God & Savior

Matthew 7:12

In everything, then, do to others as you would have them do to you. For this is the essence of the Law and the Prophets.
Matthew 7:12
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Study notes

Treat others the way you want them to treat you; this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

Explanation

This is often called the Golden Rule. Jesus says it sums up what the Law and the Prophets teach about how we treat others. It asks us to act first, not only to avoid harm.

Original language
  • θέλητε (thelēte): to will/desire
    Greek · Verb, present, active, subjunctive, 2nd person plural · Strong's G2309 · text: NA28 (as recorded in TAGNT)

    You would desire, want.

    Source: STEP Bible (Tyndale House, Cambridge), TAGNT: Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament, STEPBible-Data commit ed476a8, Matthew 7:12, word 5

  • ποιεῖτε (poieite): to do/make
    Greek · Verb, present, active, imperative, 2nd person plural · Strong's G4160G · text: NA28 (as recorded in TAGNT)

    Do, act.

    Source: STEP Bible (Tyndale House, Cambridge), TAGNT: Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament, STEPBible-Data commit ed476a8, Matthew 7:12, word 14

  • νόμος (nomos): law
    Greek · Noun, nominative, singular, masculine · Strong's G3551 · text: NA28 (as recorded in TAGNT)

    The Law: the books of Moses.

    Source: STEP Bible (Tyndale House, Cambridge), TAGNT: Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament, STEPBible-Data commit ed476a8, Matthew 7:12, word 20

  • προφῆται (prophētai): prophet
    Greek · Noun, nominative, plural, masculine · Strong's G4396 · text: NA28 (as recorded in TAGNT)

    The Prophets.

    Source: STEP Bible (Tyndale House, Cambridge), TAGNT: Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament, STEPBible-Data commit ed476a8, Matthew 7:12, word 23

Cross-references
  • Luke 6:31 · Parallel account

    Do to others as you would have them do to you.

  • Matthew 22:39-40 · Same theme

    All the Law hangs on the commands to love.

  • Romans 13:10 · Same theme

    Love is the fulfilment of the law.

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)

Πάντα οὖν ὅσα ἐὰν θέλητε ἵνα ποιῶσιν ὑμῖν οἱ ἄνθρωποι, οὕτως καὶ ὑμεῖς ποιεῖτε αὐτοῖς· οὗτος γάρ ἐστιν ὁ νόμος καὶ οἱ προφῆται.

  1. ΠάνταPanta“All things”
    Adjective, accusative, plural, neuter · from πᾶς · “all” · Strong's G3956
  2. οὖνoun“therefore”
    Conjunction · “therefore/then” · Strong's G3767
  3. ὅσαhosa“as much as”
    Correlative pronoun, accusative, plural, neuter · from ὅσος · “just as/how much” · Strong's G3745
  4. ἐὰνean“maybe”
    Conditional · from ἐάν · “if” · Strong's G1437
  5. θέλητεthelēte“you shall desire”
    Verb, present, active, subjunctive, 2nd person plural · from θέλω · “to will/desire” · Strong's G2309
  6. ἵναina“that”
    Conjunction · “in order that/to” · Strong's G2443
  7. ποιῶσινpoiōsin“they shall enact”
    Verb, present, active, subjunctive, 3rd person plural · from ποιέω · “to do/make” · Strong's G4160G
  8. ὑμῖνhumin“for you”
    Personal pronoun, 2nd person, dative, plural · from σύ · “you” · Strong's G4771
  9. οἱhoi“the”
    Article, nominative, plural, masculine · from ὁ · “the/this/who” · Strong's G3588
  10. ἄνθρωποι,anthrōpoi“men,”
    Noun, nominative, plural, masculine · from ἄνθρωπος · “a human” · Strong's G0444
  11. οὕτωςhoutōs“so”
    Adverb · from οὕτω, οὕτως · “thus(-ly)” · Strong's G3779
  12. καὶkai“also”
    Conjunction · from καί · “and” · Strong's G2532
  13. ὑμεῖςhumeis“you yourselves”
    Personal pronoun, 2nd person, nominative, plural · from σύ · “you” · Strong's G4771
  14. ποιεῖτεpoieite“do enact”
    Verb, present, active, imperative, 2nd person plural · from ποιέω · “to do/make” · Strong's G4160G
  15. αὐτοῖς·autois“for them;”
    Personal pronoun, dative, plural, masculine · from αὐτός · “he/she/it/self” · Strong's G0846
  16. οὗτοςhoutos“This”
    Demonstrative pronoun, nominative, singular, masculine · “this/he/she/it” · Strong's G3778
  17. γάρgar“for”
    Conjunction · “for” · Strong's G1063
  18. ἐστινestin“is”
    Verb, present, active, indicative, 3rd person singular · from εἰμί · “to be” · Strong's G1510
  19. ὁho“the”
    Article, nominative, singular, masculine · “the/this/who” · Strong's G3588
  20. νόμοςnomos“law”
    Noun, nominative, singular, masculine · “law” · Strong's G3551
  21. καὶkai“and”
    Conjunction · from καί · “and” · Strong's G2532
  22. οἱhoi“the”
    Article, nominative, plural, masculine · from ὁ · “the/this/who” · Strong's G3588
  23. προφῆται.prophētai“prophets.”
    Noun, nominative, plural, masculine · from προφήτης · “prophet” · Strong's G4396
  • 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)