You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.'
You have heard
This phrase indicates that Jesus is addressing a common teaching or understanding among His audience. The Greek word for "heard" is ἀκούω (akouo), which implies not just hearing with the ears but understanding and internalizing a message. In the historical context, Jesus is speaking to a Jewish audience familiar with the oral traditions and teachings of the Pharisees and scribes. This phrase sets the stage for Jesus to contrast traditional interpretations with His deeper, more radical teaching.

that it was said
The phrase suggests a reliance on oral tradition rather than written Scripture. The Greek word for "said" is ῥέω (rheo), which means to speak or declare. This reflects the rabbinic tradition of interpreting the Torah, where teachings were passed down verbally. Jesus is about to challenge these interpretations, emphasizing His authority to provide the true meaning of the Law.

Love your neighbor
This command is rooted in Leviticus 19:18, where the Hebrew word for "love" is אָהַב (ahav), meaning to have affection or care for someone. The term "neighbor" in Hebrew is רֵעַ (rea), which traditionally referred to fellow Israelites. Jesus acknowledges this command but will expand its scope. In the historical context, loving one's neighbor was a well-accepted moral duty, but its application was often limited to one's immediate community.

and hate your enemy
This phrase is not a direct quotation from the Old Testament but reflects a common interpretation or addition by some Jewish teachers of the time. The Greek word for "hate" is μισέω (miseo), which means to detest or abhor. Historically, this reflects the human tendency to create in-groups and out-groups, often justifying animosity towards those outside one's community. Jesus challenges this notion, as it contradicts the broader biblical principle of love and mercy.

(43) Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.--In form the latter clause was a Rabbinic addition to the former; and this is important as showing that our Lord deals throughout not with the Law as such, but with the scribes' exposition of it. But it can hardly be said these words, as far as national enemies were concerned, were foreign to the spirit of the Law. The Israelites were practically commanded to hate the Canaanites and Amalekites, whom they were commissioned to destroy. The fault of the scribes was that they stereotyped the Law, which was in its nature transitory, and extended it in a wrong direction by making it the plea for indulgence in private enmities. Our Lord cancels the Rabbinic gloss as regards national and, a fortiori, private hatreds, and teaches us to strive after the ideal excellence which He realised, and to love, i.e., to seek the good of those who have shown us the most bitter hostility. So He taught men to find a neighbour even in a Samaritan, and so He prayed, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."

Verses 43-48. - The treatment of those who injure us. (Cf. supra, ver. 38.) Our Lord now turns from the reception of injuries to the treatment of those who injure us. We are not to injure them in return, nor merely to keep aloof from them, but to show them positive kindness. The Law, in the natural development of it current at the time, taught very differently. Verse 43.. - Matthew only. Ye have heard (ver. 21, note). Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. The first clause is found in Leviticus 19:18, the second is the natural, and, from one point of view, legitimate, deduction from it. "The whole precept, as it stands, undoubtedly represents, and is a summary of, the sense of the Law" (Mozley, vide infra). The meaning of the words "neighbour" and "enemy" has been much discussed. In Leviticus, indeed, the meaning of "neighbour" is clear; it answers to "the children of thy people" in the preceding clause, i.e. it refers to members of the nation; all Israelites are termed "neighbours." The primary sense, therefore, of this whole precept is love to an Israelite, hatred to a non-Israelite (cf. Deuteronomy 25:17-19). As such, the precept was of value in cementing the unity of the nation and preventing greater exposure to the evils, moral and religious, found outside it. But as quoted by our Lord, it has evidently a more private reference. He treats the precept as referring to personal friends (those who act in a neighbourly way) and enemies, and even this is, in some respects, a legitimate summary of the teaching of the Law, in so far as it forms another side of the law of retaliation. In days when public justice was weak much had to be left to the action of the individual, and he who was wronged was bid satisfy justice by retaliating on his enemy. That, however, it was not the only teaching of the Law is evident from Exodus 23:4 (cf. Job 31:29). But as regards both aspects of the precept the time had come for a change. The Jews only too gladly showed obedience to the second part of the precept, making themselves proverbial (cf. Tacitus, 'Hist.,' 5:5. 2; Juvenal, 'Sat.,' 14:103) for their more than incivility to Gentiles, and they seem to have also zealously carried it out towards their personal enemies (cf. Psalm 109.). On the whole subject, vide especially Mozley ('Ruling Ideas,' pp. 188-200), who, however, hardly allows enough weight to passages like Exodus 23:4.

Parallel Commentaries ...


You have heard
Ἠκούσατε (Ēkousate)
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 2nd Person Plural
Strong's 191: To hear, listen, comprehend by hearing; pass: is heard, reported. A primary verb; to hear.

that
ὅτι (hoti)
Conjunction
Strong's 3754: Neuter of hostis as conjunction; demonstrative, that; causative, because.

it was said,
ἐρρέθη (errethē)
Verb - Aorist Indicative Passive - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 2046: Probably a fuller form of rheo; an alternate for epo in certain tenses; to utter, i.e. Speak or say.

‘Love
Ἀγαπήσεις (Agapēseis)
Verb - Future Indicative Active - 2nd Person Singular
Strong's 25: To love, wish well to, take pleasure in, long for; denotes the love of reason, esteem. Perhaps from agan; to love.

your
σου (sou)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Genitive 2nd Person Singular
Strong's 4771: You. The person pronoun of the second person singular; thou.

neighbor
πλησίον (plēsion)
Adverb
Strong's 4139: Near, nearby, a neighbor. Neuter of a derivative of pelas; close by; as noun, a neighbor, i.e. Fellow.

and
καὶ (kai)
Conjunction
Strong's 2532: And, even, also, namely.

hate
μισήσεις (misēseis)
Verb - Future Indicative Active - 2nd Person Singular
Strong's 3404: To hate, detest, love less, esteem less. From a primary misos; to detest; by extension, to love less.

your
σου (sou)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Genitive 2nd Person Singular
Strong's 4771: You. The person pronoun of the second person singular; thou.

enemy.’
ἐχθρόν (echthron)
Adjective - Accusative Masculine Singular
Strong's 2190: Hated, hostile; subst: an enemy. From a primary echtho; hateful; usually as a noun, an adversary.


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NT Gospels: Matthew 5:43 You have heard that it was said (Matt. Mat Mt)