Bible references

Key NT Scriptures

• John 13:34-35
• Luke 6:27-36
  Click to retrieve Luke 6:27-36
• Mark 12:28-31

Key OT Scriptures

• Deuteronomy 10:19
  Jewish Commentary
• Deuteronomy 22:1-4
  Jewish Commentary
• Exodus 23:4-5
  Jewish Commentary
• Exodus 23:9
  Jewish Commentary
• Leviticus 19:17-18
  Jewish Commentary

Supportive NT Scriptures

• 1 Corinthians 13:1-13
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• Ephesians 4:2
• Galatians 5:13-14
• Galatians 5:22-23
• Hebrews 10:24
• Hebrews 13:1
• James 2:8
• John 15:12-13
• John 15:17
• 1 John 3:11
• 1 John 3:14
• 1 John 3:18
• 1 John 4:7-8
• 1 John 4:11-12
• 1 John 4:20-21
• 1 John 5:1-2
• Luke 10:25-28
• Matthew 5:38-47
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• Matthew 7:12
• Matthew 22:33-40
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• Matthew 25:31-46
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• 1 Peter 1:22
• 1 Peter 2:17
• 1 Peter 4:8
• 1 Peter 5:14
• Romans 12:9-10
• Romans 12:14
• Romans 12:19-20
• Romans 13:8-10
• 1 Thessalonians 3:12
• 1 Thessalonians 4:9-10
• 1 Thessalonians 5:15

Supportive OT Scriptures

• Proverbs 17:17
  Jewish Commentary
• Proverbs 24:17
  Jewish Commentary
• Proverbs 25:21-22
  Jewish Commentary

Bible verses copyright: PUBLIC DOMAIN except in the United Kingdom, where a Crown Copyright applies to printing the KJV. See http://www.cambridge.org/about-us/who-we-are/queens-printers-patent

Commentary

Rabbi Michael Rudolph

This Mitzvah is sometimes referred to as "Love your neighbor as yourself," and sometimes "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." The "love" alluded to in this Mitzvah is not a love of feeling or emotion, but of doing for others what is best for them because we genuinely care about them. And why should we care about our neighbor, the stranger ( ger ), and our enemy? It is because they, like we, are created by our Heavenly Father and we are, in that sense, brothers and sisters. Moreover, Scripture (e.g. John 3:16 ) tells us that God loves his entire creation so, if we care about God, we must also care about those for whom He cares. Also, the Book of 1 John tells us: 1 John 3:10-11 : Here is how one can distinguish clearly between God's children and those of the Adversary: everyone who does not continue doing what is right is not from God. Likewise, anyone who fails to keep loving his brother is not from God. 1 John 4:7-9 : Beloved friends, let us love one another; because love is from God; and everyone who loves has God as his Father and knows God. Those who do not love, do not know God; because God is love. Here is how God showed his love among us: God sent his only Son into the world, so that through him we might have life. 1 John 4:20-21 : If anyone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar. For if a person does not love his brother, whom he has seen, then he cannot love God, whom he has not seen. Yes, this is the command we have from him: whoever loves God must love his brother too. Some of the Scriptures that support this Mitzvah require that we love our Israelite (Jewish) brothers, some our brothers in the faith, some our neighbors, some strangers ( gerim ), some our enemies, and some people in general. No matter. Yeshua directs us to maintain an attitude of love toward all and, in this world of modern communication and modes of travel, our neighbor may be half-a-world away. In Luke 10:29 , a Torah scholar, seeking to justify withholding love, asked Yeshua: And who is my neighbor? Yeshua side-stepped answering him directly and, instead, told a story and then turned the question back to the scholar by asking him which of three persons in the story qualified as a neighbor? When the scholar answered that it was the one who showed another mercy, Yeshua neither affirmed nor disaffirmed his answer, but merely said to him in Luke 10:37 : You go and do as he did. Yeshua's answer and the Scriptures that support this Mitzvah lead us to understand that we are to love ("as ourselves") every human being with whom we relate. That means that we are to desire for each person, that which we would want for ourselves, were we them. In truth, obeying this Mitzvah (especially as it applies to enemies) requires great faith and dying to self, which is the mark of a mature and discipled person. To be sure, the acts of love we show toward a peaceful neighbor are not expected to be the same as those we show toward an enemy who is intent on killing us. So, for example, we may personally visit our hungry neighbor with a gift of food but, if our enemy's heart is dark and he wants to do us harm, perhaps the most loving thing we can do for him is to make sure that he cannot find us. That is not an attempt at humor. If our enemy is able to find and harms us, it will be counted against him as sin, and we should not want that for him. An example from the Bible of this, is David hiding from Saul who was intent on killing him ( 1 Samuel 19-24 ). As a side matter, I should say a few words about Proverbs 25:21-22 's, and Romans 12:19-20 's use of the expression " you will heap fiery coals on his head. " 1 Why would God approve of such a seemingly harmful act that appears to be the antithesis of loving our neighbor? Historians inform us that, in ancient times, the expression was understood as a blessing and not a cursing. Fires were difficult to start so, when possible, a person who wanted and needed to start a fire for his warmth or food would ask his neighbor for one or two glowing hot coals from his already-thriving fire. The fiery coals were customarily carried to their new location in a container placed on one's head and protected by an insulating mat. Heaping fiery coals on our neighbor's head rather than giving him just one or two coals was, therefore, considered a generous favor. 1. The CJB translation renders the expression: " you will heap fiery coals [of shame] on his head. " I see no justification for inserting " [of shame] " and have omitted it. I suppose the translator's logic is that if you bless your neighbor who hates you, he will feel shame for his hate and repent.

Classical commentators

Maimonides, Meir, and HaChinuch treat loving neighbors, gerim , and enemies as separate mitzvot , and draw distinctions between neighbors who are Jews and those who are not. Also, the term ger refers to non-Jewish foreigners who have come to live within the cities of Israel (within Jewish communities), but it more certainly refers to proselytes who have converted to Judaism. The classical commentators' concepts of "love", as expressed in their respective mitzvot , are very similar to how "love" is defined in this Mitzvah .

Copyright © Michael Rudolph and Daniel C. Juster, The Law of Messiah, Torah from a New Covenant Perspective, Volume 1 & 2

Drawings

Artist: Jenske Visser

Source and License

Based on The Law of Messiah - Torah from a New Covenant Perspective by Michael Rudolph and Daniel C. Juster.

Volume 1 & 2 | Volume 3

License: CC BY-ND 4.0 (Attribution required, NoDerivatives). CC BY-ND 4.0

Disclaimer: the original content is authored by Rabbi Michael Rudolph and Rabbi Daniel Juster; additional notes or implementation details on this website are not part of their original work and do not represent their views.

Record source: The Law of Messiah - Torah from a New Covenant Perspective - Volume 1 & 2

Copyright note: Copyright © Michael Rudolph and Daniel C. Juster, The Law of Messiah, Torah from a New Covenant Perspective, Volume 1 & 2