'Neighbor' in the Bible

But every woman shall [insistently] ask her neighbor and any woman who lives in her house, for articles of silver and articles of gold, and clothing; and you shall put them on your sons and daughters. In this way you are to plunder the Egyptians [leaving bondage with great possessions that are rightfully yours].”

Speak so that all of the people [of Israel] may hear, and tell every man to ask from his neighbor, and every woman to ask from her neighbor, articles of silver, and articles of gold.”

Now if the household is too small for a lamb [to be consumed], let him and his next door neighbor take one according to the number of people [in the households]; according to what each man can eat, you are to divide the lamb.

When they have a dispute they come to me, and I judge between a man and his neighbor and I make known the statutes of God and His laws.”

“You shall not testify falsely [that is, lie, withhold, or manipulate the truth] against your neighbor (any person).

“If a man gives his neighbor money or [other] goods to keep [for him while he is away] and it is stolen from the neighbor’s house, then, if the thief is caught, he shall pay double [for it].

For every offense involving property, whether it concerns ox, donkey, sheep, clothing, or any piece of lost property, which another identifies as his, the case of both parties shall come before the judges [who act in God’s name]. Whomever the judges pronounce guilty shall pay double to his neighbor.

“If a man gives his neighbor a donkey or an ox or a sheep or any [other] animal to keep [for him], and it dies or is injured or taken away while no one is looking,

“And if a man borrows an animal from his neighbor, and it gets injured or dies while its owner is not with it, the borrower shall make full restitution.

He said to them, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel, ‘Every man strap his sword on his thigh and go back and forth from gate to gate throughout the camp, and every man kill his brother, and every man his friend, and every man his neighbor [all who continue pagan worship].’”

“When anyone sins and acts unfaithfully against the Lord by deceiving his neighbor (companion, associate) in regard to a deposit or a security entrusted to him, or through robbery, or if he has extorted from his neighbor,

‘You shall not oppress or exploit your neighbor, nor rob him. You shall not withhold the wages of a hired man overnight until morning.

‘You shall not do injustice in judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor nor show a preference for the great, but judge your neighbor fairly.

You shall not go around as a gossip among your people, and you are not to act against the life of your neighbor [with slander or false testimony]; I am the Lord.

‘You shall not hate your brother in your heart; you may most certainly rebuke your neighbor, but shall not incur sin because of him.

You shall not take revenge nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor (acquaintance, associate, companion) as yourself; I am the Lord.

If a man injures his neighbor (fellow citizen), whatever he has done shall be done to him:

If you sell anything to your friend or buy from your friend, you shall not wrong one another.

According to the number of years after the Jubilee, you shall buy from your friend. And he is to sell to you according to the number of years of crops [which may be harvested before you must restore the property to him].

so that someone who committed manslaughter could flee there, [that is, a person] who killed his neighbor unintentionally and without previously having hostility toward him, and that by escaping to one of these cities he might [claim the right of asylum and] save his life:

‘You shall not give false testimony [that is, lie, withhold, or manipulate the truth] against your neighbor (any person).

This is the regulation for the release: every creditor shall forgive what he has loaned to his neighbor; he shall not require repayment from his neighbor and his brother, because the Lord’s release has been proclaimed.

“Now this is the case of the offender (manslayer) who may escape there and live [protected from vengeance]: when he kills his neighbor unintentionally, not having hated him previously—

as [for example] when a man goes into the forest with his neighbor to cut wood, and his hand swings the axe to cut down the tree, but the iron head slips off the wooden handle and hits his companion and he dies—the offender may escape to one of these cities and live;

“But if there is a man who hates his neighbor and lies in wait and ambush for him and attacks him and strikes him down so that he dies, and the assailant escapes to one of these cities,

But you shall do nothing to the young woman; she has committed no sin worthy of death, for this is the same as when a man attacks his neighbor and murders him.

“When you come into the standing grain of your neighbor, you may pluck the ears of grain with your hand, but you shall not wield a sickle in your neighbor’s standing grain [to harvest it].

‘Cursed is he who strikes his neighbor in secret.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

If the blood avenger pursues him, they shall not hand the offender (manslayer) over to him, because he killed his neighbor unintentionally and without premeditation and did not hate him beforehand.

The neighbor women gave him a name, saying, “A son (grandson) has been born to Naomi.” They named him Obed (worshiper). He is the father of Jesse, the father of David [the ancestor of Jesus Christ].

