Matthew 5:20

Matthew 5:20 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.
• New International Version (NIV)For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.
• English Standard Version (ESV)For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
• New King James Version (NKJV)For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.

Context of Matthew 5:20

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. I tell you this: You must always do what is right. You must live in a way that is better than the teachers of God's Law and the Pharisees. You will never come into the kingdom of heaven if you do not do better than them.’ 21Jesus then said, ‘You know the rule that God gave to your ancestors: “You must not kill anyone. Any person who does kill someone will stand in front of a judge. The judge will punish him because he has done a wrong thing.” 22But what I now say to you is this: Anybody who is angry with his brother will have to stand in front of a judge. Or someone might call his brother by a bad name. Then he will have to stand in front of the Jewish leaders. They will judge him. But someone may say to his brother, “You are a fool.” God will judge that person. God may punish him in the fires of hell.

Matthew 5:20 word by word

λέγω γὰρ ὑμῖν ὅτι ἐὰν μὴ περισσεύσῃ ὑμῶν ἡ δικαιοσύνη πλεῖον τῶν γραμματέων καὶ Φαρισαίων, οὐ μὴ εἰσέλθητε εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τῶν οὐρανῶν.¶Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Forγάρgar · forG1063
• I sayλέγωlegō · to sayG3004
• unto youσύsu · youG4771
• Thatὅτιhoti · that/since: thatG3754
• exceptἐάνean · ifG1437
• ·μήmē · notG3361
• righteousnessὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• righteousnessδικαιοσύνηdikaiosunē · righteousnessG1343
• shall exceedπερισσεύωperisseuō · to exceedG4052
• ·πλείων, πλεῖονpleiōn pleion pleon · greaterG4119
• of the scribesγραμματεύςgrammateus · scribeG1122
• andκαίkai · andG2532
• PhariseesΦαρισαῖοςPharisaios · PhariseeG5330
• ye shallεἰσέρχομαιeiserchomai · to enterG1525
• in noοὐou · noG3756
• intoεἰςeis · towardG1519
• the kingdomβασιλείαbasileia · kingdomG932
• of heavenοὐρανόςouranos · heavenG3772

Cross-references for Matthew 5:20

• Matthew 23:2He said, ‘The teachers of God's Law and the Pharisees have authority to explain the Law of Moses.
• Luke 11:39So the Lord Jesus said to him, ‘You Pharisees are like someone who only cleans the outside of his cup and his plate. You only clean the part that people can see. But inside, your mind is full of bad thoughts. You like to take things from other people.
• Luke 12:1While all this was happening, many thousands of people had come together near that place. The crowd was so big that people were almost walking over each other. Jesus began to talk first to his disciples. He said, ‘Be careful! Do not accept the yeast of the Pharisees. Do not be hypocrites like they are.
• Luke 16:14The Pharisees heard all this. They loved money very much, so they laughed at Jesus. They said to him, ‘You are wrong.’
• Luke 18:10Jesus said, ‘One day, two men went into the temple to pray. One man was a Pharisee. The other man took taxes from people.
• Luke 20:46‘Be careful not to do the same as the teachers of God's Law. They want people to think that they are important. So they walk about in beautiful long clothes. They like people to praise them in the market place. They choose to sit in the best seats in the meeting place. They like to sit in the most important places at special meals.
• Romans 9:30So, we must think about what all this means. The Gentiles were not trying to become right with God. But some of them have now become right with him. God has accepted them as right, because they have believed in Jesus Christ.
• Romans 10:2I can say this about them: They really want to serve God well. But they do not understand the right way to do this.
• 2 Corinthians 5:17When anyone belongs to Christ, they become a new person. Their old way of life has gone. Their new life has begun!
• Philippians 3:9I want to be united with him. Because I believe in Christ, God accepts me as right with him. I know that I cannot become right in any other way, even if I obey all of God's Law. When I trust in Christ, God accepts me as right because of my faith.
• Matthew 3:10You are like trees that have bad fruit. God has an axe ready to use. He will cut down every tree that does not make good fruit. He will throw those trees into the fire.
• Matthew 7:21Some people say to me, “Master, Master!” But not all of them will come into the kingdom of heaven. Only the people who obey God, my Father in heaven, will come in. They do what he wants them to do.
• Matthew 18:5If anyone accepts a child like this because of me, that person also accepts me.’
• Mark 10:15I tell you this: A person must become like a little child for God to rule in his life. If he does not become like a child, he will not come into the kingdom of God.’
• Luke 18:17I tell you this: A person must become like a little child for God to rule in his life. If he does not become like a child, he will not come into the kingdom of God.’
• John 3:3Jesus replied, ‘I tell you this: Unless a person is born from above, they cannot understand the kingdom of God.’

Commentaries on Matthew 5:20

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 20Except your righteousness shall exceed - , Unless your righteousness abound more - unless it take in, not only the letter, but the spirit and design of the moral and ritual precept; the one directing you how to walk so as to please God; the other pointing out Christ, the great Atonement, through and by which a sinner is enabled to do so - more than that of the scribes and Pharisees, who only attend to the letter of the law, and had indeed made even that…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 20Your righteousness - Your holiness; your views of the nature of righteousness, and your conduct and lives. Unless you are more holy than they are, you cannot be saved. Shall exceed - Shall excel, or abound more. The righteousness of true Christians is seated in the heart, and is therefore genuine. Jesus means that unless they had more real holiness of character than the scribes and Pharisees, they could not be saved. The righteousness of the scribes and…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. 20Unless your righteousness exceeds: The disciples of Jesus need a new kind of righteousness that only he teaches and makes possible. Matthew 5:21–47 shows this and 5:48 summarizes what it is. This righteousness is different in amount and quality. Jesus is greater than the temple (12:6) and Jonah (12:41). So, the righteousness of his disciples must greatly surpass that of the Jewish religious teachers and Pharisees (see 3:7–9).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2020. For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees--The superiority to the Pharisaic righteousness here required is plainly in kind, not degree; for all Scripture teaches that entrance into God's kingdom, whether in its present or future stage, depends, not on the degree of our excellence in anything, but solely on our having the character itself which God demands. Our righteousness, then--if…Read the comment

Topics related to Matthew 5:20

• Church
• Heaven
• Instruction
• Law
• Religion
• Righteousness
• Scribe (S)
• Wicked (People)
• Works

In the dictionaries

• Agree
• Communication
• Despitefully
• Enemy
• Fornication
• Forswear
• Gift
• Hunger
• Inherit
• Jot

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