Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Matthew 5:20

"For I say unto you, that except your righteousness shall exceed [the righteousness] of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven." — Matthew 5:20 (ASV)

And that teaching, far from being more lenient, is nothing less than perfection . The Pharisees and teachers of the law were among the most punctilious in the land. Jesus criticizes them because they domesticated the law and lost the radical demand for absolute holiness demanded by the Scriptures. What Jesus demands is the “righteousness” (GK 1466) to which the law truly points, exemplified in the antitheses that follow (vv.21–48). The verb “surpasses” suggests that the new righteousness outstrips the old both qualitatively and quantitatively.

Ancient lamps found in archaeological digs in Palestine can still be filled with oil and lit.