Texts in Conversation
In Matthew, Jesus tells people not to look at a woman with desire, echoing Sirach, which teaches people not to look at another's beauty to avoid temptation. Both extend rules to guard thoughts as well as actions, a practice called fencing the Torah.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Sirach 9:8
Ben Sira, Ecclesiasticus
Deuterocanon
3 Don’t go to meet a woman who plays the prostitute, lest perhaps you fall into her snares. 4 Don’t associate with a woman who is a singer, lest perhaps you be caught by her tricks. 5 Don’t gaze at a virgin, lest perhaps you stumble and incur penalties for her. 6 Don’t give your soul to prostitutes, that you not lose your inheritance. 7 Don’t look around in the streets of the city. Don’t wander in its deserted places. 8 Turn your eye away from a beautiful woman, and don’t gaze at another’s beauty. Many have been led astray by the beauty of a woman; and with this, passion is kindled like a fire. 9 Don’t dine at all with a woman who has a husband, or revel with her at wine, lest perhaps your soul turn away to her, and with your spirit you slide into destruction.
Date: 195–180 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
Matthew 5:28
New Testament
27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’ 28 But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to desire her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away! It is better to lose one of your members than to have your whole body thrown into hell. 30 If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away! It is better to lose one of your members than to have your whole body go into hell.
Date: 70–90 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... The sage begins by emphasizing respect for marriage. The young man is to avoid jealousy toward his wife, else she may be provoked to evil. In 9:2 Ben Sira displays his cautious outlook (33:20): giving power to a woman could enable her to disgrace her husband by trampling on his dignity (Proverbs 31:3). Moreover, the male student should avoid intimacy with a strange (or foreign) woman, who might catch him in her snares (Proverbs 7:23). Sirach 9:5 advises against lustful thoughts toward a virgin (Job 31:1; Matthew 5:28). Moreover, the student associating too closely with a married woman will go down in blood to the grave (Proverbs 2:18; 7:27), probably a reference to the death penalty stipulated for adulterers (Leviticus 20:10) or to the husband’s revenge (Proverbs 6:34) ..."
Daniel Durken, ed., The New Collegeville Bible Commentary: In One Volume (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2017), 1238.
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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