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Wednesday, October 30th, 2024
the Week of Proper 25 / Ordinary 30
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Read the Bible

King James Version

Matthew 5:40

And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Actions at Law;   Commandments;   Debtor;   Dress;   Forgiveness;   Instruction;   Judaism;   Law;   Malice;   Meekness;   Religion;   Retaliation;   Strife;   Suing;   Thompson Chain Reference - Cloak;   Courts;   Dress;   Lawsuits;   Litigation;   The Topic Concordance - Recompense/restitution;   Resistance;   Vengeance;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Conduct, Christian;   Meekness;   Revenge;   Strife;  

Dictionaries:

- Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Government;   Judge;   Justice;   Revenge;   Sermon on the mount;   War;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Christ, Christology;   Ethics;   Golden Rule;   Law;   Law of Christ;   Legalism;   Persecution;   Sin;   Vengeance;   Charles Buck Theological Dictionary - Hutchinsonians;   Love, Brotherly;   Means of Grace;   Quakers;   Reconciliation;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Cloak;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Dress;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Borrow;   Crimes and Punishments;   Custodian;   Disciples;   Jesus, Life and Ministry of;   Matthew, the Gospel of;   Persecution in the Bible;   Sermon on the Mount;   Teeth;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Christianity;   Dress;   Law;   Melchizedek;   Mss;   Perfection;   Sin;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Anger (2);   Authority of Christ;   Christianity;   Cloke ;   Clothes;   Coat (2);   Commandments;   Debt, Debtor (2);   Dress (2);   Ethics (2);   Gospel (2);   Gospels (2);   Honesty ;   Humanity of Christ;   Humour;   Ideas (Leading);   Imagination;   Inspiration and Revelation;   Israel, Israelite;   Judging (by Men);   Law of God;   Learning;   Lord's Supper. (I.);   Love (2);   Manliness;   Matthew, Gospel According to;   Neighbour (2);   Paradox;   Perfection (Human);   Power;   Rebuke;   Retaliation ;   Righteous, Righteousness;   Self-Control;   Sermon on the Mount;   Socialism;   Vengeance;   Womanliness;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Garments;   Law of Moses;   Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types - Cloak;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Cloak;   Dress;   Sermon on the Mount, the;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Coat;   Didache;  

Devotionals:

- Chip Shots from the Ruff of Life - Devotion for October 25;   Every Day Light - Devotion for October 8;  

