What Does the Torah Say About Enemies? A Comparative Religious View

The Torah and broader Hebrew scriptures take a layered, sometimes tension-filled approach to enemies. It's not a single, tidy doctrine — and that's worth acknowledging upfront.

Divine Protection Against Enemies

One of the Torah's clearest promises is that God will fight on Israel's behalf. Deuteronomy 28:7 states directly that the LORD will cause enemies who rise up against Israel to be defeated Deuteronomy 28:7. This isn't framed as Israel's military prowess but as covenantal faithfulness — obedience to God brings protection from hostile forces.

Emotional Honesty in the Psalms

The Psalms, part of the broader Tanakh, don't sanitize the experience of having enemies. Psalm 17:9 cries out for deliverance from "deadly enemies" who surround the psalmist Psalms 17:9, and Psalm 35:19 pleads that enemies who act "wrongfully" and "without a cause" should not triumph Psalms 35:19. These texts validate the raw human experience of persecution and injustice.

Perhaps most strikingly, Psalm 139:21 declares: "O ETERNAL One, You know I hate those who hate You, and loathe Your adversaries" Psalms 139:21. This verse has generated enormous rabbinic debate. Scholars like Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik (20th century) and earlier medieval commentators such as Rashi acknowledged the tension between this sentiment and other Torah values like not bearing grudges (Leviticus 19:18). The hatred expressed here is theological — directed at enemies of God — not a blanket license for personal vengeance.

Legal Nuance: The Enemy in Jewish Law

The Mishnah (Tractate Makkot 2:3) offers a fascinating legal case study. When an "enemy" unintentionally kills someone, the rabbis debated whether he could claim the same refuge as an ordinary person Mishnah Makkot 2:3. Rabbi Yosei argued the enemy is actually executed because his prior hostility makes the act presumptively intentional. Rabbi Shimon offered a more nuanced middle position. This discussion reveals that Jewish law doesn't treat "enemy" as a simple category — context, intent, and relationship all matter deeply.

Self-Defense and Retaliation

The book of Esther records that the Jews "struck at their enemies with the sword, slaying and destroying" when those enemies attacked them Esther 9:5. This is presented without moral condemnation — self-defense against aggressors who sought to destroy the Jewish people is treated as legitimate and even celebrated.

Christianity inherits the Torah's texts about enemies directly through the Old Testament, so the passages from Deuteronomy, Psalms, and Esther all remain canonical scripture for Christians Psalms 17:9Psalms 35:19Deuteronomy 28:7. The promise of divine protection in Deuteronomy 28:7 is read by many Christian theologians — Augustine in the 4th–5th century, and later John Calvin in the 16th — as applicable to the covenant community, though they debated whether it transferred directly to the church or was historically specific to Israel.

What's distinctive about Christianity is the New Testament's reframing. Jesus's command in Matthew 5:44 to "love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you" creates a deliberate tension with some of the more combative Psalms. Christian interpreters have long wrestled with how to hold Psalm 139:21's hatred of God's enemies alongside Jesus's ethic of enemy-love. Most mainstream Christian theology resolves this by distinguishing between personal vengeance (forbidden) and righteous indignation at evil (permitted).

The Psalms' cries against enemies — like Psalm 35:19's plea that wrongful enemies not rejoice Psalms 35:19 — are widely used in Christian liturgy and devotion, understood as both historical prayers and spiritual warfare language against sin and evil rather than literal human foes.

The Quran doesn't comment directly on the Torah's specific enemy passages, but it does develop its own theology of enmity that's worth comparing. Islam makes a sharp distinction between two types of non-Muslims: those who actively persecute believers, and those who don't.

Surah 60:9 is explicit: Allah forbids befriending those "who warred against you on account of religion and have driven you out from your homes" Quran 60:9. This verse — revealed in the context of the early Muslim community's conflicts with Meccan persecutors — frames enmity as a response to aggression, not a default posture toward all outsiders.

Surah 26:77 takes a more theological angle. The prophet Ibrahim (Abraham) declares that the idols his people worship are enemies to him — "save the Lord of the Worlds" Quran 26:77. This echoes the Torah's concern with enemies of God, not merely personal adversaries. Classical commentators like Ibn Kathir (14th century) read this as Ibrahim's complete theological break with polytheism.

It's worth noting that Surah 60:8 (immediately preceding the cited verse) explicitly permits friendship and justice toward those who have not fought against Muslims — a nuance often overlooked. Islamic jurisprudence, particularly in the Hanafi and Shafi'i schools, developed detailed frameworks around when enmity is justified and when reconciliation is obligatory.

Within the Torah itself, Israel is promised that “the LORD shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face,” expressing covenantal assurance of divine help against hostile foes Deuteronomy 28:7.

Beyond the Torah, the Psalms repeatedly name and describe enemies, including “my deadly enemies, who compass me about,” and those who “hate me without a cause,” forming a liturgical language for crying to God about unjust persecution Psalms 17:9 Psalms 35:19.

In historical narrative, the Book of Esther depicts Jews taking authorized self‑defense against those attacking them, “slaying and destroying” their enemies when threatened with annihilation Esther 9:5.

Rabbinic law treats “enemy” as a factor of legal suspicion in accidental killing: Makkot 2:3 debates when an enemy’s claim of unintentionality results in exile versus capital liability, showing careful scrutiny where enmity could mask intent Mishnah Makkot 2:3.

Some psalms also express zeal against God’s adversaries (“I hate those who hate You”), which traditional readers wrestle with devotionally and legally within broader covenantal ethics Psalms 139:21.

Christians receive the Torah/Old Testament as Scripture, including Deuteronomy’s promise that God will rout the enemies who rise against His covenant people, highlighting divine deliverance in the life of faith Deuteronomy 28:7.

They also pray the Psalms’ language about unjust hostility—such as petitions against those who hate “without a cause”—as part of biblical spirituality that entrusts conflict and vindication to God Psalms 35:19 Psalms 17:9.

Not applicable. The question concerns the Torah/Old Testament; Islam has its own scriptural guidance on enemies in the Qur’an, which is outside this Torah‑specific scope.