Addressing the troublesome enmity fracturing Hebrew society and the larger world, Christ submits a "Golden Rule" that, while harkening on ideas of the past, also submits a new ring of demand, loving both internally and externally not only one's friend, but also one's enemy. This serves, perhaps, as a means of trumpeting the role of goodwill in social calm, an ultimate end to the hatred that limns the contemporary world.

             While the text of Matthew 5:38-48 is postured in its nascent form by the Hebrew texts and teachings, they continue to play a role of interaction throughout the continuation of the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus' recitation of, "you have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth,'" interlocks the legal statements purported in Exodus 21:24, Leviticus 24:20, and Deuteronomy 19:21. (Matthew 5:38) By adding, "Do not resists an evildoer," he submits new Torah, introducing new wisdom to the sound foundations already socially in place and culturally accepted. (Matthew 5:39).

             As older voices continue to mingle with new, textual difficulties are born in the Sermon the Mount. While the Matthean text draws its strength from the Hebrew texts, the repetition of Jesus prepares the audience for addition; "You have heard it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.'"(Matthew 5:43) While the first part of the verse comes directly from Leviticus 19:18, suggesting that the audience has been told to "hate" enemies is problematic. The HarperCollins Study Bible warns of this blatantly forward terminology.3 The use of 'hate' is not scriptural, although it can be associated with the Hebrew text found in Psalm 139, "I hate them with perfect hatred; I count them with my enemies." Further research suggests too that while the word 'hate' is used more freely in reference throughout the Gospels, its place exists more in historic social reality than in the Hebrew Bible; the HCSB says that the communal ideology for enemy hatred is furthered by the Role of the Community evidenced in the Dead Seas Scrolls.