Patristic A.D. 407
“Or, He here speaks of the judges of this world, of the way which leads to this judgment, and of human prisons; thus not only employing future but present inducements, as those things which are before the eyes affect us most, as St. Paul also declares, If thou doest evil fear the power, for he beareth not the sword in vain. (Rom. 13:4.)”
Catena Aurea: Gospel of Matthew, as excerpted in the Catena Aurea on Matthew 5:25-26
PD · J. H. Newman (Oxford, 1841) ↗