It is sometimes noted that the statement, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy," does not exist in the Old Testament.

However, those familiar with 1st-century rabbinic Judaism recognize this as a reference to a saying that was taught by certain rabbis and by the Qumranites. The Manual of Discipline 1:9-11 says, "to love all the sons of light, each according to his lot in the Council of God, and to hate all the sons of darkness, each according to his guilt in the vengeance of God."

In Matthew 5:43, Jesus says:

> "Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy."

Critics point out that the command to 'hate thine enemy' does not exist anywhere in the Old Testament. This is correct, but it misunderstands Jesus' target. Jesus is not quoting the Old Testament scriptures; he is addressing the corrupted oral traditions and legalistic interpretations taught by certain rabbis and sectarian groups (like the Qumran community) of his day. His phrase 'You have heard that it was said' points specifically to popular contemporary teaching, not the Torah itself.

Problem: Jesus said here of the OT, “You have heard that it was said, `You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ ” How could a God of love (Ex. 20:2, 6; 1 John 4:16) command them to hate their enemies?

Solution: God never commanded His people at any time to hate their enemies

Expanded from Mal. 1:3:
Problem: In the latter part of verse 2 and the first part of verse 3, God says, "Yet Jacob I have loved; But Esau I have hated." But, John says, "God is love" (1 John 4:16). How can a God of love hate any one person?

Solution: First of all, God is not speaking about the person Esau, but of the nation that came from him, namely, Edom. So God is not expressing hate toward any person here.

Further, the nation Edom was deserving of God's indignation for their "violence against your brother Jacob [Israel]" (Obad. 10). They sided with Israel's enemies, blocked the way of their escape, and even delivered up those who remained (vv. 12–14).

Finally, Christians understand that God hates the works of the sinner, not the sinner himself. Like the Nicolaitans, John commends the believers that "hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate" (Rev. 2:6; also .

. God is an unchanging God of love (cf. 1 John 4:16; Mal. 3:6), and He cannot hate any person, nor can He command anyone else to do so. Jesus said the greatest commands were to love God and to love our neighbor as ourself (Matt. 22:36–37, 39). In point of fact, this very command is taken by Jesus from the OT. Leviticus 19:18 declares: “you shall love your neighbor as yourself”!

Why then did Jesus say the OT taught that we should “hate our enemy” (Matt. 5:43)? He didn’t, and for a very good reason. Nowhere in the OT can any such verse be found. In fact, Jesus is not quoting the OT here, but the pharisaical misinterpretation of the OT. Notice, Jesus does not say “it is written,” as He often did when quoting the OT (cf. Matt. 4:4, 7, 10). Rather, He said, “you have heard,” by which He meant the Jewish “tradition” that had grown up around the OT and by which they had made the commandment of God of no effect (cf. Matt. 15:3, 6). The truth is that the God of love commanded love both in the OT and NT and never at any time commanded that we hate other persons.