Matius 22:39-40

22:39 The second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ ¹  22:40 All the law and the prophets depend ²  on these two commandments.”

Imamat 19:18

19:18 You must not take vengeance or bear a grudge ³  against the children of your people, but you must love your neighbor as yourself. ⁴  I am the Lord.

Yesaya 1:17-18

1:17 Learn to do what is right!

Promote justice!

Give the oppressed reason to celebrate! ⁵ 

Take up the cause of the orphan!

Defend the rights of the widow! ⁶ 

1:18 ⁷ Come, let’s consider your options,” ⁸  says the Lord.

“Though your sins have stained you like the color red,

you can become ⁹  white like snow;

though they are as easy to see as the color scarlet,

you can become ¹⁰  white like wool. ¹¹ 

Yeremia 7:5-6

7:5 You must change ¹²  the way you have been living and do what is right. You must treat one another fairly. ¹³  7:6 Stop oppressing foreigners who live in your land, children who have lost their fathers, and women who have lost their husbands. ¹⁴  Stop killing innocent people ¹⁵  in this land. Stop paying allegiance to ¹⁶  other gods. That will only bring about your ruin. ¹⁷ 

Yehezkiel 18:7-8

18:7 does not oppress anyone, but gives the debtor back whatever was given in pledge, ¹⁸  does not commit robbery, ¹⁹  but gives his bread to the hungry and clothes the naked, 18:8 does not engage in usury or charge interest, ²⁰  but refrains ²¹  from wrongdoing, promotes true justice ²²  between men,

Yehezkiel 18:21

18:21 “But if the wicked person turns from all the sin he has committed and observes all my statutes and does what is just and right, he will surely live; he will not die.

Amos 5:14-15

5:14 Seek good and not evil so you can live!

Then the Lord, the God who commands armies, just might be with you,

as you claim he is.

5:15 Hate what is wrong, love what is right!

Promote ²³  justice at the city gate! ²⁴ 

Maybe the Lord, the God who commands armies, will have mercy on ²⁵  those who are left from ²⁶  Joseph. ²⁷ 

Mikha 6:8

6:8 He has told you, O man, what is good,

and what the Lord really wants from you: ²⁸ 

He wants you to ²⁹  promote ³⁰  justice, to be faithful, ³¹ 

and to live obediently before ³²  your God.

Zakharia 7:7-10

7:7 Should you not have obeyed the words that the Lord cried out through the former prophets when Jerusalem ³³  was peacefully inhabited and her surrounding cities, the Negev, and the Shephelah ³⁴  were also populated?

7:8 Again the word of the Lord came to Zechariah: 7:9 “The Lord who rules over all said, ‘Exercise true judgment and show brotherhood and compassion to each other. 7:10 You must not oppress the widow, the orphan, the foreigner, or the poor, nor should anyone secretly plot evil against his fellow human being.’

Zakharia 8:16-17

8:16 These are the things you must do: Speak the truth, each of you, to one another. Practice true and righteous judgment in your courts. ³⁵  8:17 Do not plan evil in your hearts against one another. Do not favor a false oath – these are all things that I hate,’ says the Lord.”

Maleakhi 3:5

3:5 “I ³⁶  will come to you in judgment. I will be quick to testify against those who practice divination, those who commit adultery, those who break promises, ³⁷  and those who exploit workers, widows, and orphans, ³⁸  who refuse to help ³⁹  the immigrant ⁴⁰  and in this way show they do not fear me,” says the Lord who rules over all.

Markus 12:29-34

12:29 Jesus answered, “The most important is: ‘Listen, Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. 12:30 Love ⁴¹  the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ ⁴²  12:31 The second is: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ ⁴³  There is no other commandment greater than these.” 12:32 The expert in the law said to him, “That is true, Teacher; you are right to say that he is one, and there is no one else besides him. ⁴⁴  12:33 And to love him with all your heart, with all your mind, and with all your strength ⁴⁵  and to love your neighbor as yourself ⁴⁶  is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 12:34 When Jesus saw that he had answered thoughtfully, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” Then no one dared any longer to question him.

Roma 13:8-10

Exhortation to Love Neighbors

13:8 Owe no one anything, except to love one another, for the one who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. 13:9 For the commandments, ⁴⁷  “Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not covet,” ⁴⁸  (and if there is any other commandment) are summed up in this, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” ⁴⁹  13:10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

Galatia 5:13-14

Practice Love

5:13 For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; ⁵⁰  only do not use your freedom as an opportunity to indulge your flesh, ⁵¹  but through love serve one another. ⁵²  5:14 For the whole law can be summed up in a single commandment, ⁵³  namely, “You must love your neighbor as yourself.” ⁵⁴ 

Galatia 5:1

Freedom of the Believer

5:1 For freedom ⁵⁵  Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not be subject again to the yoke ⁵⁶  of slavery.

