What Does Matthew 19:18 Mean?
He said to him, Which ones? And Jesus said, You shall not kill, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness,THE KEY
This list treats a neighbor’s life, covenant, possessions, and public standing as parts of one whole.
THE MEANING
These boundaries speak wherever your choices touch another person: their life, covenant, possessions, and standing in what is true. The verse shows harm taking several forms, from direct violence to betrayal, deprivation, and false testimony.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie this undoes is that harm only counts when it leaves a visible wound; betrayal, theft, and false testimony also injure another person.
THE ROOT
ψευδομαρτυρήσεις
pseudomartyrēseis
GROWS FROM
μαρτυρ-
martyr-
witness, testify; the word-family for a witness and the testimony they give
“bear false witness” in this verse is pseudomartyrēseis. The Greek verb keeps witnessing at its center: what is made false is testimony itself, not just a stray sentence. That reaches the standing a neighbor has before those who hear and judge.
ALSO GROWS
martys: witness
μάρτυς
It names the person who stands as witness, linking this command to the one who gives testimony.
martyria: testimony, witness
μαρτυρία
It names the testimony itself, the substance that can be made false in this command.
martyreō: bear witness, testify
μαρτυρέω
This verb from the same family appears when Jesus says he bears witness to the truth in John 18:37.
THE PATTERN
A neighbor’s integrity is protected across bodily, relational, material, and testimonial harms.
You shall not steal, nor deal falsely, nor lie to the one beside you.Do not be a witness against your neighbor without cause, and do not coax with your lips.For this, "You shall not commit adultery," "You shall not shed blood," "You shall not steal," "You shall not crave," and if there is any other command, it is gathered beneath one head in this word, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."THE THREAD
Pilate said to him, So you are a king, then? Jesus answered, You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is from the truth hears my voice.Matthew’s “false witness” and John’s “bear witness” share the Greek root μαρτυρ- (martyr-, witness and testimony). The same testimony that can distort a neighbor’s standing can also bear witness to truth.
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