What Does Matthew 5:25 Mean?
Come to terms with your opponent at law quickly, while you are on the road with him, lest your opponent hand you over to the judge, and the judge hand you over to the officer, and you be thrown into prison.
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
Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison.THE KEY
One Greek verb repeats for both handoffs, turning a dispute into a relay of custody that ends in prison.
THE MEANING
When conflict is live in your life, this verse shows how it can move from your opponent to a judge, then an officer, with each handoff narrowing your control. The Greek behind “agree” carries the sense of goodwill or a friendly disposition, placing that movement while you and your opponent are still on the way together.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This undoes the belief that an unresolved dispute can be postponed without changing its cost: the verse pictures it passing through more hands until it ends in confinement.
THE ROOT
παραδῷ
paradō
GROWS FROM
δίδωμι (didōmi), with παρά (para)
To give; with para, to hand over or deliver someone into another’s keeping.
“hand you over” in this verse is paradō. The Greek repeats παραδίδωμι: first the opponent hands you over, then the judge hands you over. The same word family includes what is handed down and what is given back, so the verse’s sequence is a chain of transfers, not two unrelated acts.
ALSO GROWS
paradosis: A handing down; what is handed down
παράδοσις
This noun carries the same idea of something passing from one holder to another.
apodidōmi: Give back, return, or repay
ἀποδίδωμι
It shows the wider δίδωμι family expressing transfer in different directions.
εὐνοῶν
eunoōn eunoeō
GROWS FROM
εὖ (eu) + νοῦς (nous)
A well-disposed mind; goodwill toward another.
“Come to terms” in this verse is eunoōn eunoeō. The word carries more than spoken assent: it describes a favorable disposition toward the opponent. That shade matters because the verse places this goodwill while the two people still share the road.
ALSO GROWS
eunoia: Goodwill, a kind disposition
εὔνοια
This noun names the favorable stance contained in the verse’s word for agree.
nous: Mind, thought, or disposition
νοῦς
This is the mind within the compound, making the word about how one is disposed toward the other.
ἀντίδικος
antidikos
GROWS FROM
δίκη
dikē
Justice, a legal claim, or a lawsuit; ἀντίδικος is the person on the opposing side of a case.
“opponent at law” in this verse is antidikos. The Greek word already places the adversary in a legal contest, so the judge and officer are part of the word’s revealed setting. The English word adversary can sound broadly hostile; this one points specifically to an opponent in a case.
ALSO GROWS
dikaios: Just, aligned
δίκαιος
This related word carries the root’s concern with what is right or just.
dikaiosynē: Justice, alignment
δικαιοσύνη
The shared word family keeps the adversary’s legal character in view.
THE PATTERN
Conflict can be met while people still share a space, before its consequences pass into other hands.
And Abram said to Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray you, between me and you, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen, for we are brothers.Do not rush out to strive, lest you say, "What will you do at its end, when your neighbor shames you?"If it is possible, as far as your reach extends, live in wholeness with all people.THE THREAD
They bound him, led him away, and handed him over to Pontius Pilate the governor.The Greek παραδίδωμι (paradidōmi), translated “delivered,” is the same verb repeated twice in Matthew 5:25. Here, a person is bound and handed to an authority; in the current verse, the repeated verb traces custody passing from one authority to another.
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