In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus gives the six antitheses. “You have heard it said X, but I say to you Y.” I suggest that these six are specifically chosen to represent six figures who were, or should have been, leaders of God’s people. Let’s take a look.

First, we read about murder, anger with a brother, and offerings to God. Who does that make you think of? Cain.

Second, we read about adultery and looking at a woman to desire her. That’s David.

Third, divorce. This is actually kind of interesting, because there are surprisingly few people in the Old Testament who get divorced. Maybe Sampson, maybe Vashti. But the big one is Ezra, who commands the returned exiles to divorce their foreign wives, in a fashion it sounds like Jesus would not approve.

Fourth, oaths. There are a few notable oaths in the Old Testament. Jephthah comes to mind. But in this case, I’m going to suggest it’s Nehemiah. We’ll see why in a minute. Nehemiah leads the returning exiles to take an oath to obey the law of God.

Fifth, retaliation. Now, I’m going to go off the rails here. I promise I’ll explain. This is John Hyrcanus. Hyrcanus was a Maccabean king/high priest who conquered Israel’s historical enemies of Samaria and Edom about 100 years before Jesus.

Sixth, hate for enemies. This is particularly interesting because nowhere in scripture is anyone commanded to hate their enemies. Jesus seems to be responding to Essene teachings. (The Essenes were, in short, a Jewish monastic group who lived in the wilderness and was devoted to maximal personal purity. You can probably thank them for the Dead Sea Scrolls.) Now, there’s one historical figure who looks a lot like an Essene: John the Baptist. And the Baptist is not exactly all about reconciliation with certain people.

So our six figures form a chiasm, a structure with three pairs mirroring each other around a center pivot!

  • A: Cain
    • B: David
      • C: Ezra
      • C': Nehemiah
    • B': John Hyrcanus
  • A': John the Baptist

Ezra and Nehemiah in the center are an obvious pair, all about return from exile. David and John Hyrcanus are kings who represent the greatest achievements of their eras. Cain the first one after the first Adam, while John the Baptist is the last one before the Last Adam. Together, all six represent leaders of God’s people, both before and after the return from exile, who in some way or other didn’t quite Get It. Jesus is using them as object lessons for the broader message of Matthew 5: who are God’s people supposed to be?