Matthew 5:25 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Matthew 5:25
Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison.
to be well- minded · verb — present active participle, nominative singular masculine
thine
σοῦsoû
G4675
of thee
adversary
ἀντιδίκῳantidikō
G476
an opponent (in a lawsuit) · noun — dative singular masculine
quickly
ταχύtachý
G5035
shortly
whiles
ὅτουhótou
G3755
during which same time
thou art
εἶeî
G1488
thou art
in
ἐνen
G1722
"in · preposition
the way
ὁδῷ,hodō
G3598
a road · noun — dative singular feminine
with
μετ᾽met᾽
G3326
properly · preposition
him
αὐτοῦautou
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — genitive singular masculine
lest at any time
μήποτεmḗpote
G3379
not ever
the adversary
ἀντίδικοςantidikos
G476
an opponent (in a lawsuit) · noun — nominative singular masculine
deliver
παραδῷparadō
G3860
to surrender · verb — second aorist active subjunctive, 3rd person singular
thee
σέsé
G4571
thee
to the judge
κριτῇ,kritēa
G2923
a judge (genitive case or specially) · noun — dative singular masculine
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
the judge
κριτὴςkritēs
G2923
a judge (genitive case or specially) · noun — nominative singular masculine
deliver
παραδῷparadō
G3860
to surrender · verb — second aorist active subjunctive, 3rd person singular
thee
σέsé
G4571
thee
to the officer
ὑπηρέτῃ,hupēretē
G5257
an under-oarsman · noun — dative singular masculine
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
thou be cast
βληθήσῃ.blēthēsē
G906
to throw (in various applications · verb — future passive indicative, 2nd person singular
into
εἰςeis
G1519
to or into (indicating the point reached or entered) · preposition
prison
φυλακὴνphulakēn
G5438
a guarding or (concretely · noun — accusative singular feminine
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Luke 12:58-59 When thou goest with thine adversary to the magistrate, as thou art in the way, give diligence that thou mayest be delivered from him; lest…
Proverbs 25:8 Go not forth hastily to strive, lest thou know not what to do in the end thereof, when thy neighbour hath put thee to shame.
Hebrews 3:13 But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
Isaiah 55:6-7 Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:
Luke 14:31-32 Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet hi…
Hebrews 3:7 Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice,
Luke 13:24-25 Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.
1 Kings 22:26-27 And the king of Israel said, Take Micaiah, and carry him back unto Amon the governor of the city, and to Joash the king’s son;
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Matthew 5:21-26
Christ having laid down these principles, that Moses and the prophets were still to be their rulers, but that the scribes and Pharisees were to be no longer their rulers, proceeds to expound the law in some particular instances, and to vindicate it from the corrupt glosses which those expositors had put upon it. He adds not any thing new, only limits and restrains some permissions which had been abused: and as to the precepts, shows the breadth, strictness, and spiritual nature of them, adding such explanatory statutes as made them more clear, and tended much toward the perfecting of our obedience to them. In these verses, he explains the law of the sixth commandment, according to the true i…
Agree with thine adversary--thine opponent in a matter cognizable by law.
quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him--"to the magistrate," as in Luk 12:58.
lest at any time--here, rather, "lest at all," or simply "lest."
the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge--having pronounced thee in the wrong.
deliver thee to the officer--the official whose business it is to see the sentence carried into effect.
John Gill on Matthew 5:25
Agree with thine adversary quickly,.... These words are not to be understood in an allegorical sense, as if "the adversary" was the justice of God, demanding payment of debts; "the way", this present life; "the judge", God himself; "the officer", the devil; "the prison", the pit of hell; and "the uttermost farthing", the least sin, which will never be remitted without satisfaction: but the design of them is to prevent lawsuits about debts, which may be in dispute; it being much better for debtor and creditor, especially the former, to compose such differences among themselves, than to litigate the matter in a court of judicature. By "the adversary" is meant not an enemy, one that bears hatre…
"Love your enemies," says He, "pray for them that curse you," lest such a man in any transaction of business be irritated by any unjust conduct of yours, and "deliver thee to the judge" of his own (nation ), and you be thrown into prison, and be detained in its close and narrow cell until you have liquidated all your debt against him.
The Lord suffers us at no time to be wanting in peaceableness of temper, and therefore bids us be reconciled to our adversary quickly, while on the road of life, lest we be cast into the season of death before peace be joined between us. Or, the adversary delivers you to the Judge, when the abiding of your wrath towards him convicts you. For because charity covereth a multitude of sins, we shall therefore pay the last farthing of punishment, unless by the expense of charity we redeem the fault of our sin.
It is therefore quite in keeping with this order of things, that that part of our nature should be the first to have the recompense and reward to which they are due on account of its priority. In short, inasmuch as we understand "the prison" pointed out in the Gospel to be Hades, and as we also interpret "the uttermost farthing" to mean the very smallest offence which has to be recompensed there before the resurrection, no one will hesitate to believe that the soul undergoes in Hades some compensatory discipline, without prejudice to the full process of the resurrection, when the recompense will be administered through the flesh besides.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Adversary — (Heb. satan), an opponent or foe (1 Kings 5:4; 11:14, 23, 25; Luke 13:17); one that speaks against another, a complainant (Matt. 5:25; Luke 12:58); an enemy (Luke 18:3), and specially the devil (1…
Officer — It is obvious that most, if not all, of the Hebrew words rendered “officer” are either of an indefinite character or are synonymous terms for functionaries known under other and more specific names,…
Sermon on the mount — After spending a night in solemn meditation and prayer in the lonely mountain-range to the west of the Lake of Galilee (Luke 6:12), on the following morning our Lord called to him his disciples, and…
Adjudication At Law · TO BE AVOI — TO BE AVOI
Compromise · BEFORE LITIGATION, ENJOINED — BEFORE LITIGATION, ENJOINED
Creditors · Often exacted debts: By imprisonment — Often exacted debts: By imprisonment
Debtor · LAWS CONCERNING — LAWS CONCERNING
Judaism · .To make room for the Gospel — .To make room for the Gospel
Lawsuits · To be avoi — To be avoi
Litigation · To be avoi — To be avoi
Prisons
Matthew 5:23-26
Matthew 5:23-26
Luke 12:58-59
23. Therefore, if thou shalt bring thy gift to the altar, and there shalt remember that thy brother hath anything against thee, 24. Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go away: first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer [400] thy gift. 25. Be agreed with thy adversary quickly, while thou art in the way with him: lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be thrown into prison. 26. Verily I say to thee, Thou shalt not depart thence, till thou shalt have paid the last farthing.
58. Now, when thou goest with thy adversary to the magistrate, do thy endeavor…
Reconciliation · Between man and man — Between man and man
Reconciliation With God · Necessity for — Illustrated — Necessity for — Illustrated
Religion · TRUE — TRUE
Strife · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
