Matthew 5:26 is the twenty-sixth verse of the fifth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament and is part of the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus has just warned that if you do not reconcile with your enemies a judge is likely to throw you in jail. In this verse Jesus mentions that your debts must be paid completely before one can leave.
Content
In the King James Version of the Bible the text reads:
:Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt
:by no means come out thence, till
:thou hast paid the uttermost farthing.
The World English Bible translates the passage as:
:Most certainly I tell you, you shall
:by no means get out of there, until
:you have paid the last penny.
The Novum Testamentum Graece text is:
:ἀμὴν λέγω σοι,
:οὐ μὴ ἐξέλθῃς ἐκεῖθεν
:ἕως ἂν ἀποδῷς τὸν ἔσχατον κοδράντην.
For a collection of other versions see BibleHub Matthew 5:26
Analysis
This verse opens with a similar phrase to that of Matthew 5:22, often translated as "amen I say to you." This is a popular phrase in Matthew, that Schweizer notes usually introduces something eschatological. This verse is normally taken as a metaphor for how God must be pleased. France notes that it is clear that for God has no half-measures, that even for a slight debt punishment will still be full.
Nolland notes that there is no tradition of imprisonment until a fine is paid in the Jewish legal tradition. The allusions in the verse are to the Greco-Roman system of justice, which did have such punishments, and was in place at the time in Roman occupied Judea. The coin mentioned is also Roman. The word translated as farthing in the KJV and penny in the WEB in Greek is a quadrans, as implied by the translations this was a coin of low value. In the Roman currency system of the time the Quadrans was the lowest valued coin. The very similar verse at Luke 12:59 mentions a mite, a Jewish coin worth even less than a quadrans.
This is one of a small group of verses that have been advanced as Biblical references to purgatory, and one that was attacked by the early Protestant reformers. Schweizer agrees and states that the waiting reference is simply a link to the analogy begun in the earlier verse. Schweizer also notes that this verse jars somewhat with the previous part of the parable as debt or fines have not been mentioned. To Schweizer this implies that Jesus is being metaphorical rather than discussing actual legal problems.
Commentary from the Church Fathers
Jerome: A farthing is a coin containing two mites. What He says then is, ‘Thou shalt not go forth thence till thou hast paid for the smallest sins.’