"Abolish" and "Fulfill"

Matt 5:17
17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
KJV

In the introduction to his book Yeshua (see the previous entry) Ron Moseley states that one of the big problems to understanding "both the historical figure named Jesus and the early Church" is "the nearly complete absence of any knowledge concerning the Jewish idioms" Jesus used.

Let's look at a couple now.

What the King James translates as "destroy" other versions render as "abolish." Different English words but basically the same meaning.

"In Rabbinic literature the Greek words translated by the English words 'abolish' and 'fulfill' have Hebrew equivalents that can help understand what Jesus was actually saying. The idea behind the word 'abolish' is to interpret incorrectly while the idea behind the word 'fulfill' means to interpret properly. ... With this understanding, it is obvious that Jesus did not come to start a new religion or to destroy the only Word of God available, but rather to properly interpret the Law and show that He was a new manifestation of the old truth. Brad Young points out that the three key words Torah, abolish, and fulfill possess quite different meanings in their English translations than in ancient Jewish thought." (Moseley, Yeshua, pp. 73-74)

Over the years I have heard many sermons dealing with this part of the Sermon on the Mount. Invariably "destroy" was literally taken to be "do away with," while "fulfill" was "fill to the full."
The correct understanding is better. Let's fulfill Mat. 5:17 rather than destroy it.

"Think not that I am come to wrongly interpret the law, or the prophets. I am not come to misinterpret, but to interpret correctly."