JLB,
Before I ask you to concede, you will have to find a place of understanding. So far, you don't seem to want to understand and as such, I'm not forcing you to understand. Actually, I can't force you.
What I can say is that I believe scriptures when scriptures say what occurred was because of the sins of those who committed them. God told Abraham that day would come some 400 years after him, and it did. God also told him the why. If we take that as God teaching his children to hate their enemies, then it gives excuse to hate ones neighbor. You see, the passages you provided say nothing of hating ones enemy, yet you interpret it that way.
I on the other hand have shown the passage in Leviticus Jesus was referencing. And how do I know Jesus was referencing it? Because the dead sea scrolls bear this out as does the teachings of Shammai which was one of the leaders in the school of thought of the day. What have you given me? You have given me your opinion on how a passage should be interpreted giving no thought to God's why when he told Abraham of these things. From that perspective, I'll stand where I'm at while on the same token give you some homework. If the passages you quoted are to teach people to hate their enemies, then it should be easy to find the Sages teaching to hate their enemies from these passages. I can guarantee you that you won't find a Sage teaching what your suggesting. And if this is true, why do you insist that the Jews teach hatred of their enemies from this verse when you can't find a Sage to teach this? It's time for a reality check and the proof's in the pudding. If you want to have some creedence to your claim, then you need to produce a teaching from the Sages that teach what your suggesting from those verses.
How is it you can draw a reference
from how the Law should be interpreted from a source outside of scripture, but when
I use a source from the Law itself to draw a conclusion then I am not "understanding" you.
I am still waiting on the perspective of your son of whether utterly destroying their enemies as commanded by God was an act of Love or Hate.
JLB
[MENTION=90220]JLB[/MENTION]
What I found by studying the Torah from a Jewish perspective is this. They actually have to live by it where we stand from a far and comment on it. It is at this point I want to be very, very clear. I am not advocating we be judged by the law. What I do advocate is understanding the Torah from a Jewish perspective for the wisdom they bring to the table, which gives us a clearer understanding of the NT writings.
Now then, we started this conversation with the words of Jesus.''You have heard it said, love your neighbor and hate your enemy" and he says this right after stating that he did not come to abolish the law but rather to fulfill the law. As I and others have stated earlier, this it to be taken as Jesus giving the correct interpretation of scriptures.
You are interpreting Deuteronomy 7:1-2 to say "Hate your enemies" since the text does not say to "Hate your enemies". Thus, that is how you interpret the passage. It is at this point I would remind you that Torah was to be lived out, it was never meant to be just spiritual or head knowledge. A proper exegesis of the passage you interpret to mean "Hate your enemies" finds it's first big issue in that the passage is directed at a particular peoples. But we don't need to go there.
But lets stay focused on what Jesus said. "You have heard it said" Again I ask, who is the authority that is interpreting Torah to say "Hate your enemies". We need to look at who were the lead teachers.
We know that the Pharisees and Sadducees held sway among the people, but they fell under the guidance of the Sanhedrin. As such, if any passage in Torah was to be upheld as "Hate your enemy", it would be found within in the writings of the Sanhedrin which are readily available online. I happen to know by reading this book
http://www.amazon.com/Hillel-Not-When-Jewish-Encounters/dp/B00BR3U770 that according to this author, there is no such writing by the Sanhedrin since he takes on this very verse in his book.
Again, we are focusing on Jesus words, "You have heard it said". Again, we ask... by whom? Did they hear this from the Pharisees? How about the Sadducee?
As I've stated earlier, we find within the dead sea scrolls and within the writing from the school of Shammia that "Hate your enemies" is interpreted from Leviticus 19:18 . Have you ever asked yourself the question, "Why did the teacher of the Law ask Jesus, "Who is my neighbor"? Or didn't you know that the woman at the well would have been considered an enemy of Israel...
I think were the disconnect comes from JLB is that when Jesus said, "You have heard it said", I am looking to where those he was speaking to would have heard it from and where they derived their interpretation from. With a little historical footwork, we find where "Hate your enemies" was coming from. It was coming from the School of Shammia. The next step to solve the question of "You have heard it said" is, "What passage did the School of Shammia interpret as meaning to hate your enemies". The answer is Leviticus 19:18
Nobody is asking you to agree with their interpretation and I would hope that you and others wouldn't because Jesus properly interpets that passage how it should be lived out.... "Love your enemies" is the proper interpretation of that passage.
If you want to support your idea that Jesus is talking about Deuteronomy 7:1-2, then again, you should be able to find supporting documentation from Jewish sources. As it sits, you incorrectly interpret Deuteronomy 7:1-2 to mean "Hate your enemies" and then ask us to accept your interpretation as a valid Jewish interpretation since Jesus clearly said, "You have heard it said".
As far as my son, he derived his own opinion by reading your comments. Weather you hate the Jews or not is not my concern but from an outside perspective, that is how some read what you write.
As far as asking my son what he thinks about God commanding Israel to kill everyone in a town, including women and children along with all of their pets and livestock... Most Christians can't deal with that and reconcile it with "God is Love". With that, I have discussed this very topic with him in the past and he fully understands that our God is a just God and what that means. In short, it's all about perspective and one could ask how Jeremiah could watch Jerusalem fall to ruins with starving children and mothers eating their babies and yet he says, "I will rejoice in the Lord". So before we ask the question, "How could God command an army to utterly destroy another nation, women, children and all we ought to first understand how Jeremiah can say, "I will rejoice in the Lord".