Leviticus 19:17–18
The law asks us not to hate, take revenge or hold a grudge
Study it word by word17You shall not hate your brother in your heart. You shall surely rebuke your neighbor, and you shall not bear sin because of him.
18You shall not take vengeance, and you shall not bear a grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am YHWH.
In its context
15You shall not do injustice in judgment: you shall not show favor to the poor and you shall not honor the great; in righteousness you shall judge your neighbor.
16You shall not go about slandering among your people. You shall not stand idly by over the blood of your neighbor. I am YHWH.
…
19You shall keep my statutes. Your beasts you shall not let breed with two kinds; your field you shall not sow with two kinds, and a garment of two kinds, of mixed fabric, shall not come on you.
20And if a man lies with a woman with an emission of semen, and she is a slave woman promised to a man, but she has not been redeemed at all nor been given her freedom, there shall be punishment; they shall not be put to death, for she was not free.
Its words in the original
- תִשְׂנָאtisna· hate
Hate. In Hebrew it ranges from the hatred of an enemy to simply "loving less". "Those who hate you" are enemies.
- אָחִיachi· brother
Brother; also a close relative, or someone of the same people.
- לְבָבֶlevave· heart
Heart: the inner part of the person, where one thinks, feels and decides.
- הוֹכֵחַhocheach· reprove, decide
Decide who is right; reprove, correct, rebuke; also argue a case. In the passive, be shown to be in the right.
- עֲמִיתֶamite· neighbor, fellow
Neighbor, companion: a fellow member of the people with whom one deals.
- תִשָּׂאtisa· lift, carry, bear
Lift up, carry, bear. "Bear sin" is to suffer its consequences; said of God, "taking away" sin is forgiving it. "Lift up the eyes" is to look.
- חֵטְאchet· offense, sin
Offense, sin; its penalty.
- תִקֹּםtikom· avenge
Avenge: make someone pay for the wrong done; take vengeance.
- תִטֹּרtitor· keep, bear a grudge
Keep, take care of (a vineyard); keep anger, bear a grudge.
- בְּנֵיbene· son
Son. In the plural it can include sons and daughters, and also grandsons and descendants. "Son of..." also says what group someone belongs to ("sons of Israel" = Israelites).
- עַמֶּame· people
People: a human group joined by kinship, history and destiny. "My people", said by God, is Israel. Also the people as a crowd, or troops.
- אָהַבְתָּahavta· love
Love, have affection for someone: a parent for a child, a husband for a wife, a friend for a friend, a person for God; also like, desire.
- רֵעֲrea· neighbor, friend
The other person one deals with: companion, neighbor, friend; in the laws, "neighbor". "One to another" is "a man to his neighbor".
- יְהוָהyehva· YHWH
The personal name of the God of Israel, written in Hebrew with four letters, Y-H-W-H, without vowels. Out of reverence Jews stopped pronouncing it and read "Adonai" (Lord), so many Bibles put "the LORD" or "Jehovah". This translation keeps the four letters. The name is related to the verb "to be" (Exodus 3:14-15). He is not a god other than Elohim: "YHWH Elohim" is the same Creator God, called by his name.