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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadJames Hastings Dictionary of the NT: Enemies
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ENEMIES ( ἐ÷èñüò ).—1. Of public enemies: twice in the Benedictus, Luk_1:71; Luk_1:74, where the word implies Gentile persecutors. In Luk_19:43 it is spoken of the Romans and their threatened siege of Jerusalem. In the quotation from Psa_110:1 which occurs in Mat_22:44, Mar_12:38, Luk_20:43, Heb_1:13; Heb_10:13, the same word denotes all the world forces opposing Christ. 2. Of private enemies, in the correction of the old maxim enjoining hatred, ‘Love your enemies,’ Mat_5:43-44, Luk_6:27; Luk_6:35. 3. Of the devil and the powers of evil, in the parable of the Wheat and the Tares, Mat_13:25; Mat_13:39. 4. Of the spiritual forces acting in opposition to Christ, of which the strongest is death, 1Co_15:25-26. 5. Of wicked persons hindering the spread of Christ’s influence, the enemies of the cross, Php_3:18. The word used in NT for enemies is usually applied elsewhere to private or personal enemies, not to public foes. See, further, artt. Forgiveness, Hatred, Love.
C. H. Prichard.