Passage

Matthew 5.37

Book: Matthew · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"35. nor by the earth, for it is the footstool of his feet; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36. Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, for thou canst not make one hair white or black."

"37. But let your speech be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: and whatsoever is more than these is of the evil one."

"38. Ye have heard that it was said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: 39. but I say unto you, resist not him that is evil: but whosoever smiteth thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also." (Matthew 5:35-39, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"35. nor by the earth, for it is the footstool of his feet; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36. Neither shall you swear by your head, for you can’t make one hair white or black."

"37. But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes’ and your ‘No’ be ‘No.’ Whatever is more than these is of the evil one."

"38. “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’ 39. But I tell you, don’t resist him who is evil; but whoever strikes you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also." (Matthew 5:35-39, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"35. Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King. 36. Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black."

"37. But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil."

"38. Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: 39. But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also." (Matthew 5:35-39, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"35. nor by the earth, because it is His footstool, nor by Jerusalem, because it is a city of a great king, 36. nor by thy head mayest thou swear, because thou art not able one hair to make white or black;"

"37. but let your word be, Yes, Yes, No, No, and that which is more than these is of the evil."

"38. 'Ye heard that it was said: Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth; 39. but I, I say to you, not to resist the evil, but whoever shall slap thee on thy right cheek, turn to him also the other;" (Matthew 5:35-39, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

TBD
TBD
TBD
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Quoted in

Liar Lunatic or Lord

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.