Matthew 5:43 records Jesus correcting a common teaching of his day. Many people had learned to love their own people and to treat their enemies as people to be hated, and Jesus is about to say that this is not how his followers should live. The verse introduces that correction by naming what “you have heard” and then setting it up for the sharp teaching that follows. Jesus speaks this to the crowds gathered on the hillside during the Sermon on the Mount, addressing his disciples and the people who had come to listen.
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’
Matthew 5:43 (WEB)
What Matthew 5:43 Means
The verse begins by pointing back to something the listeners already knew: “You have heard that it was said.” Jesus is quoting a teaching they had grown up with. The first half of the saying, “You shall love your neighbor,” comes from Leviticus 19:18, a real command in Israel’s law. The second half, “hate your enemy,” is not found in that command. It is a popular extension, the kind of conclusion people drew when they wanted to draw a clear line between friend and foe.
So Jesus is not rejecting love of neighbor. He is pointing out that the teaching had been trimmed and twisted into permission to resent or despise certain people. The verse does not promise that loving enemies will make them friendly or that it will be easy. It describes what Jesus expects from people who belong to God’s kingdom, and the verses that follow spell out what that love looks like in practice.
The Context of Matthew 5:43
Matthew’s Gospel was written for a community that knew the Jewish scriptures well and needed to understand how Jesus fulfilled and deepened them. Traditionally the author is identified as Matthew, the tax collector turned disciple, though the book itself does not name him in the text. Its audience was likely Jewish Christians and others who wanted to see Jesus presented as the teacher who taught with authority, and the Sermon on the Mount is one of his longest recorded teachings.
Just before verse 43, Jesus tells his listeners not to retaliate against someone who strikes them or sues them, and to go the extra mile and give to those who ask. Verse 43 keeps that pattern going, moving from a personal wrong to a broader attitude toward enemies. Right after it, Jesus says, “But I tell you, love your enemies,” and then explains that God sends sun and rain on both the good and the unjust. Read in that setting, verse 43 is the pivot point where Jesus contrasts old teaching with the way of his kingdom.
Key Phrases in Matthew 5:43
Leviticus 19:18
“‘You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people; but you shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.
(WEB)
This verse is the original command to love your neighbor, the first half of the saying Jesus quotes in Matthew 5:43. Reading it alongside Matthew shows that Jesus was not inventing a new ethic but correcting how the old command had been narrowed. It helps you see that the problem was the added clause about hating enemies, not the call to love.
Romans 12:20
Therefore “If your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in doing so, you will heap coals of fire on his head.”
(WEB)
Paul picks up the theme of responding to enemies with good rather than revenge, drawing on Proverbs to describe how kindness can work in the life of someone who opposes you. Reading it with Matthew 5:43 shows how the early church understood that loving enemies was a practical discipline, not only a teaching about feelings.
A Short Prayer From Matthew 5:43
Lord, you know how easily I slip into keeping score with the people who have hurt or opposed me. Soften the hard places in my heart where bitterness has settled and show me the person I have been tempted to write off. Give me the courage to act in kindness even when my feelings lag behind, and help me to pray honestly for those who mistreat me. Make me more like you, who give good gifts to the evil and the good alike. Amen.
