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In Tobit, a father tells his son never to do to anyone what he hates, and in the Gospel of Thomas Jesus gives his disciples the same rule in nearly the same language. In Matthew, Jesus states it the other way round, as a positive command.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Tobit 4:15
Deuterocanon
14 "Do not keep over until the next day the wages of those who work for you, but pay them at once. If you serve God you will receive payment. Watch yourself, my son, in everything you do, and discipline yourself in all your conduct. 15 And what you hate, do not do to anyone. Do not drink wine to excess or let drunkenness go with you on your way. 16 Give some of your food to the hungry, and some of your clothing to the naked. Give all your surplus as alms, and do not let your eye begrudge your giving of alms.
Matthew 7:12
New Testament
11 If you then, although you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! 12 In everything, treat others as you would want them to treat you, for this fulfills the law and the prophets. 13 “Enter through the narrow gate because the gate is wide and the way is spacious that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it.
Gospel of Thomas 1:6
Nag Hammadi
5 Jesus said, “Know what is in front of your face, and what is hidden from you will be revealed to you. For there is nothing hidden that will not be revealed.” 6 His disciples questioned him and said to him, “Do you want us to fast? How should we pray? Should we give alms? What diet should we observe?” Jesus said, “Do not tell lies, and do not do what you hate, for all things are disclosed before heaven. Nothing hidden will fail to be revealed, and nothing covered will remain undisclosed.” 7 Jesus said, “Blessed is the lion that the man will eat, so that the lion becomes a man. And cursed is the man whom a lion will eat, and the lion will become a man.”
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Notes and References
“... Traditional Jewish and Jewish-Christian piety which consists of fasting, prayer, almsgiving and kosher eating should be rejected in favour of a simple, two-part moral code about words and deeds, involving an approximation to the ninth commandment and the golden rule in its negative form. [...] 6.3 And what you hate, do not do. I.e. ‘What you hate other people doing to you, do not do.’ This second element of Jesus’ response is the so-called ‘negative form’ of the ‘golden rule’ (in its positive form, ‘whatever you wish others would do to you, do to them’, as in e.g. Matt. 7.12). DeConick focuses on the Syrian connections of this negative form (it is attested in the Acts of Thomas), but Hannah notes that it spans a variety of early Jewish and Christian literature in different languages. [...] See e.g. Tob. 4.15; Ac. 15.20, 29 D; Did. 1.2; Aristides, Apol. 15 (Gk & Syr.); Theophilus, Autolyc. 2.34. ...”
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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