Loving one's neighbor in JETS
As I mentioned earlier, the current issue of the Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society (60.2) contains Henry Kellyâs essay on âLove of Neighbor as Great Commandment in the Time of Jesus: Grasping at Straws in the Hebrew Scripturesâ (265â81). According to the abstract, Oneâs âneighbor,â generously interpreted to include everyone else in the world, even personal and impersonal enemies, looms large in the NT, especially in the form of the second great commandment, and in various expressions of the Golden Rule. The NT also contains expansive claims that neighbors have a similar importance in the OT. The main basis that commentators cite for these claims is a half-verse in the middle of Leviticus (âYou shall love your neighbor as yourself,â 19:18b), as fully justifying these claims, supported by other isolated verses, notably, Exod 23:45, on rescuing the ass of oneâs enemy. Relying on these verses has the appearance of grasping at straws in order to justify the words of Jesus, but it seems clear that in the time of Jesus they had indeed been searched out and elevated to new significance. John Meier has recently argued that it was Jesus himself who gave the Levitical neighbor his high standing, but because the Gospels present the notion as already known, this article suggests that it had achieved a consensus status by this time. ...