Titus 1:5

Titus’ Task on Crete

1:5 The reason I left you in Crete was to set in order the remaining matters and to appoint elders in every town, as I directed you.

Yakobus 2:10-13

2:10 For the one who obeys the whole law but fails ⁵⁷  in one point has become guilty of all of it. ⁵⁸  2:11 For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” ⁵⁹  also said, “Do not murder.” ⁶⁰  Now if you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a violator of the law. 2:12 Speak and act as those who will be judged by a law that gives freedom. ⁶¹  2:13 For judgment is merciless for the one who has shown no mercy. But mercy triumphs over ⁶²  judgment.

[22:39]  ¹ sn A quotation from Lev 19:18.

[22:40]  ² tn Grk “hang.” The verb κρεμάννυμι (kremannumi) is used here with a figurative meaning (cf. BDAG 566 s.v. 2.b).

[19:18]  ³ 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).

[19:18]  ⁴ 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).

[1:17]  ⁵ tn The precise meaning of this line is uncertain. The translation assumes an emendation of חָמוֹץ (khamots, “oppressor [?]”) to חָמוּץ (khamuts, “oppressed”), a passive participle from II חָמַץ (khamats, “oppress”; HALOT 329 s.v. II חמץ) and takes the verb II אָשַׁר (’ashar) in the sense of “make happy” (the delocutive Piel, meaning “call/pronounce happy,” is metonymic here, referring to actually effecting happiness). The parallelism favors this interpretation, for the next two lines speak of positive actions on behalf of the destitute. The other option is to retain the MT pointing and translate, “set right the oppressor,” but the nuance “set right” is not clearly attested elsewhere for the verb I אשׁר. This verb does appear as a participle in Isa 3:12 and 9:16 with the meaning “to lead or guide.” If it can mean to “lead” or “rebuke/redirect” in this verse, the prophet could be contrasting this appeal for societal reformation (v. 17c) with a command to reorder their personal lives (v. 17a-b). J. A. Motyer (The Prophecy of Isaiah, 47) suggests that these three statements (v. 17a-c) provide “the contrast between the two ends of imperfect society, the oppressor and the needy, the one inflicting and the other suffering the hurt. Isaiah looks for a transformed society wherever it needs transforming.”

[1:17]  ⁶ tn This word refers to a woman who has lost her husband, by death or divorce. The orphan and widow are often mentioned in the OT as epitomizing the helpless and impoverished who have been left without the necessities of life due to the loss of a family provider.

[1:18]  ⁷ sn The Lord concludes his case against Israel by offering them the opportunity to be forgiven and by setting before them the alternatives of renewed blessing (as a reward for repentance) and final judgment (as punishment for persistence in sin).

[1:18]  ⁸ tn Traditionally, “let us reason together,” but the context suggests a judicial nuance. The Lord is giving the nation its options for the future.

[1:18]  ⁹ tn The imperfects must be translated as modal (indicating capability or possibility) to bring out the conditional nature of the offer. This purification will only occur if the people repent and change their ways.

[1:18]  ¹⁰ tn The imperfects must be translated as modal (indicating capability or possibility) to bring out the conditional nature of the offer. This purification will only occur if the people repent and change their ways.

[1:18]  ¹¹ tn Heb “though your sins are like red, they will become white like snow; though they are red like scarlet, they will be like wool.” The point is not that the sins will be covered up, though still retained. The metaphorical language must be allowed some flexibility and should not be pressed into a rigid literalistic mold. The people’s sins will be removed and replaced by ethical purity. The sins that are now as obvious as the color red will be washed away and the ones who are sinful will be transformed.

[7:5]  ¹² tn The infinitive absolute precedes the finite verb for emphasis.

[7:5]  ¹³ tn Heb “you must do justice between a person and his fellow/neighbor.” The infinitive absolute precedes the finite verb for emphasis.

[7:6]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “Stop oppressing foreigner, orphan, and widow.”

[7:6]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “Stop shedding innocent blood.”

[7:6]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “going/following after.” See the translator’s note at 2:5 for an explanation of the idiom involved here.

[7:6]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “going after other gods to your ruin.”

[18:7]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “restores to the debtor his pledge.” The root occurs in Exod 22:25 in reference to restoring a man’s garment as a pledge before nightfall.

[18:7]  ¹⁹ tn The Hebrew term refers to seizure of property, usually by the rich (Isa 3:14; 10:2; Mic 2:2 [see Lev 5:21, 22]).

