Matthew 5:43

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Matthew 5:43-48

We have here, lastly, an exposition of that great fundamental law of the second table, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, which was the fulfilling of the law. I. See here how this law was corrupted by the comments of the Jewish teachers, Matt. 5:43. God said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour; and by neighbour they understood those only of their own country, nation, and religion; and those only that they were pleased to look upon as their friends: yet this was not the worst; from this command, Thou... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - Matthew 5:1-48

As we have already seen, Matthew has a careful pattern in his gospel. In his story of the baptism of Jesus he shows us Jesus realizing that the hour has struck, that the call to action has come, and that Jesus must go forth on his crusade. In his story of the Temptations he shows us Jesus deliberately choosing the method he will use to carry out his task, and deliberately rejecting methods which he knew to be against the will of God. If a man sets his hand to a great task, he needs his... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Matthew 5:43

Ye have heard that it hath been said ,.... By, or to them of old time. This law has been delivered to them, thou shalt love thy neighbour , with this appendage to it, or false gloss upon it, and hate thine enemy ; for the first of these only is the law of Moses, Leviticus 19:18 , the other is the addition, or wrong interpretation of the Scribes and Pharisees: wherefore the Jew F15 R. Isaac Chizuk Emunah, par. 2. c. 11. p. 402. has no reason to charge Christ, or the... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Matthew 5:43

Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy - Instead of πλησιον neighbor, the Codex Graevii, a MS. of the eleventh century, reads φιλον 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 πλησιον , among the Hellenistic Jews, meant friend merely: Christ uses it precisely... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Matthew 5:43

Verse 43 Matthew 5:43.Thou shalt love thy neighbor. It is astonishing, that the Scribes fell into so great an absurdity, as to limit the word neighbor to benevolent persons: for nothing is more obvious or certain than that God, in speaking of our neighbors, includes the whole human race. Every man is devoted to himself; and whenever a regard to personal convenience occasions an interruption of acts of kindness, there is a departure from that mutual intercourse, which nature itself dictates. To... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 5:17-48

The second part of the sermon: the mount of the Beatitudes and Mount Sinai: the new Law and the old. I. CHRIST THE FULFILLER OF THE LAW . 1 . He came not to destroy. They must not misunderstand the purpose of his teaching. The Old Testament is not contrary to the New; both speak of Christ. The commandments are as binding now upon the Christian conscience as when they were first delivered amid the thunders of Mount Sinai. "We establish the Law," says the apostle of faith ( ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 5:17-48

Sermon on the mount: 3. Exceeding righteousness. A teacher who compels the public to look at an unfamiliar truth, the reformer who introduces a new style of goodness, will be misinterpreted just in proportion to the advance he makes upon former ideas. Our Lord renounced explicitly, and with warmth, the goodness of the Pharisees, and the cry was at once raised against him as a destroyer of the Law, a libertine, a companion or' loose people. He thus found himself called on publicly to... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 5:21-48

( a ) Our Lord is still concerned with the relation of himself and his followers to the religion of the day, of which the Old Testament ( Matthew 5:17 ), and more especially the Law ( Matthew 5:18 ), was the accepted standard. But after having spoken of the need of careful attention to ( Matthew 5:17 , Matthew 5:18 ), and observance of ( Matthew 5:19 ), even the least commands of the Law, he goes on to point out the far-reaching character of these commands, whether they are such... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 5:38-48

The two remaining examples of the current teaching of the Law are very closely connected together, and, in fact, our Lord's corrections of them are intermingled in Luke 6:27-36 . Yet the subjects are really distinct. In the first ( Luke 6:38-42 ) our Lord speaks of the reception of injuries, in the second ( Luke 6:43-48 ) of the treatment of those who do them. Godet's remarks (in his summary of Luke 6:27-45 ) on the use made by St. Luke of these examples are especially instructive.... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 5:43

. —Matthew only. Ye have heard (verse 21, note). Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy . The first clause is found in Le Matthew 19:18 , the second is the natural, and, from one point of view, legitimate, deduction from it. "The whole precept, as it stands, undoubtedly represents, and is a summary of, the sense of the Law" (Mozley, vide infra ) . The meaning of the words "neighbour" and "enemy" has been much discussed. In Leviticus, indeed, the meaning of... read more

Group of Brands