Section 5:27–30

Jesus taught about sexual sin

In this section, Jesus explained another difference between the way that Jewish religious leaders interpreted the law of Moses and the correct interpretation of the law. The seventh commandment is: “You shall not commit adultery” (Exodus 20:14). The Jewish religious leaders only spoke about external actions. In this section, Jesus taught that thoughts about adultery are like actually committing adultery.

Here are some other possible headings for this section:

The person who thinks about adultery is like one who commits adultery
-or-
Teaching about adultery

Paragraph 5:27–30

Jesus continued speaking here to his disciples. If your audience would not understand that Jesus was speaking here, you may want to indicate this. For example:

⌊Then Jesus said,⌋
-or-

⌊Jesus continued speaking⌋

5:27a

You have heard that it was said: The same clause also occurs in 5:21. However, here the words “to the ancients” are not repeated. You should translate this clause in a similar way.

You: In the Greek text, the pronoun for You is plural. It refers to all those to whom Jesus was speaking.

5:27b

Do not commit adultery: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as adultery refers to having sexual relations with a woman who is married to another man.

Here are some other ways to translate this commandment:

Do not have sexual relations with another man’s wife
-or-
Do not take another man’s wife to bed with you

-or-

Do not sleep with a married woman

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