You Shall Love Your Neighbor As Yourself

“YAHWEH spoke to Moses and said, ‘Speak to the entire assembly of the people of Israel and say to them: Be holy for I, YAHWEH, your GOD, AM holy.’

Do not steal or lie or deceive one another.  Do not swear falsely by MY name so as to profane the name of your GOD; I AM YAHWEH.

Do not oppress your neighbor or rob him.  The wages of a hired man are not to remain with you all night until morning.  You shall not curse a deaf man nor put a stumbling block in the way of the blind; but you shall fear your GOD; I AM YAHWEH.

Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor nor bow to the great; you are to judge your neighbor fairly so as not to share in his guilt.  Do not go about as a slanderer of your people and do not seek the death of your neighbor; I AM YAHWEH.

Do not hate your brother in your heart; rebuke your neighbor frankly so as not to share in his guilt.  Do not seek revenge or nurture a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself; I AM YAHWEH.” – Leviticus 19:1-2, 11-18

 

(Among so many laws which show the still primitive level of GOD’s people, we marvel to find some prescriptions that teach deeply human attitudes often lacking in us.

These prescriptions, addressed to a race of small farmers, must be interpreted in order to adapt them to the circumstances of our present lives.

They teach us that the “right of ownership” is not absolute and that it never justifies oppression of the poor, nor does it excuse us from helping them.  We are ordered to care for our brothers and sisters to assure everyone what is necessary to live.

Do not seek revenge… but love your neighbor as yourself.  Here, neighbor means the brother of the same race.  They must be loved and there must be solidarity with them because GOD embraces with the same love all those who belong to HIS people.

Such a solidarity with those of one’s own nation exists in all religions but there is as well the aggression or hostility towards the foreigner.  When JESUS speaks to us of love which does not cease at the frontiers of a people [Luke 10:25; Matthew 5:43], it will not be a simple extension of the term “neighbor”: it will be the discovery of another relation beyond the solidarity practiced naturally by humans as in the case with certain animals.)

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