"Love your neighbour" has one meaning in the Old Testament and a subtly different meaning in the New Testament, where we acknowledge it to have a more universal meaning. Jesus restored the true meaning of "love your neighbor as yourself" in his answer to the lawyer in Luke 10, for it had always included showing love to all fellow humans.
fellow, fellow-citizen, another person (weaker sense).friend, companion, fellow, another person.Traveling abroad did not release any Israelite from the requirements of keeping God's laws.Įven רע (rea), from which the word 'neighbor' is translated in Leviticus 19:18, includes other people in the generic sense: The Israelites were expected to keep these laws even before they settled in what would become the country of Israel, for these laws were given while they were still in the wilderness. * I have omitted the remainder of this lexicon entry as it is not relevant to sojourn, abide, dwell in, dwell with, remain, inhabit, be a stranger, be continuing, surely.of foreigners in Israel, though conceded rightsĪdditionally, גור (gur), from which the word 'dwells' is translated in the same verses, also includes temporary residents:.a temporary inhabitant, a newcomer lacking inherited rights.גר (ger), from which the word 'stranger' is translated in verses 33 and 34, primarily means a sojourner or a temporary resident, which would include any non-Israelite that was just passing through Israel: Not only were you to show love to the stranger, you were also to treat him as a native Israelite. 34 The stranger who dwells among you shall be to you as one born among you, and you shall love him as yourself for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.' (NKJV) This can be seen in Leviticus 19:33-34, where God saysģ3 ‘And if a stranger dwells with you in your land, you shall not mistreat him. Yes, the command to "love your neighbor as yourself" is universal. What do people think? Do you agree with Friedman that Love your Neighbor was meant universally or do you think that it was limited to Israelites? In addition, the first part of the verse uses the phrase "בְּנֵ֣י עַמֶּ֔ךָ" which means "the children of your people," clearly limited to Israelites, but the second part of the verse uses "רֵעֲךָ֖," which means "your neighbor," which is ambiguous. In Friedman's favor, the Hebrew text does not include the "but" conjunction that is inserted by the KJV (it is just an "and") thereby diminishing the inference of an intended contrast between the two commandments in the verse. However, I recently came across on article from Richard Elliot Friedman in which he argues that the commandment was meant to be universal: ( ) But there was no universal commandment to love all fellow humans. After all, there is a separate commandment to love the stranger (if he lives among the Israelites) in Leviticus 19:34. I had always understood the commandment of "Love Your Neighbor" to have been a commandment to Israelites to love their fellow Israelites, i.e.
Thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the "Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of
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