Bible Verses About Enemies
Introduction
The Bible's treatment of enemies is one of the places where the difference between the Old and New Testaments is most apparent, and also one of the places where the continuity between them is most profound. The Psalms contain some of the most visceral expressions of anger toward enemies in all of ancient literature, including the imprecatory psalms that call down divine judgment on those who have persecuted, betrayed, and harmed the psalmist. The New Testament contains the most radical command in the history of ethics: love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.
The apparent tension between these two poles dissolves, somewhat, when they are read in their proper contexts. The imprecatory psalms are prayers addressed to God rather than calls to personal revenge. The anger is brought to God rather than acted on directly. The judgment called for is God's judgment rather than the psalmist's own. In bringing the rage to God honestly, the psalmist is doing something more spiritually healthy than the person who manages a polite surface while nursing the same anger privately.
The New Testament's command to love enemies does not eliminate the reality of enemies. Jesus does not say that no one will oppose you, persecute you, or do you harm. He says that the response to those who do is to be love rather than hatred, prayer rather than retaliation, and the active seeking of the other person's good rather than their destruction. The command is not easy and was never intended to be. It is the most direct expression of the character of the God who causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good and who, while we were still enemies, sent his Son to die for us.
These verses speak to anyone navigating the genuine experience of opposition, betrayal, or persecution, anyone working through the biblical tension between the imprecatory psalms and the New Testament's command to love, and anyone wanting to understand what the Bible actually requires in the face of genuine hostility.
What the Bible Means When It Talks About Enemies
The Hebrew word oyev describes the enemy in the most general sense: the one who is hostile, who opposes, who hates. The word tsar describes the one who afflicts, the adversary who presses against. Together they describe the full range of the people in the biblical story who oppose God's people: external enemies of the nation, personal enemies of the individual, and the spiritual enemies of the whole community.
The Greek word echthros describes the enemy in the New Testament, the one who is hostile. It is the word used in Romans 5:10 of what human beings were toward God before reconciliation: we were God's enemies. The same word is used in Matthew 5:44 of the people Jesus commands his disciples to love: love your enemies. The command to love the echthros is grounded in the reality that God loved his enemies, which is what the reconciliation of sinners describes.
Bible Verses About Loving Enemies
Matthew 5:43-45 — ("You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.")
The love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you is the most radical ethical command in the New Testament. The that you may be children of your Father in heaven establishes the theological ground: the love of enemies is the family resemblance that marks the children of the God who causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good. The love is grounded in the character of God rather than in the merit of the enemy.
Luke 6:27-28 — ("But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.")
The four movements of the love of enemies that Luke records are specific and concrete: love, do good, bless, pray. The doing good to those who hate you and the blessing of those who curse you and the praying for those who mistreat you are the specific forms that the love takes in the face of specific hostilities. The love is not a feeling to be cultivated but an action to be practiced.
Romans 12:20 — ("On the contrary: 'If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.'")
The feeding of the hungry enemy and the giving of drink to the thirsty enemy is the concrete expression of the love that the command requires. The heaping of burning coals is not the concealed revenge of the person who knows that the kindness will cause shame. It is the image of the burning conviction that genuine kindness produces in the person who receives it from the one they have treated as an enemy. The love disarms in ways that retaliation cannot.
Luke 23:34 — ("Jesus said, 'Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.' And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.")
Jesus's prayer for forgiveness for those who were crucifying him is the ultimate expression of the love of enemies in the New Testament. The for they do not know what they are doing is not the minimizing of the evil but the compassionate recognition of the ignorance that drives it. The prayer from the cross is both the command and the model: love your enemies is the life that Jesus lived unto death.
Bible Verses About God's Response to Our Enemies
Romans 12:19 — ("Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: 'It is mine to avenge; I will repay,' says the Lord.")
The leave room for God's wrath is the theological ground of the refusal of personal revenge. The vengeance belongs to God rather than to the person who has been harmed. The person who takes personal revenge is usurping the role of the judge that belongs to God. The leaving of room for God's wrath is the trust that God will address what has been done rather than the indifference to whether it is addressed.
Psalm 37:12-13 — ("The wicked plot against the righteous and gnash their teeth at them; but the Lord laughs at the wicked, for he knows their day is coming.")