Parallel Translations

Easy-to-Read Version
If anyone wants to sue you in court and take your shirt, let them have your coat too.
Tyndale New Testament (1525)
And yf eny man will sue the at the lawe and take awaye thy coote let hym have thy cloocke also.
International Standard Version
If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, let him have your coat as well.
New American Standard Bible
"And if anyone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak also.
New Century Version
If someone wants to sue you in court and take your shirt, let him have your coat also.
Update Bible Version
And if any man would go to law with you, and take away your coat, let him have your cloak also.
Webster's Bible Translation
And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have [thy] cloke also.
Amplified Bible
"If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, let him have your coat also [for the Lord repays the offender].
English Standard Version
And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well.
World English Bible
If any man would go to law with you and take away your coat, let him have your cloak also.
Wesley's New Testament (1755)
And if a man will sue thee and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also.
Weymouth's New Testament
If any one wishes to go to law with you and to deprive you of your under garment, let him take your outer one also.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
and to hym that wole stryue with thee in doom, and take awey thi coote, leeue thou `to him also thi mantil;
English Revised Version
And if any man would go to law with thee, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also.
Berean Standard Bible
if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well;
Contemporary English Version
If someone sues you for your shirt, give up your coat as well.
American Standard Version
And if any man would go to law with thee, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also.
Bible in Basic English
And if any man goes to law with you and takes away your coat, do not keep back your robe from him.
Complete Jewish Bible
If someone wants to sue you for your shirt, let him have your coat as well!
Darby Translation
and to him that would go to law with thee and take thy body coat, leave him thy cloak also.
Etheridge Translation
And if any one will contend with thee to take away thy tunic, leave him thy mantle also;
Murdock Translation
And if one is disposed to sue thee and get away thy coat, relinquish to him also thy cloak.
King James Version (1611)
And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coate, let him haue thy cloake also.
New Living Translation
If you are sued in court and your shirt is taken from you, give your coat, too.
New Life Bible
If any person takes you to court to get your shirt, give him your coat also.
New Revised Standard
and if anyone wants to sue you and take your coat, give your cloak as well;
Geneva Bible (1587)
And if any man wil sue thee at the law, and take away thy coate, let him haue thy cloke also.
George Lamsa Translation
And if anyone wishes to sue you at the court and take away your shirt, let him have your robe also.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And, him who is desiring thee to be judged, and to take, thy tunic, let him have, thy mantle also.
Douay-Rheims Bible
And if a man will contend with thee in judgment, and take away thy coat, let go thy cloak also unto him.
Revised Standard Version
and if any one would sue you and take your coat, let him have your cloak as well;
Bishop's Bible (1568)
And yf any man wyll sue thee at the lawe, and take away thy coate, let him haue thy cloke also.
Good News Translation
And if someone takes you to court to sue you for your shirt, let him have your coat as well.
Christian Standard Bible®
As for the one who wants to sue you and take away your shirt, let him have your coat as well.
Hebrew Names Version
If any man would go to law with you and take away your coat, let him have your cloak also.
Lexham English Bible
And the one who wants to go to court with you and take your tunic, let him have your outer garment also.
Literal Translation
And to him desiring to sue you, and to take your tunic, allow him also to have the coat.
Young's Literal Translation
and whoever is willing to take thee to law, and thy coat to take -- suffer to him also the cloak.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And yf eny man will sue the at the lawe, & take awaye thy coate, let him haue thy cloake also.
Mace New Testament (1729)
and if any man will go to law with you, to have your coat, let him have your cloke too.
New English Translation
And if someone wants to sue you and to take your tunic, give him your coat also.
New King James Version
If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also.
Simplified Cowboy Version
If someone wants to steal your vest, give 'em your coat too.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
"If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, let him have your coat also.
Legacy Standard Bible
And if anyone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your garment also.

Contextual Overview

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. 40 And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also. 41 And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. 42 Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Luke 6:29, 1 Corinthians 6:7

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And if any man will sue thee at the law,.... Or "will contend with thee", or as the Syriac renders it, דנדון עמך, "will strive", or "litigate with thee"; not contest the matter, or try the cause in an open court of judicature, a sense our version inclines to; but will wrangle and quarrel in a private way, in order to

take away thy coat, by force and violence,

let him have thy cloak also; do not forbid, or hinder him from taking it; see Luke 6:29. The "coat", is the same with טלית, "the upper garment": and what we render a "cloak", answers to חלוק, "the inward garment"; by which words Sangari expresses the passage in the place before cited: and the sense is, if a wrangling, quarrelsome man, insists upon having thy coat, or upper garment, let him take the next; and rather suffer thyself to be stripped naked than engage in a litigious broil with him. This also is contrary to the above canon of the Jews i, which says;

"If a man should pull another by his ear, or pluck off his hair, or spit, and his spittle should come to him,

העביר טליתו ממנו or "should take his coat from him", or uncover a woman's head in the street, he shall pay four hundred "zuzim", and all this is according to his dignity; says R. Akiba; even the poor in Israel, they consider them as if they were noblemen, who are fallen from their estates, for they are the children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.''

i Misn. Bava Kama, c. 8. sect. 6.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

An eye for an eye ... - This command is found in Exodus 21:24; Leviticus 24:20, and Deuteronomy 19:21. In these places it was given as a rule to regulate the decisions of judges. They were to take eye for eye, and tooth for tooth, and to inflict burning for burning. As a judicial rule it is not unjust. Christ finds no fault with the rule as applied to magistrates, and does not take upon himself to repeal it. But instead of confining it to magistrates, the Jews had extended it to private conduct, and made it the rule by which to take revenge. They considered themselves justified by this rule to inflict the same injury on others that they had received. Our Saviour remonstrates against this. He declares that the law had no reference to private revenge, that it was given only to regulate the magistrate, and that their private conduct was to be governed by different principles.

