Matthew 5:27

27 Ye haue hearde howe it was sayde to the of olde tyme: Thou shalt not comitt advoutrie.

Matthew 5:27 Meaning and Commentary

Matthew 5:27

Ye have heard that it was said
These forms of speech, as well as what follows,

by them of old time,
have been explained, in ver. 21. The law here mentioned,

thou shalt not commit adultery,
is recorded in ( Exodus 20:14 ) and the meaning of our Lord is, not that the then present Jews had heard that such a law had been delivered "to the ancients", their fathers, at Mount Sinai; for that they could read in their Bibles: but they had received it by tradition, that the sense of it, which had been given to their ancestors, by the ancient doctors of the church, was, that this law is to be taken strictly, as it lies, and only regards the sin of uncleanness in married persons; or, what was strictly adultery, and that actual; so that it had no respect to fornication, or unchaste thoughts, words, or actions, but that single act only.

Matthew 5:27 In-Context

25 Agre with thyne adversary quicklye whyles thou arte in ye waye with hym lest that adversary deliver ye to ye iudge and ye iudge delivre ye to ye minister and the thou be cast into preson.

26 I say vnto ye verely: thou shalt not come out thece till thou have payed ye utmost farthige.

27 Ye haue hearde howe it was sayde to the of olde tyme: Thou shalt not comitt advoutrie.

28 But I say vnto you that whosoeuer looketh on a wyfe lustynge after her hathe comitted advoutrie with hir alredy in his hert.

29 Wherfore yf thy right eye offende ye plucke hym out and caste him from the. Better it is for the yt one of thy membres perisshe then that thy hole bodye shuld be cast into hell.