Romans 12:14

“Bless them which persecute you, etc..] It is the lot of God's, people in this world to be persecuted by the men of it, in some shape or another, either by words or deeds; either by reviling and reproaching them, and speaking all manner of evil of them; or by hindering them the free exercise of religious worship, by confiscation of their goods, imprisonment of their persons, by violently torturing their bodies, and taking away their lives; under all which circumstances they are taught to bless them; that is, to pray for them, that God would show them their evil, give repentance to them, and the remission of their sins; which is the order Christ gave to his disciples, (<400544>Matthew 5:44);…”

“Bless--that is, Call down by prayer a blessing on. them which persecute you, &c.--This is taken from the Sermon on the Mount (Mat 5:44), which, from the allusions made to it, seems to have been the storehouse of Christian morality among the churches.”

“Bless them ... - see the note at Matthew 5:44; compare Luke 6:28. Bless, and curse not - Bless only; or continue to bless, however long or aggravated may be the injury. Do not be provoked to anger, or to cursing, by any injury, persecution, or reviling. This is one of the most severe and difficult duties of the Christian religion; and it is a duty which nothing else but religion will enable people to perform. To curse denotes properly to devote to destruction. Where there is power to do it, it implies the destruction of the object. Thus, the fig-tree that was cursed by the Saviour soon withered away: Mark 11:21. Thus, those whom God curses will be certainly destroyed; Matthew 25:41. Where…”

“Curse not - No, not in your heart. Romans 12:15”

“12:14 The exhortations in this verse closely resemble two sayings of Jesus (Matt 5:44; Luke 6:27-28). Although Paul does not introduce the commands as a quotation, he is almost certainly alluding to these sayings of Christ. Perhaps the words were so well known that he did not need to specify the source. The teaching of Rom 12–13 has many parallels with the teaching of Jesus.”

“Rom 12:21; Job 31:29, Job 31:30; Mat 5:44; Luk 6:28, Luk 23:34; Act 7:60; Co1 4:12, Co1 4:13; Th1 5:15; Jam 3:10; Pe1 2:21-23, Pe1 3:9 Romans 12:15”