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

41If a soldier demands that you carry his gear for a mile, carry it two miles. 42Give to those who ask, and don’t turn away from those who want to borrow. “You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy. 44But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! 45In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike.

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 19:19Honor your father and mother. Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
• Matthew 22:39A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
• Leviticus 19:18“Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against a fellow Israelite, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.
• Mark 12:31The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.”
• Luke 10:27The man answered, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.’ And, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
• Romans 13:8Owe nothing to anyone—except for your obligation to love one another. If you love your neighbor, you will fulfill the requirements of God’s law.
• Galatians 5:13For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love.
• James 2:8Yes indeed, it is good when you obey the royal law as found in the Scriptures: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
• Exodus 17:14After the victory, the Lord instructed Moses, “Write this down on a scroll as a permanent reminder, and read it aloud to Joshua: I will erase the memory of Amalek from under heaven.”
• Deuteronomy 23:6As long as you live, you must never promote the welfare and prosperity of the Ammonites or Moabites.
• Deuteronomy 25:17“Never forget what the Amalekites did to you as you came from Egypt.
• Psalms 41:10Lord, have mercy on me. Make me well again, so I can pay them back!
• Psalms 139:21O Lord, shouldn’t I hate those who hate you? Shouldn’t I 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

• 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