Chronological timeline of texts tagged with Golden Rule
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The Golden Rule—commonly expressed as "treat others as you would like to be treated"—is a fundamental ethical principle that has appeared in cultures and philosophies across history. Found in ancient civilizations such as Mesopotamia, Egypt, and China, it is a core teaching in major religious traditions, including Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, and Buddhism. Despite cultural differences, this principle has consistently served as a universal guideline for fostering empathy and justice.
Note: Dates shown in this timeline are approximate and based on scholarly estimates.
Back to Tag1850 BCE
The Eloquent Peasant
Ancient Near East
And the High Steward Meru's son Rensi said, 'Are your belongings more important to you than my follower's seizing you?' And this peasant said, 'And the measurer of heaps now defrauds for himself; the measurer for others now despoils his surroundings; the lawful leader now commands theft - who then will beat off wretchedness when the dispeller of infirmity is going wrong? One man is exact about being crooked; another acclaims the evildoer. Do you not profit yourself thus? The redress is short, the evil long; yet good character returns to its place of yesterday. This is a command: Do good for the man who acts, to motivate him to act. This is thanking him for what he does; this is parrying a thing before shooting; this is commissioning something from a master craftsman. O for a moment that destroys, downfall in your bird-nets, loss in your fowl, waste in your marsh-birds!
5th Century B.C.E. (Final composition)
Leviticus 19:18
Hebrew Bible
17 You must not hate your brother in your heart. You must surely reprove your fellow citizen so that you do not incur sin on account of him. 18 You must not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you must love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord. 19 You must keep my statutes. You must not allow two different kinds of your animals to breed together, you must not sow your field with two different kinds of seed, and you must not wear a garment made of two different kinds of material.
225-175 B.C.E.
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. 17 Place your bread on the grave of the righteous, but give none to sinners.
195-175 B.C.E.
Sirach 31:15
Deuterocanon
13 Remember that a greedy eye is a bad thing. What has been created more greedy than the eye? Therefore it sheds tears for any reason. 14 Do not reach out your hand for everything you see, and do not crowd your neighbor at the dish. 15 Judge your neighbor's feelings by your own, and in every matter be thoughtful. 16 Eat what is set before you like a well brought-up person, and do not chew greedily, or you will give offense. 17 Be the first to stop, as befits good manners, and do not be insatiable, or you will give offense. 18 If you are seated among many persons, do not help yourself before they do.
200-150 B.C.E.
Letter of Aristeas
Pseudepigrapha
Him man must needs obey.' The king bestowed praise upon him and then asked another How he could maintain the truth? In reply to the question he said, 'By recognizing that a lie brings great disgrace upon all men, and more especially upon kings. For since they have the power to do whatever they wish, why should they resort to lies? In addition to this you must always remember, O King, that God is a lover of the truth.' The king received the answer with great delight and looking at another said, 'What is the teaching of wisdom?' And the other replied, 'As you wish that no evil should befall you, but to be a partaker of all good things, so you should act on the same principle towards your subjects and offenders, and you should mildly admonish the noble and good. For God draws all men to himself by his benignity.' The king praised him and asked the next in order How he could be the friend of men? And he replied, 'By observing that the human race increases and is born with much trouble and great suffering: wherefore you must not lightly punish or inflict torments upon them, since you know that the life of men is made up of pains and penalties. For if you understood everything you would be filled with pity, for God also is pitiful.'
200-150 B.C.E.
Letter of Aristeas 1:207
Pseudepigrapha
The king received the answer with great delight and looking at another said, 'What is the teaching of wisdom?' And the other replied, 'As you wish that no evil should befall you, but to be a partaker of all good things, so you should act on the same principle towards your subjects and offenders, and you should mildly admonish the noble and good. For God draws all men to himself by his benignity.'
30 B.C.E - 70 C.E.
2 Enoch 61:1
Pseudepigrapha
1 And now, my children, guard your hearts from every injustice, which the Lord hates. Just as a person asks something for his own soul from God, so let him do to every living soul, because I know all things, how in the great time to come there is much inheritance prepared for people, good for the good, and bad for the bad, without number many. 2 Blessed are those who enter the good houses, for in the bad houses there is no peace nor return from them. 3 Hear, my children, small and great! When a person has a good thought in his heart, brings gifts from his labors before the Lord's face and his hands did not make them, then the Lord will turn away his face from the labor of his hand, and that person cannot find the labor of his hands. 4 And if his hands made it, but his heart grumbles, and his heart does not stop grumbling incessantly, he has no advantage.
65 C.E.
Seneca Moral Epistles 9:3
Classical
But he need never lack friends, for it lies in his own control how soon he shall make good a loss. Just as Phidias, if he lose a statue, can straightway carve another, even so our master in the art of making friendships can fill the place of a friend he has lost. If you ask how one can make oneself a friend quickly, I will tell you, provided we are agreed that I may pay my debt at once and square the account, so far as this letter is concerned. Hecato, says: 'I can show you a philtre, compounded without drugs, herbs, or any witch's incantation: 'If you would be loved, love.'
60-75 C.E.
Mark 12:31
New Testament
30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” 32 The expert in the law said to him, “That is true, Teacher; you are right to say that he is one, and there is no one else besides him.
