Deuteronomy 22:1-4

Laws Concerning Preservation of Life

22:1 When you see ¹  your neighbor’s ²  ox or sheep going astray, do not ignore it; ³  you must return it without fail ⁴  to your neighbor. 22:2 If the owner ⁵  does not live ⁶  near you or you do not know who the owner is, ⁷  then you must corral the animal ⁸  at your house and let it stay with you until the owner looks for it; then you must return it to him. 22:3 You shall do the same to his donkey, his clothes, or anything else your neighbor ⁹  has lost and you have found; you must not refuse to get involved. ¹⁰  22:4 When you see ¹¹  your neighbor’s donkey or ox fallen along the road, do not ignore it; ¹²  instead, you must be sure ¹³  to help him get the animal on its feet again. ¹⁴ 

Job 31:29-30

31:29 If ¹⁵  I have rejoiced over the misfortune of my enemy ¹⁶ 

or exulted ¹⁷  because calamity ¹⁸  found him –

31:30 I ¹⁹  have not even permitted my mouth ²⁰  to sin

by asking ²¹  for his life through a curse –

Proverbs 24:17-18

24:17 Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, ²² 

and when he stumbles do not let your heart rejoice,

24:18 lest the Lord see it, and be displeased, ²³ 

and turn his wrath away from him. ²⁴ 

Proverbs 25:21

25:21 If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat,

and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink,

Matthew 5:44

5:44 But I say to you, love your enemy and ²⁵  pray for those who persecute you,

Luke 6:27-28

6:27 “But I say to you who are listening: Love your enemies, ²⁶  do good to those who hate you, 6:28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat ²⁷  you.

Romans 12:17-21

12:17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil; consider what is good before all people. ²⁸  12:18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all people. ²⁹  12:19 Do not avenge yourselves, dear friends, but give place to God’s wrath, ³⁰  for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay,” ³¹  says the Lord. 12:20 Rather, if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in doing this you will be heaping burning coals on his head. ³²  12:21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Romans 12:1

Consecration of the Believer’s Life

12:1 Therefore I exhort you, brothers and sisters, ³³  by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a sacrifice – alive, holy, and pleasing to God ³⁴  – which is your reasonable service.

Romans 5:15

5:15 But the gracious gift is not like the transgression. ³⁵  For if the many died through the transgression of the one man, ³⁶  how much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one man Jesus Christ multiply to the many!

[22:1]  ¹ tn Heb “you must not see,” but, if translated literally into English, the statement is misleading.

[22:1]  ² tn Heb “brother’s” (also later in this verse). In this context it is not limited to one’s siblings, however; cf. NAB “your kinsman’s.”

[22:1]  ³ tn Heb “hide yourself.”

[22:1]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with the words “without fail.”

[22:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “your brother” (also later in this verse).

[22:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “is not.” The idea of “residing” is implied.

[22:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “and you do not know him.”

[22:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “it”; the referent (the ox or sheep mentioned in v. 1) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[22:3]  ⁹ tn Heb “your brother” (also in v. 4).

[22:3]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “you must not hide yourself.”

[22:4]  ¹¹ tn Heb “you must not see.” See note at 22:1.

[22:4]  ¹² tn Heb “and (must not) hide yourself from them.”

[22:4]  ¹³ tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “be sure.”

[22:4]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “help him to lift them up.” In keeping with English style the singular is used in the translation, and the referent (“the animal”) has been specified for clarity.

[31:29]  ¹⁵ tn The problem with taking this as “if,” introducing a conditional clause, is finding the apodosis, if there is one. It may be that the apodosis is understood, or summed up at the end. This is the view taken here. But R. Gordis (Job, 352) wishes to take this word as the indication of the interrogative, forming the rhetorical question to affirm he has never done this. However, in that case the parenthetical verses inserted become redundant.

[31:29]  ¹⁶ sn The law required people to help their enemies if they could (Exod 23:4; also Prov 20:22). But often in the difficulties that ensued, they did exult over their enemies’ misfortune (Pss 54:7; 59:10 [11], etc.). But Job lived on a level of purity that few ever reach. Duhm said, “If chapter 31 is the crown of all ethical developments of the O.T., verse 29 is the jewel in that crown.”

[31:29]  ¹⁷ tn The Hitpael of עוּר (’ur) has the idea of “exult.”

[31:29]  ¹⁸ tn The word is רָע (ra’, “evil”) in the sense of anything that harms, interrupts, or destroys life.

[31:30]  ¹⁹ tn This verse would then be a parenthesis in which he stops to claim his innocence.

[31:30]  ²⁰ tn Heb “I have not given my palate.”

[31:30]  ²¹ tn The infinitive construct with the ל (lamed) preposition (“by asking”) serves in an epexegetical capacity here, explaining the verb of the first colon (“permitted…to sin”). To seek a curse on anyone would be a sin.

[24:17]  ²² sn The saying (vv. 17, 18) warns against gloating over the misfortune of one’s enemies. The prohibition is formed with two negated jussives “do not rejoice” and “let not be glad,” the second qualified by “your heart” as the subject, signifying the inner satisfaction of such a defeat.

[24:18]  ²³ tn Heb “and [it is] evil in his eyes.”

[24:18]  ²⁴ sn The judgment of God should strike a note of fear in the heart of people (e.g., Lev 19:17-18). His judgment is not to be taken lightly, or personalized as a victory. If that were to happen, then the Lord might take pity on the enemies in their calamity, for he champions the downtrodden and defeated. These are probably personal enemies; the imprecatory psalms and the prophetic oracles present a different set of circumstances for the downfall of God’s enemies – even the book of Proverbs says that brings joy to the community.

[5:44]  ²⁵ tc Most mss ([D] L [W] Θ Ë¹³ 33 Ï lat) read “bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who mistreat you,” before “those who persecute you.” But this is surely a motivated reading, importing the longer form of this aphorism from Luke 6:27-28. The shorter text is found in א B ˹ pc sa, as well as several fathers and versional witnesses.

[6:27]  ²⁶ sn Love your enemies is the first of four short exhortations that call for an unusual response to those who are persecuting disciples. Disciples are to relate to hostility in a completely unprecedented manner.

[6:28]  ²⁷ tn The substantival participle ἐπηρεαζόντων (ephreazontwn), sometimes translated “those who abuse” (NRSV), is better rendered “those who mistreat,” a more general term (see L&N 88.129).

[12:17]  ²⁸ tn Here ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used as a generic and refers to both men and women.

[12:18]  ²⁹ tn Here ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used as a generic and refers to both men and women.

[12:19]  ³⁰ tn Grk “the wrath,” referring to God’s wrath as the remainder of the verse shows.

[12:19]  ³¹ sn A quotation from Deut 32:35.

[12:20]  ³² sn A quotation from Prov 25:21-22.

[12:1]  ³³ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:13.

[12:1]  ³⁴ tn The participle and two adjectives “alive, holy, and pleasing to God” are taken as predicates in relation to “sacrifice,” making the exhortation more emphatic. See ExSyn 618-19.

[5:15]  ³⁵ tn Grk “but not as the transgression, so also [is] the gracious gift.”

[5:15]  ³⁶ sn Here the one man refers to Adam (cf. 5:14).