The Lord laughs at the wicked who plot against the righteous because he knows their day is coming is the confidence of the person who has entrusted the response to the hostility to God. The gnashing of teeth is real: the opposition is genuine and threatening. The Lord laughs is the perspective of the one who sees the end of the story: the day is coming, which means the enemy's power is temporary and the outcome is settled.
Isaiah 54:17 — ("No weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and this is their vindication from me, declares the LORD.")
The no weapon forged against you will prevail is the promise of the LORD for his servants facing the hostility of enemies. The vindication from me establishes that the refutation of the accusation is God's work rather than the servant's defense. The heritage of the servants of the LORD is the confidence that the opposition, however fierce, cannot ultimately succeed against those whom God has committed to vindicate.
Psalm 23:5 — ("You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.")
The table prepared in the presence of enemies is the image of God's provision for his people that does not require the first removal of the enemies. The presence of enemies is the context of the provision rather than the obstacle to it. The cup that overflows is the abundance of God's goodness experienced in the middle of the opposition rather than after it has ended.
Bible Verses About Responding to Enemies
Proverbs 25:21-22 — ("If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; if he is thirsty, give him water to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head, and the LORD will reward you.")
The giving of food and water to the hungry and thirsty enemy is the wisdom tradition's version of the New Testament's love your enemies. The LORD will reward you establishes that the response to enemies through kindness rather than retaliation is not the strategy of the naive person but the practice of the person who trusts God's response to the one who takes the harder way.
1 Samuel 24:12-13 — ("May the LORD judge between you and me. And may the LORD avenge the wrongs you have done to me, but my hand will not touch you. As the old saying goes, 'From evildoers come evil deeds,' so my hand will not touch you.")
David's refusal to harm Saul when he had the opportunity is one of the most significant Old Testament examples of the response to enemies that entrusts the judgment to God rather than taking it personally. The may the LORD judge between you and me and the may the LORD avenge are the prayers that bring the hostility to God rather than acting on it directly. The my hand will not touch you is the restraint that trust in God's judgment produces.
Matthew 18:15 — ("If your brother or sister sins against you, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over.")
The going directly and privately to the person who has sinned against you is the process of the community that treats the enemy as the person to be won over rather than the adversary to be defeated. The you have won them over is the goal: not the vindication of the person who was wronged but the restoration of the one who sinned. The enemy who becomes a reconciled brother is the best outcome the process could produce.
Bible Verses About the Imprecatory Psalms
Psalm 35:1 — ("Contend, LORD, with those who contend with me; fight against those who fight against me.")
The bringing of the conflict with the enemy to God rather than acting on it personally is the consistent posture of the imprecatory psalms. The contend, LORD is the delegation of the contest to the one who has the authority and power to address it. The prayer is the appropriate channel for the anger that the opposition produces rather than the direct action that the anger counsels.
Psalm 55:15 — ("Let death take my enemies by surprise; let them go down alive to the realm of the dead, for evil finds lodging among them.")
The imprecatory psalm that calls for the death of the enemy is the most challenging material in the psalms for the Christian reader. The resolution of the tension between this prayer and the New Testament's love your enemies begins with the recognition that the prayer is addressed to God: the psalmist is bringing the full force of the anger and the desire for justice to God rather than acting on it. The prayer is not the contradiction of love but the honest alternative to the private nursing of hatred or the violent acting out of rage.
Psalm 109:21 — ("But you, Sovereign LORD, help me for your name's sake; out of the goodness of your love, deliver me.")
The turn within the imprecatory psalm to the request for God's own help and deliverance is the movement that gives the prayer its ultimate direction. The contend with my enemies is not the whole of the psalm. The but you, Sovereign LORD, help me is the anchor that holds the prayer within the relationship rather than allowing it to become pure rage. The imprecatory psalms are prayers to God rather than curses against people, and the difference matters.
Bible Verses About Making Peace With Enemies
Matthew 5:9 — ("Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.")
The peacemakers who are called children of God are the people who do the difficult work of bringing peace between those who are in conflict. The making of peace with enemies, where the enemy is willing, is the specific work of the peacemaker. The children of God designation reflects the family resemblance: the God who reconciled his enemies through Christ is the Father of those who make peace.
Romans 12:18 — ("If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.")
The if it is possible and the as far as it depends on you establish the realistic limitations of the command. The peace that depends on both parties cannot be maintained by one alone. The as far as it depends on you is the portion of the peace that is within the control of the person who is commanded. The living at peace with everyone is the goal toward which the person works even when it cannot always be fully achieved.
