{"id":517,"date":"2020-12-28T20:59:15","date_gmt":"2020-12-29T01:59:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/abudinen.com\/blog\/?p=517"},"modified":"2021-04-11T11:47:48","modified_gmt":"2021-04-11T16:47:48","slug":"does-the-old-testament-teach-to-hate-your-enemies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/abudinen.com\/blog\/2020\/12\/28\/does-the-old-testament-teach-to-hate-your-enemies\/","title":{"rendered":"Does the Old Testament teach to hate your enemies?"},"content":{"rendered":"\nNo, el antiguo testamento no ense\u00f1a odiar a nuestros enemigos mas de lo que el nuevo testamento lo hace. De hecho ense\u00f1an lo mismo. Debemos amar a nuestros enemigos como a nosotros mismos. Lev\u00edticos 19:18, \u00c9xodo 23:4-5, Proverbios 25:21\n\n\n\nNo, the Old Testament never teaches to hate our enemies any more than the New Testament does. Throughout the Scriptures, we are commanded to treat even those who hate us with dignity and compassion as men and women created in the image of God. Some critics challenge, however, that this creates a problem with Jesus\u2018 own teaching, which seems (they claim) to indicate that the Old Testament taught hate of enemies and that Jesus replaced this with the stricter ethic of love for even one\u2019s enemies. During His famous \u201cSermon on the Mount,\u201d Jesus utters the powerful words:\n\n\n\n\u201cYou have heard that it was said, \u2018You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.\u2019 But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,\u201d (Matthew 5:43-44).\n\n\n\nThese words have been a central part of Christian ethics for nearly two thousand years and resonate even with many unbelievers around the world. Yet, there are those who cry foul here, saying that Jesus\u2019 statement is predicated on a misquotation of the Old Testament and a false assumption that the Old Testament taught people to hate their enemies. The command to \u201clove your neighbors\u201d comes from Leviticus, and reads:\n\n\n\n\u201cYou shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the Lord,\u201d [...x]<\/span>
(Leviticus 19:18).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The command says to love your neighbor, but it never says anything about hating your enemies. Indeed, the fact that it forbids vengeance seems to indicate that you are to love your neighbor even if they are your enemy. This is consistent with other statements in the law like:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf you meet your enemy\u2019s ox or his donkey wandering away, you shall surely return it to him. If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying helpless under its load, you shall refrain from leaving it to him, you shall surely release it with him,\u201d (Exodus 23:4-5).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elsewhere in the Old Testament, we read words such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; And if he is thirsty, give him water to drink,\u201d (Proverbs 25:21).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So why does Jesus say that it says to hate your enemies? The simple answer is that Jesus doesn\u2019t say that at all. Jesus is demonstrating what God really <\/em>commands over against the teachings and practices of his day. He is addressing faulty interpretations of the Law. How can we know this? Jesus refers to the Old Testament Scriptures often in Matthew\u2019s Gospel, and He never uses any phrase like \u201cyou have heard,\u201d to quote them. Matthew frequently records Jesus challenging the Pharisees with phrases like, \u201cHave you not read?\u201d1<\/sup> Never, \u201chave you not heard?\u201d When speaking from the Prophet Daniel, Jesus bids \u201clet the reader understand,\u201d not \u201clet the hearer understand.\u201d This pattern is extremely consistent. The Gospel of Matthew doesn\u2019t present Jesus as speaking of the Scriptures themselves as something \u201cheard,\u2019 but rather as something \u201cread.\u201d So in Matthew 5, when Jesus uses the formula of \u201cyou have heard it said\u2026but I say,\u201d Jesus is not arguing with the passage itself. Indeed, Jesus later cites this very passage \u201clove your neighbor as yourself,\u201d (Leviticus 19:18) as the second greatest commandment of the whole law.2<\/sup> So, Jesus is not critiquing the words of Scripture, but rather the way those Scriptures were being taught and interpreted by the teachers and practices of His day. Remember that Jesus prefaces this whole section of His sermon by saying:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven,\u201d (Matthew 5:20).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And also:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDo not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven,\u201d (Matthew 5:17-19).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, when Jesus challenges what the people have heard, \u201clove your neighbor and hate your enemy,\u201d He is not twisting the Old Testament to attack it. He is defending the actual teaching of the Old Testament against this popular misrepresentation of its intent!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interestingly, Mormonism alters Jesus\u2019 words here and accidentally creates the very problem for which Jesus is falsely accused! The Book of Mormon tells a story of Jesus descending from heaven in ancient America and preaching the Sermon on the Mount again to the people there. In the Book of Mormon version, however, Jesus\u2019 words are reported as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd behold it is written also, that thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thine enemy; But behold I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them who despitefully use you and persecute you,\u201d (3 Nephi 12:43-44).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Notice that Jesus\u2019 actual words,\u00a0\u201cyou have heard it said,\u201d\u00a0are replaced with the formula \u201cbehold it is written.\u201d Now, whenever Jesus used the words \u201cIt is written,\u201d in Matthew, He is always referring to the words of Scripture. So, by carelessly altering Jesus\u2019 words, the Book of Mormon actually creates a false situation where Jesus\u00a0does<\/em>\u00a0accuse the Old Testament of containing the command to hate your enemy. The fault here, however, is not with Jesus or the Old Testament. The fault is with the Book of Mormon and its author. In reality, the Old Testament and the New both teach that we are to love even our enemies. Jesus was consistent with and upheld all that had been revealed before His earthly coming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

No, el antiguo testamento no ense\u00f1a odiar a nuestros enemigos mas de lo que el nuevo testamento lo hace. De hecho ense\u00f1an lo mismo. Debemos amar a nuestros enemigos como a nosotros mismos. Lev\u00edticos 19:18, \u00c9xodo 23:4-5, Proverbios 25:21 No, the Old Testament never teaches to hate our enemies any more than the New Testament … Leer m\u00e1s<\/a><\/p>\n\n

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