Leviticus 19:18

19:18 You must not take vengeance or bear a grudge ¹  against the children of your people, but you must love your neighbor as yourself. ²  I am the Lord.

Leviticus 19:34

19:34 The foreigner who resides with you must be to you like a native citizen among you; so ³  you must love him as yourself, because you were foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.

Matthew 22:39

22:39 The second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ ⁴ 

Mark 12:31

12:31 The second is: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ ⁵  There is no other commandment greater than these.”

Luke 10:27

10:27 The expert ⁶  answered, “Love ⁷  the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, ⁸  and love your neighbor as yourself.” ⁹ 

Galatians 5:13

Practice Love

5:13 For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; ¹⁰  only do not use your freedom as an opportunity to indulge your flesh, ¹¹  but through love serve one another. ¹² 

James 2:8-10

2:8 But if you fulfill the royal law as expressed in this scripture, ¹³  “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” ¹⁴  you are doing well. 2:9 But if you show prejudice, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as violators. ¹⁵  2:10 For the one who obeys the whole law but fails ¹⁶  in one point has become guilty of all of it. ¹⁷ 

¹ tn Heb “and you shall not retain [anger?].” This line seems to refer to the retaining or maintaining of some vengeful feelings toward someone. Compare the combination of the same terms for taking vengeance and maintaining wrath against enemies in Nahum 1:2 (see J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 305).

² sn Some scholars make a distinction between the verb אָהַב (’ahav, “to love”) with the direct object and the more unusual construction with the preposition לְ (lamed) as it is here and in Lev 19:34 and 2 Chr 19:2 only. If there is a distinction, the construction here probably calls for direct and helpful action toward one’s neighbor (see the discussion in J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 305, and esp. 317-18). Such love stands in contrast to taking vengeance or bearing a grudge against someone and, in NT terms, amounts to fulfilling the so-called “golden rule” (Matt 7:12).

³ tn Heb “and.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) can be considered to have resultative force here.

⁴ sn A quotation from Lev 19:18.

⁵ sn A quotation from Lev 19:18.

⁶ tn Grk “And he”; the referent (the expert in religious law, shortened here to “the expert”) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

⁷ tn Grk “You will love.” The future indicative is used here with imperatival force (see ExSyn 452 and 569).

⁸ sn A quotation from Deut 6:5. The fourfold reference to different parts of the person says, in effect, that one should love God with all one’s being.

⁹ tn This portion of the reply is a quotation from Lev 19:18. The verb is repeated in the translation for stylistic reasons.

¹⁰ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:11.

¹¹ tn Grk “as an opportunity for the flesh”; BDAG 915 s.v. σάρξ 2.c.α states: “In Paul’s thought esp., all parts of the body constitute a totality known as σ. or flesh, which is dominated by sin to such a degree that wherever flesh is, all forms of sin are likew. present, and no good thing can live in the σάρξ…Gal 5:13, 24;…Opp. τὸ πνεῦμα…Gal 3:3; 5:16, 17ab; 6:8ab.”

¹² tn It is possible that the verb δουλεύετε (douleuete) should be translated “serve one another in a humble manner” here, referring to the way in which slaves serve their masters (see L&N 35.27).

¹³ tn Grk “according to the scripture.”

¹⁴ sn A quotation from Lev 19:18 (also quoted in Matt 19:19; 22:39; Mark 12:31; Luke 10:27; Rom 13:9; Gal 5:14).

¹⁵ tn Or “transgressors.”

¹⁶ tn Or “stumbles.”

¹⁷ tn Grk “guilty of all.”