Matthew 5:43

Matthew 5:43 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
• New International Version (NIV)“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’
• English Standard Version (ESV)"You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.'
• New King James Version (NKJV)“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’

Context of Matthew 5:43

41Or a soldier may tell you, “Carry my luggage for one kilometre.” You should do that. Even agree to carry it for two kilometres. 42When people ask you for something, you should give it to them. If they ask you to lend them something, then you should not refuse. You have heard people say, “Love the people who are your friends. But hate those who want to hurt you.” 44What I tell you is this: You should love the people who want to hurt you. If people want to give you pain, pray for them. Pray that God would help them. 45If you live like this, you will show that you really are children of your Father above. God is kind to everyone. He causes the sun to shine on everyone, both good people and bad people. He also causes the rain to fall on everyone, people who obey him and people who do not obey him.

Matthew 5:43 word by word

Ἠκούσατε ὅτι ἐρρέθη· ἀγαπήσεις τὸν πλησίον σου καὶ μισήσεις τὸν ἐχθρόν σου.Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• ·ὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• Ye have heardἀκούωakouō · to hearG191
• thatὅτιhoti · that/since: thatG3754
• it hath been saidἐρῶereō · to sayG2046
• Thou shalt loveἀγαπάωagapaō · to loveG25
• thyσύsu · youG4771
• neighbourπλησίονplēsion · near/neighborG4139
• andκαίkai · andG2532
• hateμισέωmiseō · to hateG3404
• enemyἐχθρόςechthros · enemyG2190

Cross-references for Matthew 5:43

• Matthew 19:19Love your father and your mother and obey them. Love other people as much as you love yourself.’
• Matthew 22:39The second rule is also important, like the first one. You should love other people as much as you love yourself.
• Leviticus 19:18You must not try to punish a person who has done something wrong against you. You must not continue to hate a person like that. Instead, you must love other people as much you love yourself. I am the Lord.
• Mark 12:31The second most important rule is this: “You should love other people as much as you love yourself.” No other rules are as important as these two.’
• Luke 10:27The man replied, ‘It says that we must love the Lord our God with all our mind and with all our strength. We must love him with all that we are and in all that we think. It also says that we must love other people as much as we love ourselves.’
• Romans 13:8Always pay your debts to people. The only debt that you should have is to love each other. Anyone who loves other people has obeyed God's Law completely.
• Galatians 5:13My Christian friends, God has chosen you to serve him as free people. But you are still weak and human. So you are not free to do anything that you might want to do. Instead, you must serve one another, because you love each other.
• James 2:8But the message of God's kingdom is this: ‘Love other people as much as you love yourself.’ That is what the Bible says. If you really do that, you do well.
• Exodus 17:14Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Write down what happened here in a book. Then people will remember it. Read it aloud for Joshua to hear. Say that I will completely destroy all the Amalekites. Nobody in the whole world will remember them any more.’
• Deuteronomy 23:6You must never do anything to help these two nations. Do not let them live in peace.
• Deuteronomy 25:17Remember what the Amalekites did to you when you came out of Egypt.
• Psalms 41:10But you, Lord, please be kind to me. Raise me up to be well again. Then I can punish my enemies as they have punished me.
• Psalms 139:21Lord, I hate those people who hate you. I have no time for those who turn against you.

Commentaries on Matthew 5:43

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 43Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy - Instead of neighbor, the Codex Graevii, a MS. of the eleventh century, reads friend. Thou shalt love thy friend, and hate thine enemy. This was certainly the meaning which the Jews put on it: for neighbor, with them, implied those of the Jewish race, and all others were, considered by them as natural enemies. Besides, it is evident that , among the Hellenistic Jews, meant friend merely: Christ uses it…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 43Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy - The command to love our neighbor was a law of God, Leviticus 19:18. That we must therefore hate our enemy was an inference drawn from it by the Jews. They supposed that if we loved the one, we must of course hate the other. They were total strangers to that great, special law of religion which requires us to love both. A neighbor is literally one that lives near to…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 43-48Verses 43-48 The Jewish teachers by "neighbour" understood only those who were of their own country, nation, and religion, whom they were pleased to look upon as their friends. The Lord Jesus teaches that we must do all the real kindness we can to all, especially to their souls. We must pray for them. While many will render good for good, we must render good for evil; and this will speak a nobler principle than most men act by. Others salute their…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 43-47Hate your enemy: Jesus is not rejecting the Old Testament. Instead, he is correcting a traditional interpretation that was mistaken (see Exodus 23:4–5). The Old Testament never commands people to “hate your enemy.” The closest verses are in Psalm 139:21–22, where hatred is expressed toward God’s enemies.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 4343. Ye have heard that it hath been said--(Le 19:18). Thou shalt love thy neighbour--To this the corrupt teachers added, and hate thine enemy--as if the one were a legitimate inference from the other, instead of being a detestable gloss, as Bengel indignantly calls it. Lightfoot quotes some of the cursed maxims inculcated by those traditionists regarding the proper treatment of all Gentiles. No wonder that the Romans charged the Jews with hatred of the…Read the comment

Topics related to Matthew 5:43

• Commandments
• Enemy
• Forgiveness
• Hatred
• Instruction
• Judaism
• Law
• Love
• Religion
• Retaliation

In the dictionaries

• Agree
• Communication
• Despitefully
• Enemy
• Fornication
• Forswear
• Gift
• Hunger
• Inherit
• Jot

Commentaries on Matthew 5

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Catena Aurea
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• John Lightfoot Commentary
• Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• The Fourfold Gospel and Commentary on Acts
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings