Matthew 5 · Verse 26

Matthew 5:26

Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing.
Matthew 5:26, King James Version

Matthew 5:26 in other translations

BSBTruly I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.
WEBMost certainly I tell you, you shall by no means get out of there until you have paid the last penny.
ASVVerily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou have paid the last farthing.
YLTverily I say to thee, thou mayest not come forth thence till that thou mayest pay the last farthing.
DARBYVerily I say to thee, Thou shalt in no wise come out thence till thou hast paid the last farthing.
BBETruly I say to you, You will not come out from there till you have made payment of the very last farthing.
WebsterVerily, I say to thee, thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing.

What does Matthew 5:26 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
26. Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing--a fractional Roman coin, to which our "farthing" answers sufficiently well. That our Lord meant here merely to give a piece of prudential advice to his hearers, to keep out of the hands of the law and its officials by settling all disputes with one another privately, is not for a moment to be supposed, though there are critics of a school low enough to suggest this. The concluding words--"Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out," &c.--manifestly show that though the language is drawn from human disputes and legal procedure, He is dealing with a higher than any human quarrel, a higher than any human tribunal, a higher than any human and temporal sentence. In this view of the words--in which nearly all critics worthy of the name agree--the spirit of them may be thus expressed: "In expounding the sixth commandment, I have spoken of offenses between man and man; reminding you that the offender has another party to deal with besides him whom he has wronged on earth, and assuring you that all worship offered to the Searcher of hearts by one who knows that a brother has just cause of complaint against him, and yet takes no steps to remove it, is vain: But I cannot pass from this subject without reminding you of One whose cause of complaint against you is far more deadly than any that man can have against man: and since with that Adversary you are already on the way to judgment, it will be your wisdom to make up the quarrel without delay, lest sentence of condemnation be pronounced upon you, and then will execution straightway follow, from the effects of which you shall never escape as long as any remnant of the offense remains unexpiated." It will be observed that as the principle on which we are to "agree" with this "Adversary" is not here specified, and the precise nature of the retribution that is to light upon the despisers of this warning is not to be gathered from the mere use of the word "prison"; so, the remedilessness of the punishment is not in so many words expressed, and still less is its actual cessation taught. The language on all these points is designedly general; but it may safely be said that the unending duration of future punishment--elsewhere so clearly and awfully expressed by our Lord Himself, as in Mt 5:29, 30, and Mr 9:43, 48--is the only doctrine with which His language here quite naturally and fully accords. (Compare Mt 18:30, 34). The Same Subject Illustrated from the Seventh Commandment (Mt 5:27-32).

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 26 The uttermost farthing - Κοδραντην. The rabbins have this Greek word corrupted into קרדיונטסס kordiontes, and קונטריק, kontrik, and say, that two פרוטות prutoth make a kontarik, which is exactly the same with those words in Mar 12:42, λεπτα δυο, ο εστι κοδραντης, two mites, which are one farthing. Hence it appears that the λεπτον lepton was the same as the prutah. The weight of the prutah was half a barley-corn, and it was the smallest coin among the Jews, as the kodrantes, or farthing, was the smallest coin among the Romans. If the matter issue in law, strict justice will be done, and your creditor be allowed the fullness of his just claim; but if; while you are on the way, going to the magistrate, you come to a friendly agreement with him, he will relax in his claims, take a part for the whole, and the composition be, in the end, both to his and your profit. This text has been considered a proper foundation on which to build not only the doctrine of a purgatory, but also that of universal restoration. But the most unwarrantable violence must be used before it can be pressed into the service of either of the above antiscriptural doctrines. At the most, the text can only be considered as a metaphorical representation of the procedure of the great Judge; and let it ever be remembered, that by the general consent of all (except the basely interested) no metaphor is ever to be produced in proof of any doctrine. In the things that concern our eternal salvation, we need the most pointed and express evidence on which to establish the faith of our souls.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Matthew 5:21-26

The Jewish teachers had taught, that nothing except actual murder was forbidden by the sixth commandment. Thus they explained away its spiritual meaning. Christ showed the full meaning of this commandment; according to which we must be judged hereafter, and therefore ought to be ruled now. All rash anger is heart murder. By our brother, here, we are to understand any person, though ever so much below us, for we are…

Read the full comment on Matthew 5:21-26 →

Matthew 5:26 in the original Greek

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

ἀμὴνamēnAmenG281
λέγωlegōI sayG3004
σοι·soito you;G4771
οὐoucertainlyG3756
μὴmēnotG3361
ἐξέλθῃςexelthēsyou may come outG1831
ἐκεῖθενekeithenfrom thereG1564
ἕωςhe'ōsuntilG2193
ἂνanwhenG302
ἀποδῷςapodōsyou may payG591
τὸνtontheG3588
ἔσχατονeschatonlastG2078
κοδράντην.¶kodrantēnkodranten!G2835

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Matthew 5:26

  • Matthew 18:34

    And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him.

  • Luke 12:59

    I tell thee, thou shalt not depart thence, till thou hast paid the very last mite.

  • James 2:13

    For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.

  • 2 Thessalonians 1:9

    Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;

  • Luke 16:26

    And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.

  • Matthew 25:46

    And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

  • Matthew 25:41

    Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Thou.
18:34; 25:41,46; Lu 12:59; 16:26; 2Th 1:9; Jas 2:13

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Matthew 5:25

    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.

  • Matthew 5:26

    Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing.

  • Matthew 5:27

    Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery:

Read all of Matthew 5

Matthew 5:26 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		De cierto te digo, que no saldrás de allí, hasta que pagues el último cuadrante.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		en vérité, je te dis: Tu ne sortiras point de là, jusqu’à ce que tu aies payé le dernier quadrant.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Wahrlich, ich sage dir: du wirst nicht von dannen herauskommen, bis du auch den letzten Pfennig bezahlt hast.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Amen dico tibi, non exies inde, donec reddas novissimum quadrantem.