# Connecting Statement:

Jesus continues to teach about how he has come to fulfill the Old Testament law. Here he begins to speak about loving enemies.

# General Information:

Jesus is talking to a group of people about what they as individuals should and should not do. The "you" is plural in "you have heard" and "I say to you." The "you" and "your" are singular in "You must love your neighbor and hate your enemy," but in some languages they may need to be plural. All occurrences of "you" and "your" after that are plural. (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-you]])

# that it was said

This can be stated in active form. See how you translated this in [Matthew 5:27](./27.md). AT: "that God God said" or "that Moses said" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-activepassive]])

# your neighbor

Here the word "neighbor" does not refer to a specific neighbor, but to any members of one's community or people group. These are people whom one usually desires to treat kindly or at least believes he ought to treat kindly. AT: "your countrymen" or "those who belong to your people group" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-genericnoun]])

# But I say

Jesus agrees with God and his word, but he does not agree with the way the religious leaders have applied God's word. The "I" is emphatic. This indicates that what Jesus says is equally important to the original commands from God. Try to translate this phrase in a way that shows that emphasis. See how you translated this in [Matthew 5:22](./21.md).

# you may be sons of your Father

It is best to translate "sons" with the same word your language would naturally use to refer to human sons or children.

# Father

This is an important title for God. (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/guidelines-sonofgodprinciples]])

# translationWords

* [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/other/neighbor]]
* [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/pray]]
* [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/other/persecute]]
* [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/son]]
* [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/godthefather]]
* [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/heaven]]
* [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/evil]]
* [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/good]]
* [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/righteous]]
* [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/unjust]]