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.

Deuteronomy 6:5

6:5 You must love ³  the Lord your God with your whole mind, ⁴  your whole being, ⁵  and all your strength. ⁶ 

Psalms 51:6

51:6 Look, ⁷  you desire ⁸  integrity in the inner man; ⁹ 

you want me to possess wisdom. ¹⁰ 

Matthew 5:22

5:22 But I say to you that anyone who is angry with a brother ¹¹  will be subjected to judgment. And whoever insults ¹²  a brother will be brought before ¹³  the council, ¹⁴  and whoever says ‘Fool’ ¹⁵  will be sent ¹⁶  to fiery hell. ¹⁷ 

Matthew 5:28

5:28 But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to desire her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

Matthew 22:37-40

22:37 Jesus ¹⁸  said to him, “‘Love ¹⁹  the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ ²⁰  22:38 This is the first and greatest ²¹  commandment. 22:39 The second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ ²²  22:40 All the law and the prophets depend ²³  on these two commandments.”

Hebrews 4:12

4:12 For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any double-edged sword, piercing even to the point of dividing soul from spirit, and joints from marrow; it is able to judge the desires and thoughts of the heart.

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 The verb אָהַב (’ahav, “to love”) in this setting communicates not so much an emotional idea as one of covenant commitment. To love the Lord is to be absolutely loyal and obedient to him in every respect, a truth Jesus himself taught (cf. John 14:15). See also the note on the word “loved” in Deut 4:37.

⁴ tn Heb “heart.” In OT physiology the heart (לֵב, לֵבָב; levav, lev) was considered the seat of the mind or intellect, so that one could think with one’s heart. See A. Luc, NIDOTTE 2:749-54.

⁵ tn Heb “soul”; “being.” Contrary to Hellenistic ideas of a soul that is discrete and separate from the body and spirit, OT anthropology equated the “soul” (נֶפֶשׁ, nefesh) with the person himself. It is therefore best in most cases to translate נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) as “being” or the like. See H. W. Wolff, Anthropology of the Old Testament, 10-25; D. Fredericks, NIDOTTE 3:133-34.

⁶ sn For NT variations on the Shema see Matt 22:37-39; Mark 12:29-30; Luke 10:27.

⁷ sn The juxtaposition of two occurrences of “look” in vv. 5-6 draws attention to the sharp contrast between the sinful reality of the psalmist’s condition and the lofty ideal God has for him.

⁸ tn The perfect is used in a generalizing sense here.

⁹ tn Heb “in the covered [places],” i.e., in the inner man.

¹⁰ tn Heb “in the secret [place] wisdom you cause me to know.” The Hiphil verbal form is causative, while the imperfect is used in a modal sense to indicate God’s desire (note the parallel verb “desire”).

¹¹ tc The majority of mss read the word εἰκῇ (eikh, “without cause”) here after “brother.” This insertion has support from א² D L W Θ 0233 Ë^1,13 33 Ï it sy co Ir^lat Or^mss Cyp Cyr. Thus the Western, Caesarean, and Byzantine texttypes all include the word, while the best Alexandrian and some other witnesses (Ì⁶⁴ א* B 1424^mg pc aur vg Or Hier^mss) lack it. The ms evidence favors its exclusion, though there is a remote possibility that εἰκῇ could have been accidentally omitted from these witnesses by way of homoioarcton (the next word, ἔνοχος [enocos, “guilty”], begins with the same letter). An intentional change would likely arise from the desire to qualify “angry,” especially in light of the absolute tone of Jesus’ words. While “without cause” makes good practical sense in this context, and must surely be a true interpretation of Jesus’ meaning (cf. Mark 3:5), it does not commend itself as original.

¹² tn Grk “whoever says to his brother ‘Raca,’” an Aramaic word of contempt or abuse meaning “fool” or “empty head.”

¹³ tn Grk “subjected,” “guilty,” “liable.”

¹⁴ tn Grk “the Sanhedrin.”

¹⁵ tn The meaning of the term μωρός (mwros) is somewhat disputed. Most take it to mean, following the Syriac versions, “you fool,” although some have argued that it represents a transliteration into Greek of the Hebrew term מוֹרֵה (moreh) “rebel” (Deut 21:18, 20; cf. BDAG 663 s.v. μωρός c).

¹⁶ tn Grk “subjected,” “guilty,” “liable.”

¹⁷ tn Grk “the Gehenna of fire.”

¹⁸ tn Grk “And he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

¹⁹ tn Grk “You will love.” The future indicative is used here with imperatival force (see ExSyn 452 and 569).

²⁰ sn A quotation from Deut 6:5. The threefold reference to different parts of the person says, in effect, that one should love God with all one’s being.

²¹ tn Grk “the great and first.”

²² sn A quotation from Lev 19:18.

²³ tn Grk “hang.” The verb κρεμάννυμι (kremannumi) is used here with a figurative meaning (cf. BDAG 566 s.v. 2.b).