“Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him.”
Do not hate a fellow Israelite in your heart. Rebuke your neighbor frankly so you will not share in their guilt. The prohibition on inward hatred — in your heart — alongside the command to rebuke frankly addresses the internal and the external dimensions of the interpersonal relationship. Harboring hatred without speaking creates a different kind of violation than the speech violations of verse 16: the person who hates in secret without speaking is not innocent merely because they have not acted. The rebuke that prevents shared guilt is the alternative to silent hatred — honest, direct address of the wrong.
COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS
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