So Samuel said to him, “The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to your neighbor, who is better than you.

The Lord has done [to you] just as He said through me [when I was with you]; for the Lord has torn the kingdom out of your hand and given it to your neighbor, to David.

Thus says the Lord, ‘Behold, I will stir up evil against you from your own household; and I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your companion, and he will lie with your wives in broad daylight.

“If a man sins against his neighbor and is made to take an oath [of innocence] and he comes to take the oath before Your altar in this house (temple),

Now a certain man of the sons of the prophets said to another by the word of the Lord, “Please strike me.” But the man refused to strike him.

“If a man sins against his neighbor, and he is required to take an oath, and he comes and takes the oath before Your altar in this house,

“Oh, that a man would mediate and plead with God [for me]Just as a man [mediates and pleads] with his neighbor and friend.

They speak deceitful and worthless words to one another;With flattering lips and a double heart they speak.

He does not slander with his tongue,Nor does evil to his neighbor,Nor takes up a reproach against his friend;

Whoever secretly slanders his neighbor, him I will silence;The one who has a haughty look and a proud (arrogant) heart I will not tolerate.

Do not say to your neighbor, “Go, and come back,And tomorrow I will give it,”When you have it with you.

Do not devise evil against your neighbor,Who lives securely beside you.

My son, if you have become surety (guaranteed a debt or obligation) for your neighbor,If you have given your pledge for [the debt of] a stranger or another [outside your family],

Do this now, my son, and release yourself [from the obligation];Since you have come into the hand of your neighbor,Go humble yourself, and plead with your neighbor [to pay his debt and release you].

With his mouth the godless man destroys his neighbor,But through knowledge and discernment the righteous will be rescued.

He who despises his neighbor lacks sense,But a man of understanding keeps silent.

The righteous man is a guide to his neighbor,But the way of the wicked leads them astray.

The poor man is hated even by his neighbor,But those who love the rich are many.

He who despises his neighbor sins [against God and his fellow man],But happy [blessed and favored by God] is he who is gracious and merciful to the poor.

A violent and exceedingly covetous man entices his neighbor [to sin],And leads him in a way that is not good.

A man lacking common sense gives a pledgeAnd becomes guarantor [for the debt of another] in the presence of his neighbor.

Wealth makes many friends,But a poor man is separated from his friend.

The soul of the wicked desires evil [like an addictive substance];His neighbor finds no compassion in his eyes.

Do not be a witness against your neighbor without cause,And do not deceive with your lips [speak neither lies nor half-truths].

Do not rush out to argue your case [before magistrates or judges];Otherwise what will you do in the end [when your case is lost and]When your neighbor (opponent) humiliates you?

Argue your case with your neighbor himself [before you go to court];And do not reveal another’s secret,

Like a club and a sword and a piercing arrowIs a man who testifies falsely against his neighbor (acquaintance).

So is the man who deceives his neighbor (acquaintance, friend)And then says, “Was I not joking?”

Do not abandon your own friend and your father’s friend,And do not go to your brother’s house in the day of your disaster.Better is a neighbor who is near than a brother who is far away.

He who blesses his neighbor with a loud voice early in the morning,It will be counted as a curse to him [for it will either be annoying or his purpose will be suspect].

A man who flatters his neighbor [with smooth words intending to do harm]Is spreading a net for his own feet.

I have seen that every [effort in] labor and every skill in work comes from man’s rivalry with his neighbor. This too is vanity (futility, false pride) and chasing after the wind.

And the people will be oppressed,Each one by another, and each one by his neighbor;The boy will be arrogant and insolent toward the elderAnd the vulgar (common) toward the honorable [person of rank].

“Is not Calno [conquered] like Carchemish [on the Euphrates]?Is not Hamath [subdued] like Arpad [her neighbor]?Is not Samaria [in Israel] like Damascus [in Aram]?

“So I will provoke Egyptians against Egyptians;And they will fight, each one against his brother and each one against his neighbor,City against city, kingdom against kingdom.

They each help his neighborAnd say to his brother [as he fashions his idols], “Be of good courage!”

Therefore, thus says the Lord,“Behold, I am laying stumbling blocks before this people.The fathers and the sons togetherWill stumble against them;The neighbor and his friend will perish.”

