The interpretation of the closing words of Matt. v. 18 has been bedevilled by doctrinal preconceptions and the misapprehension of a characteristically Semitic mode of expression. The attitude towards the Law expressed by Jesus in Matt. v. 17–20 is one of unqualified acceptance and approval. The Law is to be observed in every detail and there is no suggestion that there is any limit in time to its observance. The Law is eternal, and its most minute prescription retains its validity (v. 18), i.e. so long as the created world endures, to the end of time. The difficulty that confronts the exegete is to reconcile the closing, clause γένται with this unambiguous statement regarding the duration of the Law. If the sense of were similar in the two instances it would be natural to treat as a variant term for , in which case γενέθαι would be the antithesis of , and the two clauses would have opposite meanings. Again, to suggest, as is commonly done, that the last clause of v. 18 is to be understood—like the similar expressions in Matt. xxiv. 34 // Mark xiii. 30 // Luke xxi. 32—as referring to the parousia or to those works of Jesus which are unconnected with the observance of the Law is to rob the categorical assertion of its absolute character and to involve the speaker in self-contradiction. The two clauses introduced by cannot be treated as co-ordinate or synonymous.