God & Savior

Matthew 5:44

But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
Matthew 5:44
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Study notes

Jesus tells His followers to love their enemies and pray for those who persecute them.

Explanation

Jesus has just quoted a common saying: love your neighbour and hate your enemy (5:43). He goes further than that. His followers are to love and pray even for those who hurt them, as God shows kindness to all (5:45).

Original language
  • ἐγὼ (egō): I/we
    Greek · Personal pronoun, 1st person, nominative, singular · Strong's G1473 · text: NA28 (as recorded in TAGNT)

    I myself: Jesus speaks with His own authority.

    Source: STEP Bible (Tyndale House, Cambridge), TAGNT: Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament, STEPBible-Data commit ed476a8, Matthew 5:44, word 1

  • ἀγαπᾶτε (agapate): to love
    Greek · Verb, present, active, imperative, 2nd person plural · Strong's G0025 · text: NA28 (as recorded in TAGNT)

    Love (agapaō).

    Source: STEP Bible (Tyndale House, Cambridge), TAGNT: Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament, STEPBible-Data commit ed476a8, Matthew 5:44, word 5

  • ἐχθροὺς (echthrous): enemy
    Greek · Noun, accusative, plural, masculine · Strong's G2190 · text: NA28 (as recorded in TAGNT)

    Enemies.

    Source: STEP Bible (Tyndale House, Cambridge), TAGNT: Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament, STEPBible-Data commit ed476a8, Matthew 5:44, word 7

  • προσεύχεσθε (proseuchesthe): to pray
    Greek · Verb, present, middle or passive (deponent), imperative, 2nd person plural · Strong's G4336 · text: NA28 (as recorded in TAGNT)

    Pray.

    Source: STEP Bible (Tyndale House, Cambridge), TAGNT: Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament, STEPBible-Data commit ed476a8, Matthew 5:44, word 10

  • διωκόντων (diōkontōn): to pursue
    Greek · Verb, present, active, participle, genitive, plural, masculine · Strong's G1377 · text: NA28 (as recorded in TAGNT)

    Persecuting.

    Source: STEP Bible (Tyndale House, Cambridge), TAGNT: Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament, STEPBible-Data commit ed476a8, Matthew 5:44, word 13

Cross-references
  • Luke 6:27-28 · Parallel account

    Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you.

  • Romans 12:14 · Same theme

    Bless those who persecute you.

  • Luke 23:34 · Same theme

    Jesus prays for those crucifying Him.

Sources

Original language and places

Reference data from open datasets, shown as published by their sources. Word-by-word English is a literal guide, not a translation.

Original language (Greek)

ἐγὼ δὲ λέγω ὑμῖν· ἀγαπᾶτε τοὺς ἐχθροὺς ὑμῶν καὶ προσεύχεσθε ὑπὲρ τῶν διωκόντων ὑμᾶς,

  1. ἐγὼegō“I myself”
    Personal pronoun, 1st person, nominative, singular · from ἐγώ · “I/we” · Strong's G1473
  2. δὲde“however”
    Conjunction · from δέ · “but/and” · Strong's G1161
  3. λέγωlegō“say”
    Verb, present, active, indicative, 1st person singular · “to speak” · Strong's G3004G
  4. ὑμῖν·humin“to you;”
    Personal pronoun, 2nd person, dative, plural · from σύ · “you” · Strong's G4771
  5. ἀγαπᾶτεagapate“do love”
    Verb, present, active, imperative, 2nd person plural · from ἀγαπάω · “to love” · Strong's G0025
  6. τοὺςtous“the”
    Article, accusative, plural, masculine · from ὁ · “the/this/who” · Strong's G3588
  7. ἐχθροὺςechthrous“enemies”
    Noun, accusative, plural, masculine · from ἐχθρός · “enemy” · Strong's G2190
  8. ὑμῶνhumōn“of you”
    Personal pronoun, 2nd person, genitive, plural · from σύ · “you” · Strong's G4771
  9. καὶkai“and”
    Conjunction · from καί · “and” · Strong's G2532
  10. προσεύχεσθεproseuchesthe“do pray”
    Verb, present, middle or passive (deponent), imperative, 2nd person plural · from προσεύχομαι · “to pray” · Strong's G4336
  11. ὑπὲρhuper“for”
    Preposition · from ὑπέρ · “above/for” · Strong's G5228
  12. τῶνtōn“those”
    Article, genitive, plural, masculine · from ὁ · “the/this/who” · Strong's G3588
  13. διωκόντωνdiōkontōn“persecuting”
    Verb, present, active, participle, genitive, plural, masculine · from διώκω · “to pursue” · Strong's G1377
  14. ὑμᾶς,humas“you,”
    Personal pronoun, 2nd person, accusative, plural · from σύ · “you” · Strong's G4771
  • Prepared by the God & Savior team. Not yet reviewed by an editor.
  • Greek words: STEP Bible (STEPBible.org), based on work at Tyndale House, Cambridge. CC BY 4.0. Source (version ed476a8)