it was said …

In the Gospel According to Matthew 5:21–48 (NABRE), Jesus reviews Old Testament teaching and reinterprets it in a new context. Throughout this passage, Jesus follows a similar form: “You have heard that it was said…”. This form is especially interesting in Greek for being unusual.

The phrase translated as it was said here is ῥέω (hreo), which is not a regular Greek word used for speech. This verb typically refers to the flowing of a stream or river. It is very unusual in the Gospel According to Matthew to encounter anything other than the standard Greek word for “to speak” in such a context.

The author here clearly intends to depict Old Testament legal sayings as different from regular speech. Why do you think the image of the flowing of a river may have been used? What does this distinction suggest about the author’s view of those sayings to which Jesus is referring?

related topic: religious law

you also may like our study of the book of Exodus
You Shall Have No Other Gods: The Book of Exodus, a 28-lesson Catholic Bible study with an imprimatur, provides an in-depth look at how significant events in biblical history that occurred thousands of years ago to descendants of Jacob remain relevant and even critical for present-day Christians to understand. The deliverance of the Hebrews from slavery in Egypt and the giving of Ten Commandments are examined along with the development of Moses’ relationship to God. Click here to view a sample of the first lesson.

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