⭐WEB · Matthew 5:42
What does Matthew 5:42 mean?
"Give to him who asks you, and don’t turn away him who desires to borrow from you."
— Matthew 5:42 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
But I tell you, don’t resist him who is evil; but whoever strikes you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also.
If anyone sues you to take away your coat, let him have your cloak also.
Whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two.
Give to him who asks you, and don’t turn away him who desires to borrow from you.
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’
But I tell you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who mistreat you and persecute you,
that you may be children of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust.
Explanation
Matthew 5:42 is a short but demanding command from Jesus: give to the one who asks, and do not turn away the one who wants to borrow from you. In plain language, Jesus is telling his listeners to be generous and responsive to people in need, whether that need is met through an outright gift or through a loan. He is not offering a narrow legal rule but a description of the kind of open-handed character he expects from his followers.
This verse sits within the Sermon on the Mount, specifically in the section where Jesus is reinterpreting the Mosaic law of retaliation, "an eye for an eye" (Matthew 5:38-42). Matthew, writing primarily to a Jewish-Christian audience, records Jesus contrasting the old standard of measured justice with a new ethic of radical generosity and non-retaliation. Just before this verse, Jesus speaks of turning the other cheek, giving up one's cloak, and going the extra mile when compelled. Verse 42 continues that same trajectory: instead of guarding one's rights and possessions, the disciple is called to release them for the sake of others. This teaching reflects Old Testament concern for the poor and needy (seen in passages like Deuteronomy 15:7-11), which Jesus intensifies and personalizes.
Theologically, this verse reveals the character of the Kingdom of God as one marked by generosity that mirrors God's own giving nature. It challenges the self-protective instinct to hoard resources or calculate exactly how much one "owes" others. Jesus is not laying out a rigid financ
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