For if you thoroughly change your ways and your behavior, if you thoroughly and honestly practice justice between a man and his neighbor,

“Let everyone beware of his neighborAnd do not trust any brother.For every brother is a supplanter [like Jacob, a deceiver, ready to grab his brother’s heel],And every neighbor goes around as a slanderer.

“Everyone deceives and mocks his neighborAnd does not speak the truth.They have taught their tongue to speak lies;They exhaust themselves with sin and cruelty.

“Their tongue is a murderous arrow;It speaks deceit;With his mouth one speaks peace to his neighbor,But in his heart he lays traps and waits in ambush for him.

Now hear the word of the Lord, O you women,And let your ear hear the word of His mouth;Teach your daughters a song of mourning,And each one [teach] her neighbor a dirge.

Thus says the Lord regarding all My evil neighbors (Gentile nations) who strike at the inheritance which I have granted to My people Israel, “Behold, I will uproot them from their land and I will uproot the house of Judah from among them.

And if these [neighboring nations] will diligently learn the ways of My people, to swear by My Name, saying, ‘As the Lord lives’—even as they taught My people to swear by Baal, then they will be built up among My people.

And I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and their daughters, and each one will eat one another’s flesh during the siege and distress brought by their enemies and those who seek their lives.”’

“Many nations will pass by this city; and each man will say to another, ‘Why has the Lord done this to this great city?’

who think that they can make My people forget My Name by their [contrived] dreams which each one tells another, just as their fathers forgot My Name because of Baal?

[For the future, in speaking of the words of the Lord] thus each of you shall say to his neighbor and to his brother, ‘What has the Lord answered?’ or, ‘What has the Lord spoken?’

And each man will no longer teach his neighbor and his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they will all know Me [through personal experience], from the least of them to the greatest,” says the Lord. “For I will forgive their wickedness, and I will no longer remember their sin.”

So then you recently turned and repented, doing what was right in My sight, each man proclaiming release [from servitude] to his countryman [who was his bond servant]; and you had made a covenant before Me in the house which is called by My Name.

“Therefore says the Lord, ‘You have not obeyed Me; you have not proclaimed liberty to your brother and your countryman. Behold (listen very carefully), I am proclaiming liberty to you—[liberty to be put] to the sword, [liberty] to [be ravaged by] the virulent disease, and [liberty] to [be decimated by] famine,’ says the Lord; ‘and I will make you a horror and a warning to all the kingdoms of the earth.

“Behold, I am going to bring terror on you,”Says the Lord God of hosts,“From all who are around you;And each of you will be driven out headlong,And there will be no one to gather the fugitives together.

“Flee, turn back, dwell in the depths [of the desert to escape the judgment of Edom],O inhabitants of Dedan,For I will bring the destruction of Esau (Edom) upon himWhen I inspect and punish him.

Do not trust in a neighbor [because of the moral corruption in the land];Do not have confidence in a friend.Guard the doors of your mouthFrom her who lies in your bosom.

In that day,’ declares the Lord of hosts, ‘every one of you will invite his neighbor to sit under his vine and his fig tree [enjoying peace and prosperity in the kingdom].’”

For before those days there were no wages for man or animal; nor was there any peace or success for him who went out or came in because of his enemies, for I set all men against one another.

These are the things which you should do: speak the truth with one another; judge with truth and pronounce the judgment that brings peace in [the courts at] your gates.

And let none of you devise or even imagine evil in your heart against another, and do not love lying or half-truths; for all these things I hate,’ declares the Lord.”

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor (fellow man) and hate your enemy.’

Honor your father and mother; and love your neighbor as yourself” [that is, unselfishly seek the best or higher good for others].

The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself [that is, unselfishly seek the best or higher good for others].’

This is the second: ‘You shall [unselfishly] love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

and to love Him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to [unselfishly] love one’s neighbor as oneself, is much more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

And he replied, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.”

But he, wishing to justify and vindicate himself, asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

Which of these three do you think proved himself a neighbor to the man who encountered the robbers?”

But the man who was injuring his neighbor pushed Moses away, saying, ‘Who appointed you ruler and judge over us?

Owe nothing to anyone except to love and seek the best for one another; for he who [unselfishly] loves his neighbor has fulfilled the [essence of the] law [relating to one’s fellowman].

The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not covet,” and any other commandment are summed up in this statement: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

Love does no wrong to a neighbor [it never hurts anyone]. Therefore [unselfish] love is the fulfillment of the Law.