A new proposal for translating καταλύω and πληρόω in Mt 5:17

Today, rather than discussing theory, I’ll take my own advice and suggest a new translation for Mt 5:17, namely,

Do not think that I came to tear down the law and the prophets; I did not come to tear down but to build up.

UPDATE: I'm also considering 'build on’ in place of ‘build up’, or simply ‘to build’ (I did not come to demolish but to build). 
UPDATE: also considering: I have not come to make [them] void but to make [them] relevant.
As far as I know this these suggested translations is are new.

Now biblical imagery of ‘tearing down’ and ‘building up’ is quite common and the biblical applications are various … but our verb καταλύω (‘tear down’ ‘destroy’) is not usually used for tearing things down in biblical Greek translations (of the OT); the most common Greek verb found in this regard is καθαιρέω along with its opposite οἰκοδομέω. For example (translations are from the New English Translation of the Septuagint):

Ecc 3:3 (‘a time to tear down, and a time to build up’)

καιρὸς τοῦ καθελεῖν καὶ καιρὸς τοῦ οἰκοδομῆσαι

Likewise πληρόω is not usually translated ‘build' or build up’ or ‘build on’. But bear with me...

Thus for example in Jer 1:10 καταλύω (‘tear down’) does not appear, instead it is ἀπόλλυμι (‘destroy’) that appears opposite ἀνοικοδομεῖν (‘rebuild’) and καταφυτεύειν (‘plant’):

“Behold, today I have appointed you over

nations and over kingdoms,

to uproot and to pull down and to

destroy

and to rebuild and to plant.” (NETS)

ἰδοὺ κατέστακά σε σήμερον ἐπὶ

ἔθνη καὶ βασιλείας

ἐκριζοῦν καὶ κατασκάπτειν καὶ

ἀπολλύειν

καὶ ἀνοικοδομεῖν καὶ καταφυτεύειν

Paul does contrast καταλύω (‘tear down’) with οἰκοδομέω (‘build up’) in Gal 2:18

If what I once tore down I build up again I show that I am a wrongdoer.

εἰ γὰρ ἃ κατέλυσα ταῦτα πάλιν οἰκοδομῶ, παραβάτην ἐμαυτὸν συνιστάνω

Granted, Mt 5:17-18 is one of the most discussed passages in the Gospel of Matthew where Jesus speaks about his position concerning ‘the law’ (verses 17–20 together seem to provide a fuller ‘thesis’ for framing the so-called ‘antitheses’ of Mt 5:21–48). The evangelist (writer) here pictures Jesus teaching on a mountain to a large crowd (5:1; 7:28). In verse 18 Jesus mentions features of the (Hebrew) scriptures (‘jots and tittles’) and compares them (tiny elements of notation of Scripture) to the largest known elements of existence (heaven and earth) in order to highlight the importance of even the smallest commandments (cf. verses 19–20).

Indeed, the comparing and contrasting of seemingly ‘small’ and ‘great/grand’ is another important Matthean thematic device stretching back to the genealogy and permeating the whole Gospel.

Traditionally the translation and interpretation of Mt 5:17 tends to gravitate around the legitimacy of the Mosaic law and/or the entire Jewish scriptures for Jesus and the early disciples. And fair enough. It does make a difference for historical reconstruction of first century Christianity whether or not ‘the [Old Testament] law’ was being accepted or rejected by the new Christian sect. And it is a credit to the writer quoting Jesus’ position (concerning the law) that it is still possible to read Jesus as both for and against the ongoing validity of the law for his followers! The ambiguity is largely due to the way Jesus is quoted using the word ‘fill / fulfill’ (πληρόω):

Traditionally Mt 5:17 is translated as:

“Do not think I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have not come to abolish but to fulfill.”

Μὴ νομίσητε ὅτι ἦλθον καταλῦσαι τὸν νόμον ἢ τοὺς προφήτας· οὐκ ἦλθον καταλῦσαι ἀλλὰ πληρῶσαι

My favorite succinct comment regarding verse 17 would have to be from Herbert Basser where he says that “he [Jesus] is not some kind of unfettered apocalyptic preacher who sees that the law is about to be annulled because the final days have come.”

And I do think that on a lexical (word-based) level of translation and interpretation that ‘annul’ is a very good way to render the verb καταλύω in English, and that ‘fulfill’ is quite reasonable for rendering πληρόω.

However, the notion of tearing down and building upon is an overlooked facet of Mt 5:17 deserving further consideration. Especially since from the perspective of the writer (and the readers) of the Gospel of Matthew Jesus’ stance to the ‘law and the prophets’ is inescapably political in that it is kingdom oriented.

Only occasionally is the verb καταλύω used in reference to ‘overthrowing’ an enemy fortification or power, as for example, in Greek Ps 8:3 where the object of the verb καταλύω is the ‘enemy and vengeful foe’:

            Out of mouths of infants and nurslings

you furnished praise

for yourself,

for the sake of your enemies,

to put down enemy and avenger (NETS),

            ἐκ στόματος νηπίων καὶ θηλαζόντων

κατηρτίσω αἶνον

ἕνεκα τῶν ἐχθρῶν σου

τοῦ καταλῦσαι ἐχθρὸν καὶ ἐκδικητήν.

