Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
You've heard people say, 'Love your neighbors, but hate your enemies.'
Jesus is calling out the old-school thinking that said it was okay to hate your enemies.
📚 Historical Context
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus addressed crowds in first-century Israel under Roman occupation, where cultural and religious norms often emphasized loving fellow Jews as neighbors while fostering hostility toward enemies like the Romans. This verse echoes the Old Testament command from Leviticus 19:18 to love one's neighbor, but the added phrase about hating enemies likely reflected common interpretations by some Jewish leaders that went beyond Scripture, promoting division. Jesus used this as a foundation to challenge and expand on these ideas in His teaching.
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