The Savior counsels the people to agree with their
adversaries “quickly while thou art in the way with him…”
(3 Nephi 12:25). Matthew 5:25 does not include “while.” The implication in
Matthew 5:25 is to agree with your adversary.
We are to avoid begin cast into prison.
They only way to be released from prison is to make a
payment. In 3 Nephi 12:26, the Savior
asks if anything can be paid while you are in prison. He responds by explaining you cannot.
He continued, reminding them the previous commandment was
“Thou shalt not commit adultery.” He then warned them that was no longer
enough. The mere thought of committing
adultery meant one had committed adultery in their hearts.
“[T]he concept of ‘keeping the commandments’ is also
highlighted, just as it is in Jesus’ final words on duties after baptism
(Matthew 28:19–20). Theologians can set up a false conflict between inner
commitments and outer commandments, but they are consistently balanced in the
Gospels and also in Third Nephi. On the Galilean mount Jesus would not accept
the Pharisees who ‘say, and do not’ (Matthew 23:3; 5:19–20). The same principle
was expressed to the American multitude as a clear condition: ‘Except ye shall
keep my commandments…ye shall in no case enter the kingdom of heaven’ (3 Nephi
12:20). But the American teachings wholly guard against a manipulative
externalism. Christ gives the command of repentance: ‘Come unto me with full
purpose of heart’ (3 Nephi 18:32). Every Gospel has its equivalents of the ‘pure
in heart’ spoken of in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:8). And in Third
Nephi the Lord continually stresses the challenge of the spirit within: ‘Suffer
none of these things to enter into your heart’ (3 Nephi 12:29).”[1]
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29 And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck
it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy
members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.
30 And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it
off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy
members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.
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29 Behold, I give unto you a commandment,
that ye suffer none of these things to enter into your heart;
30 For it is better that ye should deny
yourselves of these things, wherein ye will take up your cross, than that ye
should be cast into hell.
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Verse 29-30 are different.
In Matthew 5:29-30, the Savior counsels the people if the right eye
offends, pluck it out. If our right hand
offends, cut it off. It is better that
the eye or hand perish rather than the soul.
Of course, this is not meant literally. We are to “pluck” or “cut off” sin out of our
lives to prevent the soul from perishing.
3 Nephi 12:29-30 significantly differs. They are commanded they should not allow sin
to enter their hearts. It is better they deny themselves sin and “take up your
cross, than that ye should be cast into hell” (3 Nephi 12:29-30).
“The American ministry focuses on another biblical
modification—not only the transformed Lord, but the audience of another
continent. Stendahl essentially suggests that Joseph Smith ‘flattened out’
specifics in making the Sermon on the Mount more universal, with the result that
‘altar,’ ‘temple,’ and ‘Jerusalem’ disappear from Jesus’ examples. But if the
Master of language gave his core message outside of Palestine, would not
localisms disappear? An earlier Book of Mormon prophet felt that his people had
moved too far from Jewish roots to properly understand Isaiah's metaphors (2
Nephi 25:1). Thus it is consistent to have the Savior delete the shocking
hyperbole of cutting off a hand (Matthew 5:30) and substituting the blunt
language of inner determination that ‘ye should deny yourselves of these things’
(3 Nephi 12:30). Indeed, Nephi early pointed tradition away from indirect
illustration: ‘my soul delighteth in plainness’ (2 Nephi 31:3).”[2]
Verses 31-32 have minor, insignificant differences. Under the Mosaic Law, a divorce could be
granted if the husband gave her a writ of divorcement. The new law states if a writ of divorcement
is given for anything other than fornication, should the woman remarry, she and
her new husband commit adultery.
Verses 33-37 are basically the same. The Mosaic Law allowed oaths sworn to the
Lord. They were commanded to now longer
swear oaths by neither heaven nor earth.
In Matthew 5:35, the Savior included not swearing by Jerusalem. For reasons explained by the Anderson quote
above, this was omitted from the Sermon at the Temple.
They are no longer to swear by their head. Let communication be yes or no. Any more than this comes from evil.
[1] Imitation
Gospels and Christ's Book of Mormon Ministry, Richard Lloyd Anderson,
Reprinted by permission from C. Wilfred Griggs, ed., Apocryphal Writings and the Latter-day Saints (Provo: BYU Religious
Studies Center, 1986), 53-107, Maxwell Institute website.
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