“love your enemies”

The verse

Matthew 5:43-45 (BSB):

You have heard that it was said, “Love your neighbor” and “Hate your enemy.” But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

Luke 6:27-28 expands the saying:

But to those of you who will listen, I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.

The choice of verb

Greek had several words for love. The most common in popular discussion:

• Erōs (ἔρως) — desire, romantic love (does not appear in NT)
• Storgē (στοργή) — familial affection (does not appear in NT)
• Philia / phileō (φιλία / φιλέω) — friendship, affectionate love
• Agapē / agapaō (ἀγάπη / ἀγαπάω) — the NT’s principal word for love, often glossed as committed/intentional love

Whether these were rigid distinctions in actual NT usage is debated (see our entry on agape and our translation entry on agapaō/phileō in John 21). What is clearer is what the verb agapaō does and does not necessarily contain.

BDAG s.v. agapaō glosses it: “to have a warm regard for and interest in another, to love.” The verb does not require emotional warmth as its content; it can name an act of will, an intentional commitment to another’s good. Warmth can be present; it is not required.

Why the choice of agapaō makes the command possible

You cannot, in any meaningful sense, command:

• Affectionate feeling (storgē)
• Friendship (philia) — friendship requires reciprocity and shared character
• Romantic desire (erōs)

These are responses to qualities in the other; you cannot will them into existence by deciding to.

You can command:

• Intentional action toward another’s good
• Refusal to repay harm with harm
• Specific behaviour: pray for them, bless them, do good to them

The command “love your enemies” is possible to obey because agapaō names what can be commanded. It does not require warm feeling toward the enemy; it requires acting toward the enemy’s good. Luke’s expansion makes this concrete: pray for them, bless them, do good to them.

What the saying does and does not say

The saying does:

• Command intentional action toward those who oppose you
• Specify the action through Luke’s expansion (do good, bless, pray)
• Ground the command in the character of God (“He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good”)

The saying does not:

• Require feelings of warmth toward enemies
• Forbid the recognition that enemies are enemies
• Specify the relationship between this command and other ethical considerations (justice, self-defence, defence of others)

The first-century audience hearing this saying lived under occupation by an enemy power (Rome). The application to enemies was concrete and pressing — not abstract or philosophical.

For the broader Sermon on the Mount, see our passage entry.