Charles Ellicott Commentary Matthew 5:44

"but I say unto you, love your enemies, and pray for them that persecute you;" — Matthew 5:44 (ASV)

Bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you. The latter words are omitted in so many of the most ancient manuscripts that most recent editors believe they were inserted in the fourth or fifth century to bring the verse into verbal agreement with Luke 6:28.

Taking the verse as it stands here, we note two things:

1. The command to love our neighbor (Leviticus 19:18) is extended to include even those whom natural impulse prompts us to hate.
2. Stress is placed on prayer as the highest expression of that love.

In such cases, circumstances may prevent actions that would be rejected and words that would be met with scorn. But the prayer that they too might be delivered from the evil that has been their curse is always in our power. In praying this way, we are drawing near to the mind of God and asking that our wills may be like His.