New English Translation
Matthew 5:43
43“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor’ and ‘hate your enemy.’
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
41And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two. 42Give to the one who asks you, and do not reject the one who wants to borrow from you. “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor’ and ‘hate your enemy.’ 44But I say to you, love your enemy and pray for those who persecute you, 45so that you may be like your Father in heaven, since he causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
Read all of Matthew 5Matthew 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 19:19honor your father and mother, and love your neighbor as yourself.”
- Matthew 22:39The second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
- Leviticus 19:18You must not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the children of your people, but you must love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.
- Mark 12:31The second is: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
- Luke 10:27The expert answered, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself.”
- Romans 13:8Owe no one anything, except to love one another, for the one who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.
- Galatians 5:13For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity to indulge your flesh, but through love serve one another.
- James 2:8But if you fulfill the royal law as expressed in this scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well.
- Exodus 17:14The Lord said to Moses, “Write this as a memorial in the book, and rehearse it in Joshua’s hearing; for I will surely wipe out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.
- Deuteronomy 23:6You must not seek peace and prosperity for them through all the ages to come.
- Deuteronomy 25:17Remember what the Amalekites did to you on your way from Egypt,
- Psalms 41:10As for you, O Lord, have mercy on me and raise me up, so I can pay them back!”
- Psalms 139:21O Lord, do I not hate those who hate you, and despise those who oppose 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
In the dictionaries
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
New English Translation — © 1996-2016 Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C.
Commentaries