Matthew 5:27 opens in a very similar manner to
Matthew 5:21, but it omits "to the ancient ones", though Gundry believes that this is implied. "To the ancient ones" is found in the
Textus Receptus version of this verse, and from there it was included in the KJV. This verse refers to the
commandment against
adultery stated in
Exodus 20:14. This verse follows immediately after the prohibition against murder, and the Sermon follows this same pattern. The equation of lust with adultery is very similar to the earlier equation of
anger and
murder in
Matthew 5:22. Like the previous verse this is often interpreted as Jesus expanding on the requirements of
Mosaic Law, but not
rejecting it. This sentiment was not original to Jesus, being discussed in the
Old Testament and in contemporary Jewish literature. Kittle notes that similar ideas are expressed in
T. Issachar and
Tractate Kalla. Just as the English word
lust was originally a general term for desire, the Greek word was also a general term for desire. The
LSJ lexicon suggests "set one's heart upon a thing, long for, covet, desire" as glosses for , which is used in verses that clearly have nothing to do with sexual desire. In the
Septuagint, is the word used in the commandment to not covet: :You shall not covet () your neighbor's wife; you shall not covet your neighbor's house or his field or his male slave or his female slave or his ox or his draft animal or any animal of his or whatever belongs to your neighbor. (Exodus 20:17, New English Translation of the Septuagint) : (Septuagint) Matthew 5:27–28 may be a reference to
Exodus 20:17, as a reminder that sin does not begin with adultery, but already when a man covets his neighbor's wife. While coveting your neighbor's wife may involve sexual desire, it is unlikely that coveting a neighbor's house or field is sexual in nature. And in most New Testament uses, the word does not have a clear sexual connotation. For example: • For truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it. (Matthew 13:17, ESV) • And he said to them, I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. (Luke 22:15, ESV) • I coveted no one's silver or gold or apparel. (Acts 20:33, ESV) • And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything. (Luke 15:16, ESV) All of these verses involve strong desire or longing, but not sexual desire. The word translated as 'woman' is (), which can mean either 'woman' or 'wife'. Some scholars believe that Jesus is only talking about lusting after another's wife, not the attraction of a man to a woman in general. Nolland notes that sexual desire is not condemned in Matthew or in the contemporary literature, only misdirected desire. According to the laws of the time, it was not adultery for a married man to sleep with an unmarried woman. Adultery was interpreted as a form of theft, and the harm came from stealing another man's wife. In
Matthew 5:32, some feel Jesus will challenge this view. France states that
lust is more precisely understood as "in order to do the forbidden with her." Schweizer notes that looking lustfully at a woman is specifically condemned, implying that it is possible for a man to look at a woman without lust. Important in that it rejects the need for absolute segregation of the sexes. The evangelical Anglican
Melvin Tinker states that: ==Commentary from the Church Fathers==