Matthew
KJV — public domain
Gospels
Matthew 5
Jesus presented as teacher and king, with an extended account of his teaching.
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Read it straight through first. Then tap one verse — or tap a second to select a range — and choose “Study these verses” to see the background, the people and places named, open questions and one practical step.
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What the labels mean
- ScriptureThe King James Version, public domain, quoted exactly. Never edited, never paraphrased.
- Context / MeaningEditorial background and plain-language explanation written for this app.
- Modern interpretationPsychology, behaviour or science, shown only when it genuinely helps. Never proof of a theological claim.
- ReflectiveSymbolic and personal readings. Ways of thinking with the text, not what the author meant.
- PracticeSomething realistic you might do. An invitation you choose, not a command from God.
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Translation
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Written studies in this chapter
- Matthew 5:1-12 — The sermon opens not with instructions but with blessing pronounced over people who by ordinary standards look unblessed: the poor in spirit, the mourning, the persecuted. Everything that follows in chapters 5–7 is spoken to people already named blessed, not to people trying to earn the name.
- Matthew 5:13-16 — Salt and light are stated as fact ('ye are'), not as a target to hit. The warning is not about failing to become salt, but about salt that has stopped tasting like anything.
- Matthew 5:17-20 — Jesus states plainly that he has not come to abolish the law but to fulfil it, and then sets a standard of righteousness that exceeds the scribes and Pharisees — a group known for careful law-keeping. What that 'exceeding' looks like is worked out in the six contrasts ('ye have heard... but I say') that follow through the rest of chapter 5.
- Matthew 5:21-26 — The first of six contrasts takes a command everyone agreed on — do not murder — and locates its root in contempt and unresolved anger, then makes reconciliation more urgent than religious observance.
- Matthew 5:38-48 — This is the last and most demanding of the sermon's six contrasts: replacing measured retaliation with non-retaliation, and replacing love-of-neighbour with love of enemies. Jesus grounds the demand in God's own character, who gives sun and rain without distinguishing the deserving from the undeserving.