Matthew 5:17

Matthew 5:17 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
• New International Version (NIV)“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.
• English Standard Version (ESV)"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.
• New King James Version (NKJV)“Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.

Context of Matthew 5:17

15Nobody lights a lamp and then puts it under a pot. He will put the lamp in a high place. Everybody who is in the house can then see the light from the lamp. 16You must be sure that your light shines well. Then you will give light to other people. They will see all the good things that you do. Then they will praise God, who is your Father in heaven.’ Jesus said, ‘You should not think that I have come to destroy God's Law. Also, I have not come to destroy the messages that God's prophets wrote down. No, I have not come to destroy their words. I have come to make what they taught become true. 18I tell you this: One day, even the earth and the sky will finish. But while they remain, God's Law will also remain. Nobody can remove even the smallest thing from it. The Law will remain until everything in it has happened. 19A person may choose not to obey a rule in God's Law. He may think it is the least important rule. He may also teach other people to think like that. Then God will call him the least important person in the kingdom of heaven. But a person may choose to obey all the rules in God's Law. And he may teach other people to obey them too. Then God will call that person great in the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 5:17 word by word

Μὴ νομίσητε ὅτι ἦλθον καταλῦσαι τὸν νόμον ἢ τοὺς προφήτας· οὐκ ἦλθον καταλῦσαι ἀλλὰ πληρῶσαι.Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Thinkνομίζωnomizō · to thinkG3543
• notμήmē · notG3361
• thatὅτιhoti · that/since: thatG3754
• I am comeἔρχομαιerchomai · to come/goG2064
• to destroyκαταλύωkataluō · to destroy/lodgeG2647
• the lawὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• the lawνόμοςnomos · lawG3551
• orἤē · orG2228
• the prophetsπροφήτηςprophētēs · prophetG4396
• notοὐou · noG3756
• butἀλλάalla · butG235
• to fulfilπληρόωplēroō · to fulfillG4137

Cross-references for Matthew 5:17

• Luke 16:17But this does not mean that anyone can destroy God's Law. One day, the earth and the sky will finish. But until that time, nobody can remove even a small thing from God's Law.
• John 8:5In God's Law Moses says that we should throw stones at this kind of woman, to kill her. What do you say about this?’
• Acts 6:13Then they brought in some men to say bad things about Stephen. The things that these men said were not true. They said about Stephen, ‘This man is always saying bad things about the temple. He says bad things against God's Law.
• Acts 18:13The Jewish leaders said to Gallio, ‘This man is teaching people to worship God in a wrong way. The things that he teaches are against our Jewish law.’
• Acts 21:28The Jews from Asia shouted, ‘People of Israel, come and help us! This is the man who goes everywhere and he teaches everyone bad things. He speaks against us, the people of Israel. He also speaks against the Law of Moses and against this temple. Now he has even brought some Gentiles into this temple. So now this special place is not clean in front of God any longer.’
• Romans 3:31What does this show us about God's Law which he gave to Moses? When we say that all people need to believe in Jesus, does that mean that God's Law has no purpose? No! When we believe in Jesus, we are showing the true purpose of God's Law.
• Romans 10:4God gave his Law to Israel's people for a purpose. But Christ has finished that purpose. So now, every person who believes in Christ becomes right with God.
• Galatians 3:17What I mean is this: God made an agreement with Abraham. He promised to bless him. Then, 430 years later, God gave his Law to Moses for the Jewish people. But that Law could not take away the authority of God's agreement with Abraham. It could not stop what God had already promised.
• Matthew 3:15Jesus replied, ‘This time, do what I ask you to do. We must do everything correctly, as God wants it.’ So John did what Jesus asked him to do.
• Psalms 40:6You do not really want sacrifices and offerings. I understand that! You do not ask for burnt offerings or sin offerings.
• Isaiah 42:21The Lord always does what is right. So he has made his law great and important. He is happy when people respect his law.
• Romans 8:4God did this so that we could become right with him. God's Law showed us how to be right with him. And now we can be right with God, if we live with God's Spirit as our guide. We do not do what our weak human thoughts want us to do.
• Galatians 4:4But when the time that God had decided arrived, he sent his Son into the world. A human mother gave birth to him. He was born a Jew, under the authority of God's Law.
• Colossians 2:16Some people may tell you that it is wrong for you to eat or to drink certain things. Or they make rules about special festival days, about new moons, or about the Jewish days for rest. Do not agree with people like that.
• Hebrews 10:3But as it is, those sacrifices every year cause people to remember their sins.

Commentaries on Matthew 5:17

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 17Think not that I am come to destroy the law - Do not imagine that I am come to violate the law , from , and , I loose, violate, or dissolve - I am not come to make the law of none effect - to dissolve the connection which subsists between its several parts, or the obligation men are under to have their lives regulated by its moral precepts; nor am I come to dissolve the connecting reference it has to the good things promised. But I am come, , to complete…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 17Think not that I am come … - Our Saviour was just entering on his work. It was important for him to state what he came to do. By his setting up to be a teacher in opposition to the scribes and Pharisees, some might charge him with an intention to destroy their law, and to abolish the customs of the nation. He therefore told them that he did not come for that end, but really to fulfill or accomplish what was in the law and the prophets. To destroy - To…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 17-20Verses 17-20 Let none suppose that Christ allows his people to trifle with any commands of God's holy law. No sinner partakes of Christ's justifying righteousness, till he repents of his evil deeds. The mercy revealed in the gospel leads the believer to still deeper self-abhorrence. The law is the Christian's rule of duty, and he delights therein. If a man, pretending to be Christ's disciple, encourages himself in any allowed disobedience to the holy law…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 17To abolish would mean to remove and replace the Law of Moses and the writings of the prophets (that is, the whole Old Testament) as God’s revelation of his will. until everything is accomplished: This could mean to obey the Old Testament perfectly, complete their teachings, or fulfill their prophecies (see Matthew 1:22; 2:15, 17, 23). Jesus himself embodies everything the Prophets and the Law taught and expected. Now that Christ has arrived, who fulfills…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1717. Think not that I am come--that I came. to destroy the law, or the prophets--that is, "the authority and principles of the Old Testament." (On the phrase, see Mt 7:12; 22:40; Lu 16:16; Ac 13:15). This general way of taking the phrase is much better than understanding "the law" and "the prophets" separately, and inquiring, as many good critics do, in what sense our Lord could be supposed to meditate the subversion of each. To the various classes of His…Read the comment

Topics related to Matthew 5:17

• Instruction
• Jesus, the Christ
• Judaism
• Law
• Religion
• Word of God

In the dictionaries

• Agree
• Bible
• Communication
• Decalogue
• Despitefully
• Enemy
• Fornication
• Forswear
• Gift
• Hunger

Commentaries on Matthew 5

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Catena Aurea
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• John Lightfoot Commentary
• Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• The Fourfold Gospel and Commentary on Acts
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings