“¶ Yee haue heard, that it was saide by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill: and, Whosoeuer shall kill, shalbe in danger of the iudgement.”
1611 King James Version (KJV)
5:21 Ye have heard - From the scribes reciting the law; Thou shalt do no murder - And they interpreted this, as all the other commandments, barely of the outward act. The judgement - The Jews had in every city a court of twenty - three men, who could sentence a criminal to be strangled. But the sanhedrim only (the great council which sat at Jerusalem, consisting of seventy - two men,) could sentence to the more terrible death of stoning. That was called the judgment, this the council. #Exod 20:13|.
Mt 5:21 Ye have heard. Jesus now gives the law a new form to adapt it to his kingdom. It takes a new, a deeper, a more spiritual shape and meaning. By them of old time. In this case, Moses. See Ex 20:13 De 5:17. Thou shalt not kill. One of the ten commandments. Christ, the Divine Lawgiver, modifies it. In danger of the judgment. The civil courts. The law provided in every city a court of seven judges, who could sentence a criminal to death. See De 16:18.