Matthew 5:43

“Ye have heard that it hath been said, etc.] 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, (<031918>Leviticus 19:18), the other is the addition, or wrong interpretation of the Scribes and Pharisees: wherefore the Jew f352 has no reason to charge Christ, or the Evangelist, with a false testimony, as he does, because the latter is no where written in the law, nor in the prophets: nor does Christ say it is; he only observes, that it had been traditionally handed down to them from the ancients, by the masters of the traditions…”

“Ye have heard that it hath been said-- (Lev 19:18). Thou shalt love thy neighbour--To this the corrupt teachers added, and hate thine enemy--as if the one were a legitimate inference from the other, instead of being a detestable gloss, as BENGEL indignantly calls it. LIGHTFOOT quotes some of the cursed maxims inculcated by those traditionists regarding the proper treatment of all Gentiles. No wonder that the Romans charged the Jews with hatred of the human race.”

“Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy - The command to love our neighbor was a law of God, Leviticus 19:18. That we must therefore hate our enemy was an inference drawn from it by the Jews. They supposed that if we loved the one, we must of course hate the other. They were total strangers to that great, special law of religion which requires us to love both. A neighbor is literally one that lives near to us; then, one who is near to us by acts of kindness and friendship. This is its meaning here. See also Luke 10:36. return to 'Top of Page'”

“Thou shalt love thy neighbour; And hate thy enemy - God spoke the former part; the scribes added the latter. Lev 19:18. Matthew 5:44”

“5:43-47 hate your enemy: Jesus is opposing not the Old Testament, but a traditional, though mistaken (cp. Exod 23:4-5), interpretation of the Old Testament. The “hate” clause is not in the Old Testament (but see Ps 139:21-22).”

“Thou: Mat 19:19, Mat 22:39, Mat 22:40; Lev 19:18; Mar 12:31-34; Luk 10:27-29; Rom 13:8-10; Gal 5:13, Gal 5:14; Jam 2:8 and hate: Exo 17:14-16; Deu 23:6, Deu 25:17; Psa 41:10, Psa 139:21, Psa 139:22 Matthew 5:44”