A series of posts cataloging Martin Luther’s comments on Aristotle’s ethics and Ethics (i.e., the Nicomachean Ethics).

The first entry comes from the end of Luther’s comments on Genesis 12:11-13 in his Lectures on Genesis:

¹¹ And it came to pass, when he was come near to enter into Egypt, that he said unto Sarai his wife, Behold now, I know that thou art a fair woman to look upon:

¹² Therefore it shall come to pass, when the Egyptians shall see thee, that they shall say, This is his wife: and they will kill me, but they will save thee alive.

¹³ Say, I pray thee, thou art my sister: that it may be well with me for thy sake; and my soul shall live because of thee.

KJV

As a bonus, you get a quotation from Ovid, too.

Translation (WA 42:478)

What the world is accustomed to do is well known: “Kindness between brothers, too, is rare,” says the poet.^[1] And we see that disturbances are stirred up between neighbors over the most trivial matters and, as we say in German, over pigeon poop. Here,^[2] therefore, suspicions and hatreds reign.

But the Christian, although he trusts in no man, nevertheless hates no man, and, although he is convinced that no one here is steadfast such that he cannot be subverted either by his own passionate desires or by Satan, he nevertheless hopes the best of everyone, even of the evil. In the same way he maintains a chaste, pure, and steadfast love, even toward his friends. But he has all of his trust placed in the goodness of God alone.

We do not learn these things from gentile philosophy, which approves of hatred toward one’s enemies, and assumes that someone who has been evil once will be evil always, and for that reason flees and hates him, and even undoes the most intimate bonds of friendship. But the Sacred Scriptures teach something different. They take away trust,^[3] but they command love. Thus, Abraham fears danger from the Egyptians, but he does not for that reason hate them. He has good hope, and thinks that he should want to enjoy all the goods that belong to them that he can. Nevertheless, if something unfavorable should happen, this neither happens as something unexpected, nor does it rouse him to hatred. In his way, the Sacred Scriptures teach an ethics,^[4] or an account of duties,^[5] far better than any Ciceros or Aristotles do.^[6]