But in Mt 5:17 the kind of dissolution of the verb καταλύω is being made in contrast to πληρόω (‘fill up’) which isn't usually translated ‘build’ or ‘build on’ or ‘build up’.

Yet it is hardly a stretch to take πληρόω here as ‘fill (up) with meaning’ or ‘expand upon’ (being contrasted with ‘make void / annul’). So the novelty is not necessarily in seeing Jesus as ‘expanding on’ or ‘building on’ the Scriptures so much as it looking like a peculiarly novel way of translating (compared to the traditional ‘fulfill’).

Now I’m also wondering whether the semantic ‘frame’ of καταλύω is often war-related and political…

Interestingly the other uses in Matthew are all anti-Temple uses.

The verb καταλύω (occurring 17 times in the whole New Testament) does not always include a verbal object. Of the five occurrences in Matthew two come from verse 17 where the verbal object is ’the law or the prophets’ in the first (the second occurrence might imply the same object but has no object). The remaining three occurrences in Matthew indicate that the Temple is in each case the object of the verb:

Mt 24:2 ‘stones’ [of the Temple] 

            ‘not a stone will be left on a stone that will not be thrown down’

οὐ μὴ ἀφεθῇ ὧδε λίθος ἐπὶ λίθον ὃς οὐ καταλυθήσεται

Mt 26:61 ‘the Temple of God’:

‘this man said "I can tear down the Temple of God then build it again in three days’

Οὗτος ἔφη· Δύναμαι καταλῦσαι τὸν ναὸν τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ διὰ τριῶν ἡμερῶν οἰκοδομῆσαι.

Mt 27:40 ‘the Temple’:

‘and saying "the person who would tear down the Temple and build it up again within three days, rescue yourself!"

καὶ λέγοντες· Ὁ καταλύων τὸν ναὸν καὶ ἐν τρισὶν ἡμέραις οἰκοδομῶν, σῶσον σεαυτόν·

Notice also in the five Matthean uses what the verb’s opposite is

1. πληρόω - ‘fill / fill up / make complete’ (verbal object=Scripture)
2. πληρόω - ‘fill / fill up / make complete’ (verbal object= implied)
3. ἀφίημι + ὧδε (ἀφεθῇ ὧδε) – ‘leave here / leave intact’ (verbal object=stones of the Temple)
4. οἰκοδομέω - ‘build / rebuild / build up’ (verbal object=the Temple)
5. οἰκοδομέω - ‘build / rebuild / build up’ (verbal object=the Temple)

So whilst ‘tearing down’ (the Temple) is a natural comparison to make lexically (including the antonym ‘rebuild’ / ‘build up’) as a verbal object within Matthew, for some reason it has not influenced the translation and interpretation of Mt 5:17.

The main reason is because of a widespread attachment to the English word ‘fulfill’ and indeed ‘fulfillment’ is such a dominant Matthean theme from the beginning of Matthew (even the birth of Jesus fulfills a fourteen-based genealogy pattern and the notion of fulfillment is made explicit in Mt 1:22; 2:15, 17, 23; 3:15; 4:14; 8:17; 12:17; 13:14, 13:35, 48; 21:4; 23:32; 26:54, 56; 27:9). The majority of these verses concern events that correspond to the scriptures that are now being ‘fulfilled’, that is, they are filled with new significance in the life of Jesus by being demonstrably in line with God’s way of doing things—past, present, and future begin to converge in Jesus’ vocation to bring the reign of heaven closer.

What I still find intriguing is that the theme of ‘tear down’ and ‘build up / make complete / build on’ remains unexplored in English Bible translations.

Naturally good teachers teach by ‘building up’ (note καταλύω in 2 Cor 13:10) and by ‘building on’ a solidly made foundation (compare the conclusion to Jesus speech in Mt 7:24–27).

So the notion of ‘building up God’s kingdom’ by ‘building on’ the law and the prophets is arguably quite relevant to Mt 5:17, especially for a people needing to understand Jesus’ relation to the Jewish Scriptures and his interpretation of it for them. Jesus comes to bring life by his teachings that are based on the essential life-giving spiritual guidance of the Scriptures. The readers of Matthew needed, and still need, to know how God in Jesus teaches people what righteousness really is. Matthew throughout testifies with the law and the prophets about a ‘greater righteousness’. (Note also Mt 23:23 concerning justice, mercy and faith).

And the teachings of Jesus, according to Matthew, do 'build' and ‘build on’ the foundational elements of Scripture (the law and the prophets) and Jesus proceeds particularly to do so in verse 21 onwards. Upon such Jesus’ followers then find dependable interpretations of God’s life-giving will for people to ‘enter the kingdom’.