“And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? Do not even the publicans so?”
The full verse · Matthew 5:47 · KJV
ye , ye than others? the ?
Asked to
Disciples: "his disciples" (Matthew 5:1), who came to Jesus on the mountain while the multitudes were near; He "opened his mouth, and taught them" (Matthew 5:2).
The Scene
Still teaching on loving enemies in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus follows His question about loving those who love you with a question about greetings (Matthew 5:44-46).
Why It Was Asked
The purpose behind the questionJesus brings the command to love enemies down to the smallest everyday act: a greeting. If His hearers would not even greet anyone outside their own circle, how could they claim to love their enemies? Barnes says "salute" here means "to show the customary tokens of civility," and that Christians should show a different spirit: "they should treat their enemies as well as wicked men did their friends." The question "what do ye more than others?" presses the hearers to look for anything in their conduct that goes beyond what everyone does.
The Response
What Scripture recordsThe answer is clear: greeting only your own people is nothing more than others do, and even the publicans do it. Jesus then gives the conclusion to the whole passage: "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect" (Matthew 5:48). Barnes explains "perfect" as complete and consistent, holiness that shows up in every relationship, and points to Job, who was "perfect" in this sense (Job 1:1).
Historical Context
The world behind the wordsA greeting in that culture was a wish for someone's welfare. Gill gives an example from the Jewish sages: one says, "a good day to my lord," and the other replies, "a good, and long day to my lord." Gill explains "brethren" here as not only family but "any kindred, acquaintance, or any of their own nation."
The word for "more" is perisson, meaning extraordinary or beyond the usual. Jesus is asking what is extraordinary about their love. The KJV ends with "publicans," following the Textus Receptus (telonai), while the ESV ends with "Gentiles," following other Greek manuscripts (ethnikoi). Gill noted this long ago: some copies read "Gentiles or Heathens." Either way the point is the same: people outside God's covenant do this much.
The Bigger Picture
Where this fits in God's storyJesus' question shows that God's love is meant to reach past the edges of our own group. The Father's kindness is not limited to His friends (Matthew 5:45), so the love of His children should not be either. A simple greeting becomes a test of whether that love is real.
Earlier in the sermon Jesus said, "except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:20). In Greek, the word for "more" here (perisson) comes from the same word family as "exceed" there (perisseuo). The question asks the hearers to look for that "more" in how they treat people.
Look Closer
What kind of "salute" is Jesus talking about?
Carry the question into prayer and conversation.
Father, Your kindness reaches beyond the people who love You; who are You placing in my path that I usually pass by without a word?
A prayer to carry into the day.
- Whom do you find it easy to overlook, and what makes it hard to offer them even simple kindness?
- Tell about a time a small greeting or kind word from someone outside your circle meant more than they knew.
For you, a small group, a friend, or the dinner table.
Love often starts small. A warm greeting, learning someone's name, or asking how a person is doing can be the first step in loving people outside your own group. Jesus asks, "what do ye more than others?" Look for one place this week to do a little more than others would.
This does not mean you must be close friends with everyone. It means no one is beneath your kindness, including people who disagree with you or have wronged you (Matthew 5:44).
Scripture's own application: Romans 12:14, 17-21
Built from the biblical text and checked against trusted commentaries and lexicons. References & Sources
Keep questioning
“For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? Do not even the publicans the same?”
“For if ye love them which love you, what thank have ye?”
“And if ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye?”
“But if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted?”