[18:8]  ²⁰ sn This law was given in Lev 25:36.

[18:8]  ²¹ tn Heb, “turns back his hand.”

[18:8]  ²² tn Heb “justice of truth.”

[5:15]  ²³ tn Heb “set up, establish.” In the ancient Near East it was the responsibility especially of the king to establish justice. Here the prophet extends that demand to local leaders and to the nation as a whole (cf. 5:24).

[5:15]  ²⁴ sn Legal disputes were resolved in the city gate (see the note in v. 12). This repetition of this phrase serves to highlight a deliberate contrast to the injustices cited in vv. 11-13.

[5:15]  ²⁵ tn Or “will show favor to.”

[5:15]  ²⁶ tn Or “the remnant of” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV); CEV “what’s left of your people.”

[5:15]  ²⁷ sn Joseph (= Ephraim and Manasseh), as the most prominent of the Israelite tribes, represents the entire northern kingdom.

[6:8]  ²⁸ sn What the Lord really wants from you. Now the prophet switches roles and answers the hypothetical worshiper’s question. He makes it clear that the Lord desires proper attitudes more than ritual and sacrifice.

[6:8]  ²⁹ tn Heb “except.” This statement is actually linked with what precedes, “What does he want from you except….”

[6:8]  ³⁰ tn Heb “to do,” in the sense of “promote.”

[6:8]  ³¹ tn Heb “to love faithfulness.”

[6:8]  ³² tn Heb “to walk humbly [or perhaps, “carefully”] with.”

[7:7]  ³³ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[7:7]  ³⁴ sn The Shephelah is the geographical region between the Mediterranean coastal plain and the Judean hill country. The Hebrew term can be translated “lowlands” (cf. ASV), “foothills” (NAB, NASB, NLT), or “steppes.”

[8:16]  ³⁵ sn For a similar reference to true and righteous judgment see Mic 6:8.

[3:5]  ³⁶ tn The first person pronoun (a reference to the Lord) indicates that the Lord himself now speaks (see also v. 1). The prophet speaks in vv. 2-4 (see also 2:17).

[3:5]  ³⁷ tn Heb “those who swear [oaths] falsely.” Cf. NIV “perjurers”; TEV “those who give false testimony”; NLT “liars.”

[3:5]  ³⁸ tn Heb “and against the oppressors of the worker for a wage, [the] widow and orphan.”

[3:5]  ³⁹ tn Heb “those who turn aside.”

[3:5]  ⁴⁰ tn Or “resident foreigner”; NIV “aliens”; NRSV “the alien.”

[12:30]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “You will love.” The future indicative is used here with imperatival force (see ExSyn 452 and 569).

[12:30]  ⁴² sn A quotation from Deut 6:4-5 and Josh 22:5 (LXX). The fourfold reference to different parts of the person says, in effect, that one should love God with all one’s being.

[12:31]  ⁴³ sn A quotation from Lev 19:18.

[12:32]  ⁴⁴ sn A quotation from Deut 4:35.

[12:33]  ⁴⁵ sn A quotation from Deut 6:5.

[12:33]  ⁴⁶ sn A quotation from Lev 19:18.

[13:9]  ⁴⁷ tn Grk “For the…” (with the word “commandments” supplied for clarity). The Greek article (“the”) is used here as a substantiver to introduce the commands that are quoted from the second half of the Decalogue (ExSyn 238).

[13:9]  ⁴⁸ sn A quotation from Exod 20:13-15, 17; Deut 5:17-19, 21.

[13:9]  ⁴⁹ sn A quotation from Lev 19:18.

[5:13]  ⁵⁰ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:11.

[5:13]  ⁵¹ 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.”

[5:13]  ⁵² 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).

[5:14]  ⁵³ tn Or “can be fulfilled in one commandment.”

[5:14]  ⁵⁴ sn A quotation from Lev 19:18.

[5:1]  ⁵⁵ tn Translating the dative as “For freedom” shows the purpose for Christ setting us free; however, it is also possible to take the phrase in the sense of means or instrument (“with [or by] freedom”), referring to the freedom mentioned in 4:31 and implied throughout the letter.

[5:1]  ⁵⁶ sn Here the yoke figuratively represents the burdensome nature of slavery.

[2:10]  ⁵⁷ tn Or “stumbles.”

[2:10]  ⁵⁸ tn Grk “guilty of all.”

[2:11]  ⁵⁹ sn A quotation from Exod 20:14 and Deut 5:18.

[2:11]  ⁶⁰ sn A quotation from Exod 20:13 and Deut 5:17.

[2:12]  ⁶¹ tn Grk “a law of freedom.”

[2:13]  ⁶² tn Grk “boasts against, exults over,” in victory.