Ephesians 2:14 — ("For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility.")
The peace that Jesus himself is and has made between former enemies is the theological ground for the peacemaking that his followers are called to. The destroying of the dividing wall of hostility is the specific work of the cross applied to human conflict. The community that lives in the peace that Christ has made is the community that embodies and extends that peace into the relationships it inhabits.
A Simple Way to Pray These Verses
Enemies are most honestly brought to God rather than managed privately or acted on directly. These verses can become prayers from the middle of the genuine opposition that life produces.
Matthew 5:44 — ("Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.") Response: "I am praying for them now. Not performing the command but actually doing it. Whatever they need from you, give it to them. Whatever would bring them to you, do it. I choose this rather than the hatred that comes more naturally."
Romans 12:19 — ("Do not take revenge. It is mine to avenge; I will repay, says the Lord.") Response: "I am leaving this with you. The revenge I want to take belongs to you. I trust that you will address what has been done. I release what I want to hold onto."
Psalm 23:5 — ("You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.") Response: "Let me eat at the table you set rather than spending my energy on the enemies who are watching. The cup that overflows is what you are offering. Let me receive it."
Frequently Asked Questions
What does the Bible say about enemies? The Bible presents enemies as a genuine reality that the people of God consistently face, and addresses how to respond to them at multiple levels. The Old Testament's imprecatory psalms bring the full force of the anger and the desire for justice to God in prayer. The wisdom tradition counsels the giving of food and water to the hungry and thirsty enemy. The New Testament's most direct teaching, given by Jesus in Matthew 5:44, commands the love of enemies and the prayer for those who persecute. Romans 12:19-20 grounds the refusal of personal revenge in the trust that judgment belongs to God, and counsels the active kindness that the love of enemies requires.
How can you love your enemies according to the Bible? The love of enemies that Jesus commands in Matthew 5:44 and Luke 6:27-28 is not a feeling to be cultivated but a practice to be maintained. The four concrete movements that Luke records are the forms it takes: love, do good, bless, pray. The praying for those who persecute you is the beginning: the person who genuinely prays for the enemy is the person who is opening themselves to the Spirit's work of producing the love that the prayer expresses. Romans 12:20's feeding of the hungry enemy and giving of drink to the thirsty enemy is the practical expression in action. The love of enemies is the most demanding practice the New Testament commands and the one that most clearly reflects the character of the God who loved his enemies by sending his Son to die for them.
What do the imprecatory psalms teach about enemies? The imprecatory psalms, which call down judgment and even death on the psalmist's enemies, are some of the most challenging material in the Bible for the Christian reader formed by the New Testament's love your enemies. Several things are worth noting about them. They are prayers addressed to God rather than curses directed at enemies: the psalmist is bringing the anger and the desire for justice to God rather than acting on it personally. They reflect the honest expression of the full range of human emotion before God rather than the managed piety that pretends the anger does not exist. And they reflect the genuine conviction that God is the righteous judge who will address what has been done: the imprecatory psalm is the prayer of the person who believes in divine justice rather than the person who is taking justice into their own hands.
Does God protect his people from enemies? The Bible contains both the promise of God's protection of his people and the honest reality that the protection does not always appear in the timing or form the person hoped for. Isaiah 54:17 promises that no weapon forged against God's servants will prevail. Psalm 23:5 describes the table prepared in the presence of enemies. Psalm 37:12-13 promises that the Lord laughs at the wicked because he knows their day is coming. At the same time, the New Testament is honest about the ongoing experience of persecution, opposition, and suffering at the hands of enemies: the disciples are told to expect opposition (John 15:18-20) and are promised the presence and peace of Jesus in the middle of it rather than its immediate removal.
Is it wrong to ask God to judge your enemies? The imprecatory psalms establish that bringing the desire for God's judgment on enemies to God in prayer is a legitimate form of biblical prayer. The distinction between the imprecatory prayer and personal revenge is the difference between entrusting the judgment to God and taking it personally. Romans 12:19 makes this distinction explicit: the refusal of personal revenge is grounded in the trust that judgment belongs to God, who will repay. The prayer for God's judgment on the enemy is the honest bringing of the anger to the one who has the authority and righteousness to act on it, which is more honest than the management of the anger in private and more faithful than the pretending that the desire for justice is not present.
