Matthew 5:48

Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

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Word by word — the Greek

Word	Greek	Strong’s	Meaning
Be	ἔσομαι ésomai	G2071	will be
ye	ὑμεῖς hymeîs	G5210	you (as subjective of verb)
therefore	οὖν oun	G3767	(adverbially) certainly · conjunction
perfect	τέλειοι teleioi	G5046	complete (in various applications of labor · adjective — nominative plural masculine
even as	ὥσπερ hṓsper	G5618	just as
your	ὑμῶν hymōn	G5216	of (from or concerning) you
Father	πατὴρ patēr	G3962	a "father" (literally or figuratively · noun — nominative singular masculine, a title
which is	ὁ ho	G3588	the (sometimes to be supplied · article — nominative singular masculine
in	ἐν en	G1722	"in
heaven	οὐρανός ouranós	G3772	the sky
is	ἐστί estí	G2076	he (she or it) is
perfect	τέλειός teleios	G5046	complete (in various applications of labor · adjective — nominative singular masculine

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

1 Peter 1:15-16 But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;
James 1:4 But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.
Leviticus 19:2 Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto them, Ye shall be holy: for I the LORD your God am holy.
Deuteronomy 18:13 Thou shalt be perfect with the LORD thy God.
Luke 6:36 Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.
Ephesians 5:1-2 Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children;
1 John 3:3 And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.
Colossians 1:28 Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Matthew 5:43–end

We have here, lastly, an exposition of that great fundamental law of the second table, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, which was the fulfilling of the law. I. See here how this law was corrupted by the comments of the Jewish teachers, Mat 5:43. God said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour; and by neighbour they understood those only of their own country, nation, and religion; and those only that they were pleased to look upon as their friends: yet this was not the worst; from this command, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, they were willing to infer what God never designed; Thou shalt hate thine enemy; and they looked upon whom they pleased as their enemies, thus making void the great command of God…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Matthew 5:48

Be ye therefore--rather, "Ye shall therefore be," or "Ye are therefore to be," as My disciples and in My kingdom. perfect--or complete. Manifestly, our Lord here speaks, not of degrees of excellence, but of the kind of excellence which was to distinguish His disciples and characterize His kingdom. When therefore He adds, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect--He refers to that fullorbed glorious completeness which is in the great Divine Model, "their Father which is in heaven." SERMON ON THE MOUNT--continued. Next: Matthew Chapter 6

John Gill on Matthew 5:48

Be ye therefore perfect, as your Father,.... This perfection is to be restrained to the subject Christ is upon, love to men, and not to be referred to any, or every other thing; wherefore, in Luke 6:36 it is, "be ye merciful, as your Father also is merciful"; and regards not a perfection of degree in that, but objects and quality: that is to say, not that men may, or can, or ought to be as perfect in love, as to the degree of it, as God is; that is impossible: the "as" here, is not a note of equality, but of likeness: such, who profess God to be their Father, ought to imitate him, particularly in their love to men, which ought to be extended to the same objects, as the divine goodness is; th…

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The Church Fathers

For as our sons after the flesh resemble their fathers in some part of their bodily shape, so do spiritual sons resemble their father God, in holiness.
— Pseudo-Chrysostom ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)), Catena Aurea by Aquinas

But as God is eternal and rational, so, I think, He is perfect in all things. "Be ye perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." Prove, then, that the goodness of your god also is a perfect one.
— Tertullian, Against Marcion Book I

Let those women therefore look to it, who, by not holding fast the whole good, easily mingle with evil even what they do hold fast. Necessary it is that you turn aside from them, as in all other things, so also in your gait; since you ought to be "perfect, as (is) your Father who is in the heavens."
— Tertullian, On the Apparel of Women Book II

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

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…
Adoption · Should produce: Likeness to God — Should produce: Likeness to God
Commandments · DISCOURSE — DISCOURSE
Conduct, Christian · Perfecting holiness — Perfecting holiness
Enemy · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Example · GOD, OUR — GOD, OUR
Forgiveness · OF ENEMIES — OF ENEMIES
God · Is declared to be: Perfect — Is declared to be: Perfect
Holiness · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Perfection · UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO — UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO
Religion · TRUE — TRUE

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).

Matthew 5:48

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Matthew 5:43–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Matthew 5:48

John Gill on Matthew 5:48

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Matthew 5:48

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Matthew 5:43–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Matthew 5:48

John Gill on Matthew 5:48

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Matthew 5:43–end

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Matthew 5:48