Bible Strands
Galatians 5:14
The entire law is fulfilled in a single decree: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Paul addresses the Galatian believers mid-argument about Christian freedom, sandwiched between a call to serve one another in love (v. 13) and a warning against mutual destruction (v. 15).
The words — πεπληρωταί (peplērōtai), perfect passive of πληρόω, "has been fulfilled," marks the law as a completed state rather than an ongoing task.
The thread — The quoted command is Leviticus 19:18; Matthew 7:12 calls the Golden Rule "the essence of the Law and the Prophets"; Galatians 6:2 speaks of fulfilling "the law of Christ."
Why it lands — It asserts that the whole Torah reduces to one actionable command, and that this reduction is not a human summary but a fulfilled state — the law is already done in this single word.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Cross-references
- Matthew 7:12 In everything, then, do to others as you would have them do to you. For this is the essence of the Law and the Prophets.
- Leviticus 19:18 Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against any of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.
- Galatians 6:2 Carry one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.
- Mark 12:31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.”
- Romans 13:8 Be indebted to no one, except to one another in love. For he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.
- John 13:34 A new commandment I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you also must love one another.
- Matthew 22:39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
- Leviticus 19:34 You must treat the foreigner living among you as native-born and love him as yourself, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.
- 1 Timothy 1:5 The goal of our instruction is the love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and a sincere faith.
- James 2:8 If you really fulfill the royal law stated in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well.