Romans 13:10

10 If you love others, you will never do them wrong; to love, then, is to obey the whole Law.

Romans 13:10 Meaning and Commentary

Romans 13:10

Love worketh no ill to his neighbour
That is, the man that truly loves his neighbour, will contrive no ill against him, nor do any to him; he will not injure his person, nor defile his bed, nor deprive or defraud him of his substance; or do hurt to his character, bear false testimony against him, or covet with an evil covetousness anything that is his; but, on the contrary, will do him all the good he is capable of:

therefore love is the fulfilling of the law:
so far as a man loves his neighbour, he acts agreeably to the law, and the particular precepts of it above mentioned: what the apostle says of love to the neighbour, the Jews frequently say of love to God;

``he that loveth God (they say ^F4) (Nryma rve Myyqm) , "hath fulfilled the decalogue", both above and below.''

And again ^F5,

``there is no service like the love of God, R. Abba saith it is (atyyrwad allk) , "the sum of the law"; for the ten words of the law (wlylkta akh) , "are herein comprehended", or "fulfilled":''

and elsewhere ^F6 they observe,

``that (hbhab hlwlk hrwth lk) , "the whole law is comprehended", or fulfilled "in love".''

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FOOTNOTES:

F4 Zohar in Deut. fol. 111. 3.
F5 Zohar in Deut. fol. 113. 1.
F6 Moses Kotsensis Mitzvot Tora, praecept. affirm. 3. prope finem.

Romans 13:10 In-Context

8 Be under obligation to no one - the only obligation you have is to love one another. Whoever does this has obeyed the Law.

9 The commandments, "Do not commit adultery; do not commit murder; do not steal; do not desire what belongs to someone else" - all these, and any others besides, are summed up in the one command, "Love your neighbor as you love yourself."

10 If you love others, you will never do them wrong; to love, then, is to obey the whole Law.

11 You must do this, because you know that the time has come for you to wake up from your sleep. For the moment when we will be saved is closer now than it was when we first believed.

12 The night is nearly over, day is almost here. Let us stop doing the things that belong to the dark, and let us take up weapons for fighting in the light.