Texts in Conversation
Jesus in Matthew 5 teaches that a lustful look is equal to adultery, using language similar to Rabbinic tradition in Leviticus Rabbah. Both follow the Jewish tradition of “building a fence around the Torah,” making it more difficult to disobey.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
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.
Leviticus Rabbah 23:12
Aggadah
Rabbinic
Another matter, “in accordance with the practices of the land of Egypt” – that is what is written: “The eye of the adulterer awaits the night [neshef], saying: No eye will behold me, and he directs his glance clandestinely” (Job 24:15). Reish Lakish said: So you will not say: Only one who acts with his body is an adulterer. One who is an adulterer with his eyes is [also] called an adulterer, as it is stated: “The eye of the adulterer.” This adulterer sits and waits: When will neshef come? When will evening come, as it is stated: “In the neshef, in the evening of the day” (Proverbs 7:9).
Date: 500 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... In its association of vision and phallus, however, the Yerushalmi goes further than the kind of manual vision envisaged in Cixous’ description. This Palestinian tradition crystallizes earlier Jewish traditions, such as those found in Matthew 5:28 and Leviticus Rabbah 23:12, which emphasize the sinfulness of the illicit sexual gaze ..."
Neis, Rachel
The Sense of Sight in Rabbinic Culture: Jewish Ways of Seeing in Late Antiquity
(p. 120) Cambridge University Press, 2013
* 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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