Ten Commandments Clarifiaction

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I recently read an excerpt of a book by anthropologist John Hartung, in which he makes the point that “neighbor” (in the context of the Ten Commandments) was translated from a word which means “fellow Jew.” This confused me because “Love thy neighbor,” according to Hartung, was originally “Love thy fellow Jew.” Why would this commandment (as well as the others) extend only to fellow Jews? This doesn’t seem like a commandment given by a loving God.

As a side note, I’m not Catholic, or Christian for that matter, but please don’t take this as an attack. I’m not trying to be sarcastic; I’m just wondering how people who have studied the Bible feel about this interesting (mis?)translation.
 
The Old Testament was a preparation for the New. As Moses permitted Jews to divorce because of the hardness of their hearts though that was not God’s purpose for marriage in the beginning, the Jews first needed to learn to love their fellow Jews before they could learn to love Jews and non-Jews alike.
 
I’ve never heard of that before, and not being a Hebrew scholar, have no idea if that is even a possible translation. 😉

However, what is clear, is that Jesus says that all are our neighbor. Here is the story of the Good Samaritan. I don’t know if you know it our not, but the short version is a Jew gets beaten up by some robber on a road. A couple of people, religious leaders of the time, go by, ignoring him. Finally a Samaritan, an enemy of the Jews, comes by, stops, helps, and pays for all the medical care. Jesus asks which one is the neighbor to the hurt guy, and obviously the answer is the one who stopped to help. Moral of the story, we should love all neighbors, even those who we would consider enemies. 👍
 
Thank you both for the prompt responses.

Todd,
If the Old Testament was a preparation for the New Testament, why weren’t new commandments given? I understand that they were meant to be adapted from applying only to Jews to applying to everyone, but I’m sure there are people out there who could read the passage I read and think God only intends his people to love their own. New commandments could have prevented confusion about this.

Karen,
I’m very familiar with Jesus’ parables (my dad is actually a Methodist minister), and the Good Samaritan leads me to another thought. Jesus clearly believed that everyone should be treated well by everyone else, but if what Hartung is saying is true, this idea seems very different from the moral standards of the Old Testament God.

btw, I’m not a Hebrew scholar either, but I’m going to take an anthropologist’s word for it…that is, unless I have reason to believe he’s incorrect 🙂
 
pzona said:
New commandments could have prevented confusion about this.
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Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, chapters 5 through 7 of Matthew, can be looked upon as Jesus’ refinement of the Commandments delivered by Moses. For instance, Jesus says, “You have heard the commandment imposed on your forefathers, ‘You shall not commit murder; every murderer shall be liable to judgment.’ What I say to you is: everyone who grows angry with his brother shall be liable to judgment…” (Matthew 5:21-22) Again, Jesus says, “You have heard the commandment, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ What I say to you is: anyone who looks lustfully at a woman has already committed adultery with her in his thoughts.” (Matthew 5:27-28) Again, Jesus said, “You have heard the commandment, ‘You shall love your countryman but hate your enemy.’ My command to you is love your enemies, pray for your persecutors.” (Matthew 5:43-44) And later on, “Treat others the way you would have them treat you: this sums up the law and the prophets.” (Matthew 7:12)
 
If you read further into exodus and you get into social laws their are Laws that concern the foreigner and how the should be treated.Strangers are to be treated well because Israelites were to remember that “they were once strangers in a strange land”. The laws were geared to the Israelites and the social interaction among fellow Jews.but I’d have to say it was quite common to have one set of laws for the native of a land and a different one for non natives,& indigent population.Israelite law for non Israelites was very humane and very much ahead of th pack in ancient near east. In most ancient nations of NE foreigners had little or no rights, couldn’t buy property and were targets of abuse.
Abraham insists on buying propety outright at macpelah to use as a burial plot even though he is offered it at little or no expense. That he was even allowed to purchase property says much about the esteem abraham was held in as well as his power(in number of retainers) and wealth(considerable).Abraham buys the property at full price and is the legal legitimate owner which meant that even though considered a foreigner a contract meant that this was abraham’s property and no one could remove it from him into perpetuity.
love your neighbor is actually not from exodus but Leviticus 19.
God Bless
 
Love thy neighbor comes from Leviticus:

Lev 19:15 "You shall do no injustice in judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor.

Lev 19:16 You shall not go up and down as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not stand forth against the life of your neighbor: I am the LORD.

Lev 19:17 "You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason with your neighbor, lest you bear sin because of him.

Lev 19:18 You shall not take vengeance or bear any grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.
Lev 19:33 "When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong.

Lev 19:34 The stranger who sojourns with you shall be to you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.
Jesus summed these up as Love your neighbor as yourself, and love your enemies.
 
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