Golden Rule

Text and Content

The Golden Rule appears in Matthew 7:12 and Luke 6:31. The King James Version renders Matthew 7:12 as "Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets." In Matthew it comes near the end of the Sermon on the Mount. In Luke it is set within the teaching on loving one's enemies (Luke 6:27–36). The name "Golden Rule" does not appear in the biblical text; it is a later designation.

Background and Wording

A literal rendering of the Greek text is "All things that you wish people to do to you, you also do likewise to them." The verb is the ordinary verb meaning "to do." Accordingly, the verb daejeophada used in the New Korean Revised Version, which can suggest serving food or hosting guests, is not limited to hospitality but refers to one's conduct toward others in general.

Similar teachings existed before Jesus, though most take the negative form: "Do not do to others what you yourself dislike." Such a saying is found in Tobit 4:15 in the Apocrypha. The Talmud also records that Rabbi Hillel said, "What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor; that is the whole Law." In East Asia, the saying from the Analects of Confucius, "What you do not wish for yourself, do not impose on others" (己所不欲 勿施於人), is often cited for comparison.

Significance within Scripture as a Whole

Matthew 7:12 adds "for this is the law and the prophets," presenting the teaching as a summary of the entire Old Testament. This connects with Leviticus 19:18, "thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." It also links to Mark 12:28–34, where Jesus speaks of the greatest commandment. Paul likewise teaches in Romans 13:8–10 and Galatians 5:14 that the law is fulfilled in love of neighbor. Some scholars note that the phrase "the law, or the prophets," which first appears in Matthew 5:17, recurs in 7:12; they therefore regard the two verses as forming a frame around the main body of the Sermon on the Mount.

Interpretation and Points of Discussion

• Positive and negative forms: Many Christian interpreters explain that the positive form ("do") demands a more active love than the negative form ("do not"). Others criticize this contrast, arguing that overemphasizing it leads to a disparaging view of the Jewish tradition.
• Relation to salvation: The Reformed and Lutheran traditions distinguish between law and gospel. In these traditions the Golden Rule is not a condition by which a person is saved; rather, it is read as a summary of the law that brings knowledge of sin and guides the life of the believer. Wesleyan theology connects it with the practice of love to be realized in sanctification, that is, the process of growing in holiness of life. The Anabaptist tradition, emphasizing its context of love for enemies, has used it as a basis for everyday ethics and nonviolence.
• The question of the standard: Some point out that different people desire different things. In response, many interpreters argue that the heart of the saying is not applying one's own preferences to others but seeking the good of others as one would seek one's own.

In the Korean Church

The Golden Rule is frequently treated in sermons on the Sermon on the Mount. It is also commonly used as a Sunday school memory verse and as a sermon text emphasizing service to one's neighbor. In everyday Korean, the term hwanggeumnyul ("golden rule") is also used apart from the Bible in the figurative sense of "the most important principle."