70-90 C.E.
Matthew 5:43
New Testament
42 Give to the one who asks you, and do not reject the one who wants to borrow from you. 43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor’ and ‘hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, love your enemy and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be like your Father in heaven, since he causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
70-90 C.E.
Matthew 7:12
New Testament
7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened for you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. 9 Is there anyone among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 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.
100-200 C.E.
Onkelos Leviticus 19:18
Targum
17 Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thy heart: reproving, reprove thou thy neighbour, and contract not sin on his account. 18 Thou shalt not be revengeful, nor keep enmity against the children of thy people, but love thy neighbour as thyself. I am the Lord. 19 You shall observe My statutes. Thy cattle thou shalt not make to gender with various kinds, nor sow thy field with various kinds, nor let a garment of a mixture of woollen and linen come upon thee.
300-1200 C.E.
Thou shalt not hinder the acquittal of thy neighbour in witnessing against him in the judgment: I am the Lord. against your neighbour, nor be silent about thy neighbour's blood, what time in the judgment thou knowest the truth: so speaketh the Lord.] Speak not bland words with your lips, having hatred to your brother in your hearts; but reproving you shall reprove your neighbour; and though it make you ashamed, you shall not contract sin in account of him. Be not revengeful, nor cherish animosity against the children of thy people; but thou shalt love thy neighbour himself, as that though there be (cause of) hatred with thee thou mayest not do (evil) to him: I am the Lord. You shall keep My statutes. Thy cattle shall not be made to gender with various kinds, neither sow thy field with mixed seeds, nor put upon thee a garment of divers materials, (as) wool and linen.
50-70 C.E.
Didache 1:2
Early Christian
1 There are two Ways: one of Life and one of Death, and there is a significant difference between the two Ways. 2 The way of life is as follows: First, you should love the God who created you; secondly, love your neighbor as yourself. Treat others as you would want to be treated. 3 Now, the teaching behind these words is this: Bless those who curse you, pray for your enemies, and fast for those who persecute you. What credit is it to you if you love only those who love you back? Don't even the non-believers do the same? Instead, love those who hate you, and you will have no enemies.
195 C.E.
Clement of Alexandria Stromata 2.23
Early Christian
According to the opinion of the Stoics, marriage and the rearing of children are a thing indifferent; and according to the Peripatetics, a good. In a word, these, following out their dogmas in words, became enslaved to pleasures; some using concubines, some mistresses, and the most youths. And that wise quaternion in the garden with a mistress, honoured pleasure by their acts. Those, then, will not escape the curse of yoking an ass with an ox, who, judging certain things not to suit them, command others to do them, or the reverse. This Scripture has briefly showed, when it says, "What thou hatest, thou shalt not do to another." But they who approve of marriage say, Nature has adapted us for marriage, as is evident from the structure of our bodies, which are male and female.
190-230 C.E.
Pirkei Avot 2:10
Rabbinic
10 They [each] said three things: Rabbi Eliezer said: Let the honor of your friend be as dear to you as your own; And be not easily provoked to anger; And repent one day before your death. And [he also said:] warm yourself before the fire of the wise, but beware of being singed by their glowing coals, for their bite is the bite of a fox, and their sting is the sting of a scorpion, and their hiss is the hiss of a serpent, and all their words are like coals of fire. 11 Rabbi Joshua said: an evil eye, the evil inclination, and hatred for humankind put a person out of the world. 12 Rabbi Yose said: Let the property of your fellow be as precious unto you as your own; Make yourself fit to study Torah for it will not be yours by inheritance; And let all your actions be for [the sake of] the name of heaven.
190-230 C.E.
Avot D'Rabbi Natan 26
Rabbinic
Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar would say: When the people of Israel are in foreign lands, they worship idolatry without meaning to. How so? A Samaritan makes a party for his son. He sends out an invitation to all the Jews in his city. Even though they eat and drink their own food, and bring their own attendants who stand and pour for them, it is still considered as if they ate from the sacrifices of the dead, as it says (Exodus 34:15), “They will call to you, and you will eat their sacrifices.”Rabbi Eliezer HaModa’i would say: Anyone who violates the Sabbath, scorns the festivals, disregards circumcision, or attempts to reveal the flaws of the Torah, even though he may be learned in Torah and have done many good deeds, he has no share in the World to Come. Rabbi Akiva would say: Anyone who marries a woman who is not proper for him transgresses five commandments: “Do not take vengeance” (Leviticus 19:18), “Do not bear a grudge” (ibid.), “Do not hate your brother in your heart” (Leviticus 19:17), “Love your fellow as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18), and “Let your brother live with you” (Leviticus 25:36). Because he will hate her he will want her to die, and this will cause fewer children to be born into the world.
450-550 C.E.
Shabbat 31a
Rabbinic
There was another incident involving one gentile who came before Shammai and said to Shammai: Convert me on condition that you teach me the entire Torah while I am standing on one foot. Shammai pushed him away with the builder’s cubit in his hand. This was a common measuring stick and Shammai was a builder by trade. The same gentile came before Hillel. He converted him and said to him: That which is hateful to you do not do to another; that is the entire Torah, and the rest is its interpretation. Go study.