The Hard Sayings: Matthew 5:28-30 -- Part One

But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away.

This article is part of a series explaining the sayings of Jesus that are hard to understand. To see a list of these verses, go to this page.

The English translations of Matthew 28-30 miss so many of the points Jesus makes in the Greek that they seem harder than they are. In this article, we will look at only the first verse, Matthew 5:28 because there are too many translation issues to do both in a single article. This verse is Jesus’s “filling up” the law about adultery. This was a issue at the time because of Herod Antipas’s marriage to Herodias, who had been married to his brother. It is fun because it reminds me of what Hannibal Lecter tells the FBI agent, Clarice, in The Silence of the Lambs, “We begin by coveting what we see every day. Don't you feel eyes moving over your body, Clarice? And don't your eyes seek out the things you want?”

Jesus’s answer to the law against adultery is much the same. First, however, we should know that the meaning of the Greek word translated as “adultery” is different than our sense of the word today. Adultery then was defined as sex with a married woman outside of marriage. It didn’t apply to relationships with unmarried women. It also means a man “corrupting” a woman, which we will explain. And it was a metaphor for idolatry, faithlessness to the Divine.

Watching to Covet

As Jesus does with all his references to existing Judaic laws, Jesus raises the bar on adultery instead of lowering it.

NIV: But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

The words in boldface are those that we explain in this article.

This starts with the “I” in “I tell you,” which in the Greek is “I myself tell you.” Jesus repeats this emphasis on himself in all his sayings extending Judaic Law, making it a repetitive catchphrase of mock pomposity. He was clearly taking responsibility to his ideas even though, as we will see, they are based on other Judaic Laws.

The word translated as “looks” is a common word that means “watch,” but it also means to watch that which we desire. This is important because this meaning is emphasized later in the verse. Next, we have the Greek word for “woman,” which also means “wife.” The context is adultery so his listeners would have assumed that he meant someone’s wife.

The Greek verb translated as "lustfully" is not an adverb and not as sexual as it sounds. It has the sense of craving something. This same Greek word is translated as "covet," which implies envy. This word was used to translate Exodus 20:17 and Deuteronomy 5:21 in the Ten Commandments, forbidding coveting a neighbor’s wife and property. Jesus listeners would have understood this. As we will see later, this concept is also connected to the Greek word for “heart.” This “covet” is not used as an an adverb or active verb, but as an noun, something like “the coveting of her.” The word translated as "already" can also be a plural noun that means "delights" or "pleasures." So this phrase could be heard as "the coveting of her pleasures.”

Jesus’s listeners would hear this verse in the context of the story of David and Bathsheba. David saw Bathsheba, a married woman, bathing on a rooftop. His desire lead to David killing her husband. He then married her so it wasn’t adultery, just murder.

The Law Against Adultery