Verse Lens · Context pointer
Matthew 5:46 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 46. 46For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Role in This Section
Denies that loving only those who love you exceeds tax collectors' reciprocity.
Read It With
- Matthew 5:43–5:48
Read Matthew 5:46 with 5:43–5:48. In isolation, this verse's contribution—denies that loving only those who love you exceeds tax collectors' reciprocity—can be detached from its speaker, audience, narrative or teaching sequence, and outcome. The complete unit establishes: Jesus commands love and prayer for enemies because the Father gives sun and rain broadly, pressing disciples beyond reciprocal affection toward mature wholeness.
Why It Needs Context
Denies that loving only those who love you exceeds tax collectors' reciprocity. Its force depends on the complete movement and outcome of Matthew 5:43–5:48; the isolated line is connective rather than a complete teaching claim.
Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Matthew 5:43–5:48 — Enemy-love reflects the Father's generositySources used for this context pointer
How certain is this explanation? strong
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and thought-unit coverage.
Exact location: Matthew 5:43–5:48, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Open source ↗Greek textual evidence
The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition
Michael W. Holmes, editor; Society of Biblical Literature and Logos
Society of Biblical Literature and Logos Bible Software, 2010
Supports: Greek wording and punctuation control without treating one edition as a complete apparatus.
Exact location: SBLGNT official text file data/sblgnt/text/Matt.txt, Matthew 5:43–5:48
Open the Matthew Greek text file ↗