Analysis Of The Old Testament Scripture

No, 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' 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's enemies. During His famous "Sermon on the Mount," Jesus utters the powerful words:

"You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you," (Matthew 5:43-44).

The simple answer is that Jesus doesn't say that at all. Jesus is demonstrating what God really 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's Gospel, and He never uses any phrase like "you have heard," to quote them. Matthew frequently records Jesus challenging the Pharisees with phrases like, "Have you not read?"1 Never, "have you not heard?" When speaking from the Prophet Daniel, Jesus bids "let the reader understand," not "let the hearer understand." This pattern is extremely consistent. The Gospel of Matthew doesn't present Jesus as speaking of the Scriptures themselves as something "heard,' but rather as something "read." So in Matthew 5, when Jesus uses the formula of "you have heard it said...but I say," Jesus is not arguing with the passage itself. Indeed, Jesus later cites this very passage "love your neighbor as yourself," (Leviticus 19:18) as the second greatest commandment of the whole law.2 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

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," (Matthew 5:17-19).

So, when Jesus challenges what the people have heard, "love your neighbor and hate your enemy," 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!

Interestingly, Mormonism alters Jesus' 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' words are reported