Charles Ellicott Commentary Matthew 5:47

"And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more [than others?] do not even the Gentiles the same?" — Matthew 5:47 (ASV)

If you salute your brethren — The prominence of salutation in the social life of the East gives a special vividness to this precept. To utter the formal “Peace be with you,” and to follow that up with many compliments and wishes, was to recognize those you saluted as friends and brothers. But the very heathen did this (heathen, rather than “publicans,” is the true reading here): were the followers of Christ to be content with copying heathen customs?