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 … hate thine enemy.” Jesus had some reason for placing at the head of each of his commandments certain portions of the ancient law to serve as the antitheses of his own doctrine. If we do not understand what is meant by the citations from the ancient law, we cannot understand what Jesus proscribed. The commentators say frankly (it is impossible not to say so) that Jesus in this instance made use of words not to be found in the Mosaic law, but they do not tell us why he did so or what meaning we are to attach to the words thus used.

It seemed to me above all necessary to know what Jesus had in view when he cited these words which are not to be found in the law. I asked myself what these words could mean. In all other references of the sort, Jesus quotes a single rule from the ancient law: “Thou shalt not kill”—“Thou shalt not commit adultery”—“Thou shalt not forswear thyself”—“An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth”—and with regard to each rule he propounds his own doctrine. In the instance under consideration, he cites two contrasting rules: “Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thine enemy,”—from which it would appear that the contrast between these two rules of the ancient law, relative to one’s neighbor and one’s enemy, should be the basis of the new law. To understand clearly what this contrast was, I sought for the meanings of the words “neighbor” and “enemy,” as used in the Gospel text. After consulting dictionaries and Biblical texts, I was