The general principle which he laid down was, that we are not to resist evil; that is, as it is in the Greek, nor to set ourselves against an evil person who is injuring us. But even this general direction is not to be pressed too strictly. Christ did not intend to teach that we are to see our families murdered, or be murdered ourselves; rather than to make resistance. The law of nature, and all laws, human and divine, justify self-defense when life is in danger. It cannot surely be the intention to teach that a father should sit by coolly and see his family butchered by savages, and not be allowed to defend them. Neither natural nor revealed religion ever did, or ever can, inculcate this doctrine. Our Saviour immediately explains what he means by it. Had he intended to refer it to a case where life is in danger, he would most surely have mentioned it. Such a case was far more worthy of statement than those which he did mention.

A doctrine so unusual, so unlike all that the world had believed. and that the best people had acted on, deserved to be formally stated. Instead of doing this, however, he confines himself to smaller matters, to things of comparatively trivial interest, and says that in these we had better take wrong than to enter into strife and lawsuits. The first case is where we are smitten on the cheek. Rather than contend and fight, we should take it patiently, and turn the other cheek. This does not, however, prevent our remonstrating firmly yet mildly on the injustice of the thing, and insisting that justice should be done us, as is evident from the example of the Saviour himself. See John 18:23. The second evil mentioned is where a man is litigious and determined to take all the advantage the law can give him, following us with vexatious and expensive lawsuits. Our Saviour directs us, rather than to imitate him rather than to contend with a revengeful spirit in courts of justice to take a trifling injury, and yield to him. This is merely a question about property, and not about conscience and life.

Coat - The Jews wore two principal garments, an interior and an exterior. The interior, here called the “coat,” or the tunic, was made commonly of linen, and encircled the whole body, extending down to the knees. Sometimes beneath this garment, as in the case of the priests, there was another garment corresponding to pantaloons. The coat, or tunic, was extended to the neck. and had long or short sleeves. Over this was commonly worn an upper garment, here called “cloak,” or mantle. It was made commonly nearly square, of different sizes, 5 or 6 cubits long and as many broad, and was wrapped around the body, and was thrown off when labor was performed. If, said Christ, an adversary wished to obtain, at law, one of these garments, rather than contend with him let him have the other also. A reference to various articles of apparel occurs frequently in the New Testament, and it is desirable to have a correct view of the ancient mode of dress. in order to a proper understanding of the Bible. The Asiatic modes of dress are nearly the same from age to age, and hence it is not difficult to illustrate the passages where such a reference occurs. The ordinary dress consisted of the inner garment, the outer garment, the girdle (belt), and the sandals. In regard to the sandals, see the notes at Matthew 3:11.

In the girdle (belt) was the place of the pouch Matthew 10:9, and to it the sword and dirk were commonly attached. Compare 2 Samuel 20:8. In modern times the pistols are also fastened to the belt. It is the usual place for the handkerchief, smoking materials, inkhorn, and, in general, the implements of one’s profession. The belt served to confine the loose-flowing robe or outer garment to the body. It held the garment when it was tucked up, as it was usually in walking or in labor. Hence, “to gird up the loins” became a significant figurative expression, denoting readiness for service, activity, labor, and watchfulness; and “to loosen the loins” denoted the giving way to repose and indolence, 2 Kings 4:29; Job 38:3; Isaiah 5:27; Luke 12:35; John 21:7.

Whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile - The word translated “shall compel” is of Persian origin. Post-offices were then unknown. In order that the royal commands might be delivered with safety and despatch in different parts of the empire, Cyrus stationed horsemen at proper intervals on all the great public highways. One of those delivered the message to another, and intelligence was thus rapidly and safely communicated. These heralds were permitted to compel any person, or to press any horse, boat, ship, or other vehicle that they might need for the quick transmission of the king’s commandments. It was to this custom that our Saviour refers. Rather, says he, than resist a public authority requiring your attendance and aid for a certain distance, go peaceably twice the distance.

A mile - A Roman mile was 1,000 paces.

Twain - Two.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 40. And if any man will sue thee at the law — Every where our blessed Lord shows the utmost disapprobation of such litigations as tended to destroy brotherly kindness and charity. It is evident he would have his followers to suffer rather the loss of all their property than to have recourse to such modes of redress, at so great a risk. Having the mind averse from contentions, and preferring peace and concord to temporal advantages, is most solemnly recommended to all Christians. We are great gainers when we lose only our money, or other property, and risk not the loss of our souls, by losing the love of God and man.

Coat — χιτωνα, upper garment.-Cloke, ιματιον, under garment. What we call strait coat, and great coat. - See on Luke 6:29.


 
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