Bible Strands
Matthew 5:43
You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor’ and ‘Hate your enemy.’
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Jesus addresses his disciples during the Sermon on the Mount, placing this statement between a command to give freely and a directive to love persecutors. He speaks to a gathered crowd as he reinterprets established ethical traditions.
The words — Ἠκούσατε (Ēkousate) translates literally as "you have heard," indicating the transmission of prior teaching. ἀγαπήσεις (agapēseis) means "you will love," establishing the action Jesus cites before correcting its application.
The thread — The command to love a neighbor appears in Leviticus 19:18, while the sentiment of hating opponents echoes Psalms 139:21. Matthew 5:44 immediately follows by replacing the "hate your enemy" tradition with a direct command to love persecutors.
Why it lands — The text requires readers to identify which cultural or religious assumptions they accept without examination. It demands a deliberate replacement of inherited hostility with active, intentional love toward those who oppose them.
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
Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
Cross-references
- 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.
- Psalms 139:21 Do I not hate those who hate You, O LORD, and detest those who rise against You?
- Galatians 5:13 For you, brothers, were called to freedom; but do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh. Rather, serve one another in love.
- Matthew 19:19 honor your father and mother, and love your neighbor as yourself.’”
- Romans 13:8 Be indebted to no one, except to one another in love. For he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.
- Deuteronomy 23:6 You are not to seek peace or prosperity from them as long as you live.
- Mark 12:31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.”
- James 2:8 If you really fulfill the royal law stated in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well.
- Matthew 22:39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
- Psalms 41:10 But You, O LORD, be gracious to me and raise me up, that I may repay them.