Luke 6:28

Vers. 27, 28. “But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you. 28. Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.”

There is a break in the connection between Luk 6:26 and Luk 6:27. De Wette and Meyer think that the link is to be found in this thought understood: “Notwithstanding these curses which I pronounce upon the rich, your persecutors, I command you not to hate, but to love them.” But in the verses that follow, it is not the rich particularly that are represented as the enemies whom His disciples should love. The precept of love to enemies is given in the most general manner. Rather is it the new law which Jesus announces here, as in Matthew. The link of connection with what goes before is this: In the midst of this hatred of which you will be the objects (Luk 6:22), it will be your duty to realize in the world the perfect law which I to-day proclaim to you. Tholuck, in his Explanation of the Sermon on the Mount (p. 498), takes exception to Luke for giving these precepts a place here, where they have no connection; but he thus shows that he has failed to understand the structure of this discourse in our Gospel, as we have exhibited it. In this form of expression: But I say unto you which hear, there is an echo as it were of the antithesis of Matthew: “Ye have heard...But I say unto you.” By this expression, you which hear, Jesus opposes the actual hearers surrounding Him to those imaginary hearers to whom the preceding woes were addressed.

We must conceive of the words, Luk 6:27 and Luk 6:28, as having been pronounced with some kind of enthusiasm. These precepts overflow with love. You have only to meet every manifestation of hatred with a fresh manifestation of love. Love! Love! You can never love too much! The term love denotes the essence of the new principle. Then come its manifestations: first, in acts (do good); then in words (bless); lastly, the highest manifestation, which is at once act and word (pray for). These manifestations of love correspond with the exhibitions of hatred by which they are called forth: ἔχθρα, hatred, the inward feeling; μισεῖν, to hold in abhorrence, the acts; καταρασθαι, to curse, the words. ᾿Επηρεάζειν (probably from ἐπί and αἴρεσθαι, to rise against, to thwart) corresponds with intercession. Jesus therefore here requires more than that which to natural selfishness appears the highest virtue: not to render evil for evil. He demands from His disciples, according to the expression of St. Paul (Rom 12:21), that they shall overcome evil with good; Jesus could not yet reveal the source whence His disciples were to derive this entirely new passion, this divine charity which displays its riches of forgiveness and salvation towards a rebellious world at enmity with God (Rom 5:8-10).

In the parallel passage in Matthew, the two intervening propositions have probably been transferred from Luke.

Frédéric Louis Godet — Commentaries on Luke, John, Romans, and 1 Corinthians — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1870s–1890s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

28. pray for them which despitefully use you] The Greek word implies the coarsest insults, and is found in 1Pe_3:16. St Luke alone records our Lord’s prayer for His murderers, Luk_23:34, from which St Stephen learnt his, Act_7:60.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek,.... The right cheek,

offer also the other; the left cheek, by turning it to him, that he may smite that likewise, if he thinks fit: by which proverbial expression, Christ teaches patience in bearing injuries and affronts, and not to seek private revenge; but rather, suffer more, than indulge such a temper; and for the same purpose is what follows urged:

and him that taketh away thy cloak, forbid not to take thy coat also: the phrase is inverted in Matthew; See Gill on Mat 5:39. See Gill on Mat 5:40.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

28 Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.

Ver. 28. See Mat 5:44; Rom 12:20.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Pray for them which despitefully use you. Jesus himself, on his cross, when he prayed that his murderers might be forgiven, for they knew not what they were doing, and his true servant Stephen, who copied faithfully his Lord in his own dying moments, are beautiful though extreme examples of what is meant here. It is St. Luke alone who mentions this act of Jesus on the cross; it is St. Luke, again, who has preserved St. Stephen"s words, uttered while they were stoning him to death. He would show how the Lord"s command could be carried out.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

28. προσεὑχεσθε περὶ τῶν ἐπηρεαζόντων ὑμᾶς. The Greek word implies the coarsest insults, and is found in 1Pe 3:16. St Luke alone records our Lord’s prayer for His murderers, Luk 23:34, from which St Stephen learnt his, Act 7:60.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

28. εὐλογεῖτε τούς καταρωμένους ὑμᾶς. In class. Grk. εὐλογεῖν means “praise, honour,” whether gods or men: comp. 1:64, 2:28; Jas 3:9. The meaning “invoke blessings upon” is confined to LXX and N.T. (Gen 14:19, Gen 14:22:17, 48:9; Rom 12:14; Act 3:26).

In class. Grk. καταρᾶσθαι is followed by a dat. (Hom. Hdt. Xen. Dem.), as in Ep. Jer. 65: but in N.T. by an acc. (Mar 11:21; Jas 3:9); and the interpolation Mat 5:44.—For προσεύχεσθε περί we might have expected πρ. ὑπέρ, and the MSS. here and elsewhere are divided between ὑπέρ and περί (Gal 1:4; Col 1:3; Rom 1:8). But comp. Act 8:15; Heb 13:18; Col 4:3. Win. xlvii. 1, 2, P. 478.

τῶν ἐπηρεαζόντων ὑμᾶς. Aristotle defines ἐπηρεασμός as ἐμποδισμὸς ταῖς βουλήσεσιν, οὐχ ἵνα τι αὑτῷ, ἀλλʼ ἵνα μὴ ἐκείνῳ (Rhet. 2:2, 3.). It is “spiteful treatment.”

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.