Q&A: On the Commandment of Rebuke and the Prohibition of Hatred
On the Commandment of Rebuke and the Prohibition of Hatred
Question
Regarding the commandment "you shall surely rebuke," it would seem from the verse in which it appears that the plain meaning of the verse is different from the rabbinic interpretation. The verse says: "You shall not hate your brother in your heart; you shall surely rebuke your fellow, and you shall not bear sin because of him." It seems to me that the plain meaning is that there is a prohibition against hating your fellow, and if your fellow has harmed you in some way, you should confront him and rebuke him for it, and not keep it bottled up inside ("and you shall not bear sin because of him" = do not silently endure his wrong against you), because otherwise you will come to hate him in your heart. This also fits with the verse that comes afterward ("You shall not take vengeance nor bear a grudge"). My question is whether that really is the plain meaning of the verse. And if so, why did the Sages expand the commandment beyond the plain meaning so that it includes all kinds of sins and not only sins committed against me?
Answer
Maimonides indeed writes that the prohibition is not hatred itself, but keeping the hatred in one's heart, and its source is apparently the wording of the verse.
If that is indeed the plain meaning of the verse (I am not sure, because there are verses that present two separate prohibitions that are not dependent on each other in the same verse), then that too is prohibited, and the midrashic interpretation only adds to it. As for "and you shall not bear sin because of him," I do not think that is the plain meaning. "To bear sin because of him" does not mean to suffer his wrong silently. And perhaps that itself is what led the Sages to interpret the verse as they did.