Loving Our Enemies as We Love Ourselves
The command to "love your enemies" is a central ethical teaching of Jesus, prominently featured in both the Gospels of Matthew and Luke [1, 2]. In Matthew 5:44, Jesus instructs his followers: "But I tell you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who mistreat you and persecute you" [2]. Luke's account similarly records Jesus saying, "But I say to you which hear: Love your enemies. Do good to the which hate you" [1]. This teaching represents a radical departure from common ancient world ethics, which often encouraged love for family and friends but hatred for enemies [3].
This concept of loving one's enemies is not entirely without precedent in the Old Testament, though Jesus's articulation provides a new emphasis and depth. Matthew Henry notes that the commandment to love one's enemies, while given new enforcement by Christ's example, was also an "Old Testament commandment" [4]. For instance, Proverbs 25:21 states, "If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink" [4]. This suggests that acts of kindness toward adversaries were understood as a form of righteousness even before Jesus's ministry. Proverbs 16:7 further suggests that when one's ways please the Lord, "he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him" [5].
The nature of this love is specified as a "moral love" rather than merely personal affection [11]. It signifies a "benignant, compassionate outgoings of desire for another's good" [11]. This love is not contingent on the enemy's character or actions but is an active choice to seek their well-being, even in the face of hostility [3]. The Tyndale House commentary on Luke 6:27 emphasizes that this ethic involves "overcoming evil through self-sacrificial love for others, not through violence and hatred" [3].
The command to love one's neighbor as oneself, found in Leviticus 19:18, is often seen as foundational to this teaching [8, 10]. However, Jesus's "new commandment" to "love one another, just as I have loved you" (John 13:34) elevates this standard [8]. Adam Clarke explains that while the Mosaic precept required loving one's neighbor as oneself, Christ's example demonstrates loving "more than himself, for he laid down his life for men" [8]. This implies a willingness to make ultimate sacrifices for the good of others, including enemies [8].
Early Christian thinkers also grappled with the implications of this command. John Chrysostom, an Eastern Orthodox father, extended the concept of enmity to internal struggles, suggesting that one must first resolve the "enmity that is in us"—the conflict between the soul and the body, or vice and virtue—before effectively addressing external conflicts [6]. He even used the analogy of a lover's devotion to a harlot to illustrate the intensity with which one should love enemies, not in the sense of condoning immorality, but in demonstrating unwavering commitment despite ill-treatment [9].
The concept of loving enemies also connects to the broader idea of self-love, properly understood. Matthew Henry, commenting on Proverbs 11:17, suggests that "a merciful, tender, good humoured man, does good to his own soul" [7]. This implies that acting with kindness, even towards enemies, ultimately benefits the one who shows mercy, fostering inner peace and righteousness [7]. This perspective aligns with the idea that Christian ethics are not merely external rules but contribute to the flourishing of the individual.
Sources
- Luke “Luke 6:27 (Tyndale) — But I saye vnto you which heare: Love youre enemyes. Do good to the which hate you.”
- Matthew “But I tell you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who mistreat you and persecute you, -- Matthew 5:44”
- Luke (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on Luke 6:27: 6:27 love your enemies! People were commonly taught in the ancient world to love their family and friends and hate their enemies. Jesus announced a radical new ethic of loving even one’s enemies and overcoming evil through self-sacrificial love for others, not through violence and hatred (cp. Rom 12:14-21).”
- Proverbs (Nonconformist/Puritan) “Matthew Henry on Proverbs 25:21: By this it appears that, however the scribes and Pharisees had corrupted the law, not only the commandment of loving our brethren, but even that of loving our enemies, was not only a new, but also an old commandment, an Old Testament commandment, though our Saviour has given it to us with the new enforcement of his own great example in loving us when we were enemies. Observe, 1. How we must express our love to our enemies by the real offices of kindness, even those that are expensive to ourselves and most acceptable to them: "If they be hungry and thirsty, inst”
- Proverbs (Nonconformist/Puritan) “Matthew Henry on Proverbs 16:7: Note, 1. God can turn foes into friends when he pleases. He that has all hearts in his hand has access to men's spirits and power over them, working insensibly, but irresistibly upon them, can make a man's enemies to be at peace with him, can change their minds, or force them into a feigned submission. He can slay all enemies, and bring those together that were at the greatest distance from each other. 2. He will do it for us when we please him. If we make it our care to be reconciled to God, and to keep ourselves in his love, he will incline those that have bee”
- CCEL/NPNF (Eastern Orthodox) “John Chrysostom, Homilies on Acts & Romans: those who are not indeed enemies, but are not friends, them let us bring together, and before all, our own selves. For as he who is at enmity in his house, and has differences with his wife, carries no authority when reconciling others, but will be told, “Physician, heal thyself” ( Luke iv. 23 ), so will a man be told in this case. What then is the enmity that is in us? That of the soul against the body, that of vice against virtue. This enmity let us put an end to, this war let us take away, and then being in peace we shall also address others with ”
- Proverbs (Nonconformist/Puritan) “Matthew Henry on Proverbs 11:17: It is a common principle, Every one for himself. Proximus egomet mihi - None so near to me as myself. Now, if this be rightly understood, it will be a reason for the cherishing of gracious dispositions in ourselves and the crucifying of corrupt ones. We are friends or enemies to ourselves, even in respect of present comfort, according as we are or are not governed by religious principles. 1. A merciful, tender, good humoured man, does good to his own soul, makes and keeps himself easy. He has the pleasure of doing his duty, and contributing to the comfort of th”
- John (Methodist/Wesleyan) “Adam Clarke on John 13:34: A new commandment I give unto you - In what sense are we to understand that this was a new commandment? Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, was a positive precept of the law, Lev 19:18, and it is the very same that Christ repeats here; how then was it new? Our Lord answers this question, Even As I have loved you. Now Christ more than fulfilled the Mosaic precept; he not only loved his neighbor As himself, but he loved him More than himself, for he laid down his life for men. In this he calls upon the disciples to imitate him; to be ready on all occasions to lay ”
- CCEL/NPNF (Eastern Orthodox) “John Chrysostom, Homilies on Galatians–Colossians–Thessalonians: without. See ye not those lovers? How many insults are wreaked upon them by their mistresses, how many artifices practised, how many punishments inflicted: yet they are enchained to them, they burn for them, and love them better than their own souls, passing whole nights before their thresholds. From them let us take our example, not indeed to love such as those,—women, I mean, that are harlots; no, but thus to love our enemies. For tell me, do not harlots treat their lovers with greater insolence than all the enemies in the worl”
- Leviticus (Methodist/Wesleyan) “Adam Clarke on Leviticus 19:17: Thou shalt not hate thy brother - Thou shalt not only not do him any kind of evil, but thou shalt harbor no hatred in thy heart towards him. On the contrary, thou shalt love him as thyself, Lev 19:18. Many persons suppose, from misunderstanding our Lord's words, Joh 13:34, A new commandment give I unto you, that ye love one another, etc., that loving our neighbor as ourselves was first instituted under the Gospel. This verse shows the opinion to be unfounded: but to love another as Christ has loved us, i. e., to lay down our lives for each other, is certainly a ”
- Matthew (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on Matthew 5:44: But I say unto you, Love your enemies--The word here used denotes moral love, as distinguished from the other word, which expresses personal affection. Usually, the former denotes "complacency in the character" of the person loved; but here it denotes the benignant, compassionate outgoings of desire for another's good. bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you--The best commentary on these matchless counsels is the bright example of Him who gave them. (See Pe1 2:21-24; a”