This overcoat was not allowed to be retained overnight as a pledge from the poor, because they used it for a bed-covering....

40._And to him who wishes to enter into a law-suit with thee. _Christ now glances at another kind of annoyance, and that is, when wicked men torment us with law-suits. He commands us, even on such an occasion, to be so patient and submissive that, when our _coat _has been _taken away, _we shall be prepared to give up _our cloak also. _None but a fool will stand upon the words, so as to maintain, that we must yield to our opponents what they demand, before coming into a court of law: for such compliance would more strongly inflame the minds of wicked men to robbery and extortion; and we know, that nothing was farther from the design of Christ. What then is meant by _giving the cloak to him _who endeavors, on the ground of a legal claim, (416) _to take away our coat? _If a man, oppressed by an unjust decision, loses what is his own, and yet is prepared, when it shall be found necessary,

38-42 The plain instruction is, Suffer any injury that can be borne, for the sake of peace, committing your concerns to the Lord's keeping. And the sum of all is, that Christians must avoid disputing and striving. If any say, Flesh and blood cannot pass by such an affront, let them remember, that flesh and blood shall not inherit the kingdom of God; and those who act upon right principles will have most peace and comfort....

Verse 40. _AND IF ANY MAN WILL SUE THEE AT THE LAW_] Every where our blessed Lord shows the utmost disapprobation of such litigations as tended to destroy brotherly kindness and charity. It is evident he would have his followers to suffer rather the loss of all their property than to have recourse to such modes of redress, at so great a risk. Having the mind averse from contentions, and preferring peace and concord to temporal advantages, is most solemnly recommended to all Christians. We are great gainers when we lose only our money, or other property, and risk not the loss of our souls, by losing the love of God and man. _COAT_] χιτωνα, _upper garment_.-Cloke, ιματιον, _under_ _garment_. What we call _strait coat_, and _great coat_. - See on Luke 6:29....

AN EYE FOR AN EYE ... - This command is found in Exodus 21:24; Leviticus 24:20, and Deuteronomy 19:21. In these places it was given as a rule to regulate the decisions of judges. They were to take eye for eye, and tooth for tooth, and to inflict burning for burning. As a judicial rule it is not unjust. Christ finds no fault with the rule as applied to magistrates, and does not take upon himself to repeal it. But instead of confining it to magistrates, the Jews had extended it to private conduct, and made it the rule by which to take revenge. They considered themselves justified by this rule to inflict the same injury on others that they had received. Our Saviour remonstrates again

EXPOSITION MATTHEW 5:1 AND SEEING THE MULTITUDES; _i.e. _those spoken of in Matthew 4:25—the multitudes who were at that point of time following him. HE WENT UP. From the lower ground by the lake. INTO A MOUNTAIN; Revised Version, _into the mountain _(εἰς τὸ ὄρος);_ i.e. _not any special mountain, but "the mountain nearest the place spoken of—the mountain near by" (Thayer); in contrast to any lower place, whether that was itself fairly high ground (as probably Luke 9:28) or the shore of the lake. The actual spot here referred to may have been far from, or, and more probably ...

AND IF ANY MAN WILL SUE THEE AT THE LAW,.... Or "will contend with thee", or as the Syriac renders it, דנדון עמך, "will strive", or "litigate with thee"; not contest the matter, or try the cause in an open court of judicature, a sense our version inclines to; but will wrangle and quarrel in a private way, in order to TAKE AWAY THY COAT, by force and violence, LET HIM HAVE THY CLOAK ALSO; do not forbid, or hinder him from taking it; see Luke 6:29. The "coat", is the same with טלית, "the upper garment": and what we render a "cloak", answers to חלוק, "the inward garment"; by which words Sangari expresses the passage in the place before cited: and the sense is, if a wrangling, quarrelsome man, insists upon having thy coat, or upper garment, let him take the next; and rather suffer thyself to be stripped naked than engage in a litigious broil with him. This also i

Matthew 5:17. _Think not that I am came to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill._ The life, work, and words of Christ are not an emendation of the Old Testament, or an abrogation of it. It stands fast and firm, fulfilled, carried to perfection, filled to the full in Christ. Matthew 5:18. _For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven._ It is vain to teach the commandments without first doing them. The doi

5. THE PROCLAMATION OF THE KING CONCERNING HIS KINGDOM. CHAPTER S 5-7 _ 1. The Characteristics of the heirs of the Kingdom.(Matthew 5:1 .) 2. The Confirmation of the Law and its Expansion.(Matthew 5:17 .)_ CHAPTER 5 In the closing of the last chapter we saw our Lord Jesus Christ surrounded by a great multitude of people, which followed Him and who were attracted by the King's presence, before whom the various diseases had to flee. If we turn to the eighth chapter we find the continuation of these scenes we had in the last half of the fourth chapter. Between these two Chapter s are three very important ones, which are as such found only in this Gospel. The contents of the fifth, sixth and seventh Chapter s are in the form of a continued discourse of our Lord, commonly called “t

RETALIATION (_cf._ Luke 6:29 f.). Like the law of divorce, the law of the _ius talionis_ (Exodus 21:24 f.*) was more restrictive than permissive; it limited revenge by fixing an exact compensation for an injury. Jesus penetrates behind this just principle without abrogating it. His disciples, in virtue of a higher principle, are not to desire human justice for themselves. To take His words literally is to exalt the letter at the expense of the spirit, which He would surely deprecate. Paul appealed to legal justice (Acts 16:37; Acts 25:8), and there are occasions when to decline it would mean wronging and betraying others. RV in...