Matthew 5:41

Matthew 5:41
Matthew 5:41
← 5:40 5:42 →
	"Sermon on the Mount". Monastery of Saint Abraam.
Book	Gospel of Matthew
Christian Bible part	New Testament

Matthew 5:41 is the forty-first verse of the fifth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament and is part of the Sermon on the Mount. This is the fourth verse of the antithesis on the commandment: "Eye for an eye".

Content

In the King James Version of the Bible the text reads:

And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.

The World English Bible translates the passage as:

Whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two.

The Novum Testamentum Graece text is:

καὶ ὅστις σε ἀγγαρεύσει μίλιον ἕν, ὕπαγε μετ’ αὐτοῦ δύο.

For additional translations see Matthew 5:41.

Analysis

The word here translated as compel, angareuo, is a

Roman occupation was starkly different from the other Jewish activists of the period.^[3] Jesus says nothing about the propriety of such demands, Schweizer notes that Jesus simply accepts it as fact. Thomas Aquinas wrote that this verse implies that it is reasonable to follow laws that are unjust, but argued that laws that are unconscionable must not be obeyed.^[4]

The word here translated as

stadion was used to measure length. Miles would only have been used by the imperial government and the local occupying forces, which further links this verse with imperial repression.^[6] This verse is the origin of the English phrase "going the extra mile," which means to do more than is expected. See The Extra Mile (disambiguation)

for its usage in popular culture.

References

^ Hare, Douglas R. A. Matthew. Interpretation, a Bible commentary for teaching and preaching. Westminster John Knox Press, 1993 p. 57
^ Harrington, Daniel J. The Gospel of Matthew. Liturgical Press, 1991 p. 89
^ France, R.T. The Gospel of Matthew. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2007 pg. 222
^ Schweizer, Eduard. The Good News According to Matthew. Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1975
^ Craig S. Keener. A commentary on the Gospel of Matthew. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1999. p. 200
^ Hare, 1993 p. 37.

Preceded by Matthew 5:40	Gospel of Matthew Chapter 5	Succeeded by Matthew 5:42

[1] Hare, Douglas R. A. Matthew. Interpretation, a Bible commentary for teaching and preaching. Westminster John Knox Press, 1993 p. 57

[2] Harrington, Daniel J. The Gospel of Matthew. Liturgical Press, 1991 p. 89

[3] France, R.T. The Gospel of Matthew. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2007 pg. 222

[4] Schweizer, Eduard. The Good News According to Matthew. Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1975

[5] Craig S. Keener. A commentary on the Gospel of Matthew. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1999. p. 200

[6] Hare, 1993 p. 37.

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