What Does Matthew 5:28 Teach? (Part I)

Greek (Matthew 5:27-28 WH): Ἠκούσατε ὅτι ἐρρέθη Οὐ μοιχεύσεις. Ἐγὼ δὲ λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι πᾶς ὁ βλέπων γυναῖκα πρὸς τὸ ἐπιθυμῆσαι αὐτὴν ἤδη ἐμοίχευσεν αὐτὴν ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ αὐτοῦ.

It has been pointed out to me that Jason Staples wrote a blog post in 2009 addressing Matthew 5:28 and what seems to be an erroneous interpretation of the verse. See https://www.jasonstaples.com/bible/most-misinterpreted-bible-passages-1-matthew-527-28/

I would like to interact with some of his thoughts in that blog entry. His target chiefly is Evangelical interpreters, who apparently lead men to believe that "if they so much as think of a woman in a sexual manner, they’ve already sinned, that they’ve already effectively done the deed with her" (Staples). Does that include thinking about one's wife?

Since this is how Staples depicts the Evangelical position on the verse, he concludes that such a reading portrays lust (especially sexual lust) as "absolutely evil," for it is comparable to performing an illicit sex act. One other move that Staples makes in his piece is questioning the "imprecise" definition of lust that Evangelicals evidently wield.

One issue that Staples raises when he gets into the body of his blog post is how τὸ ἐπιθυμῆσαι (an aorist infinitive) should be understood. The KJV, NLT, NIV, ESV and so many others render the Greek construction with some form of "lust." NWT 2013 renders this part, "so as to have a passion . . ."

However, Staples refers to Exodus 20:17, then argues that the Hebrew and LXX appear to support "covet" as a translation for ἐπιθυμέω (the lexical form of τὸ ἐπιθυμῆσαι). The LXX states: οὐκ ἐπιθυμήσεις τὴν γυναῗκα τοῦ πλησίον σου οὐκ ἐπιθυμήσεις τὴν οἰκίαν τοῦ πλησίον σου οὔτε τὸν ἀγρὸν αὐτοῦ οὔτε τὸν παῗδα αὐτοῦ οὔτε τὴν παιδίσκην αὐτοῦ οὔτε τοῦ βοὸς αὐτοῦ οὔτε τοῦ ὑποζυγίου αὐτοῦ οὔτε παντὸς κτήνους αὐτοῦ οὔτε ὅσα τῷ πλησίον σού ἐστιν.

Besides pointing out the similarities with "coveting" in both texts, Staples notes that Exodus uses τὴν γυναῗκα which one could translate "wife" or "woman." Compare 1 Corinthians 11:3. From this comparison, he contends that Jesus is making the same point at Matthew 5:28 that Exodus 20:17 makes: he is not supplementing the Law of Moses. Staples' point seems to be that Matthew 5:28 teaches coveting another man's wife is wrong, not merely lusting for a woman in general. He articulates the point this way:

"The first thing to understand is that when the Hebrew חמד or Greek ἐπιθυμέω are used as verbs in the OT, it denotes desire directed at obtaining the specific object in question and not merely the existence of the desire itself."

This point is important; the Greek and Hebrew verbs are supposed to signify directing one's desire at getting the object in question, not the desire itself. So Staples claims that desire is never forbidden in the Bible or equated with sin, only with the potential to sin. But is that the case? To support his point, he invokes James 1:13-15:

μηδεὶς πειραζόμενος λεγέτω ὅτι ἀπὸ θεοῦ πειράζομαι ὁ γὰρ θεὸς ἀπείραστός ἐστιν κακῶν πειράζει δὲ αὐτὸς οὐδένα ἕκαστος δὲ πειράζεται ὑπὸ τῆς ἰδίας ἐπιθυμίας ἐξελκόμενος καὶ δελεαζόμενος εἶτα ἡ ἐπιθυμία συλλαβοῦσα τίκτει ἁμαρτίαν ἡ δὲ ἁμαρτία ἀποτελεσθεῖσα ἀποκύει θάνατον.

Before addressing this specific claim of Staples, let's first define lust and coveting. Staples gives this definition for coveting, "fixing one’s desire upon obtaining something that is not rightfully one’s own." I agree with that definition though I'm used to defining "covetousness" as the inordinate desire for something to which one is not entitled, but it comes down to the same thing. However, one key to covetousness is the degree of the desire along with it being directed toward the wrong object. In English, "lust" can mean "a strong feeling of sexual desire" or "a strong desire for something" like power or riches. See https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lust

Just what does the Bible have to say about desire as such? Does it condemn lust or desire and is that what Jesus was doing?

For now, I will say this about lust and desire, Bill Mounce defines ἐπιθυμέω this way: "with the gen. or acc., to set the heart upon; to desire, long for, have earnest desire, Mt. 13:17; Lk. 15:16; to lust after, Mt. 5:28; spc. to covet, Rom. 13:9."

We can see the different contexts in which GNT writers use the Greek verb and it appears that Matthew utilizes ἐπιθυμέω to denote the act of lusting whereas Paul refers to coveting. More importantly, I believe we must distinguish between good desires and bad ones. When we take this step, and examine the Bible carefully, I think one finds a reason to part ways with at least some of Staples' claims. Why make that statement?

While the desires articulated in Matthew 13:17; Luke 22:15; 1 Timothy 3:1; Hebrews 6:11; 1 Peter 1:12 are undoubtedly innocuous, ἐπιθυμέω denotes the act of coveting in Acts 20:33; Romans 7:7; 13:9. However, notice that 1 Corinthians 10:6 mentions being desirers of evil things (ἐπιθυμητὰς κακῶν) and Galatians 5:17 talks about "the flesh desiring against the spirit" (ἡ γὰρ σὰρξ ἐπιθυμεῖ κατὰ τοῦ Πνεύματος). Compare James 4:2. I would contend one point of James 1:13-15 is that Christians should never let the chain of bad desires start; nip it in the bud as it were. However, compare Colossians 3:5, which evidently uses "evil desire" to denote covetousness.

Some things I hoped to accomplish with this post:

1) ἐπιθυμέω sometimes denotes having an evil or bad desire.

2) Jesus possibly referred to lust or wrong desire in Matthew 5:28, not to coveting per se.

3) Coveting not only involves directing one's desire toward something rightfully belonging to another, but the desire is usually inordinate.

4) A Christian must be careful about starting a chain reaction from desire to fertilization to sin, which then leads to death: it is wrong to have sinful or evil desires. However, we can keep evil desire from being fertilized.

5) While sexual desire in itself is natural, it would not be proper for a single Christian to dwell on sexual fantasies with someone else, whether the object of desire is married or not. Even married Christians need to cultivate self-control per Galatians 5:22-23.

6) Simply having an improper thought regarding a woman is not equivalent to the sex act itself, but if one continues to nurse the desire and make it fertile, that could be a problem in God's eyes.

7) Maybe evil desire boils down to coveting but I would like to preserve a distinction between wrong desire and inordinate wrong/evil desire.