<p>6:36 <i>Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful</i>- Quite simply, who God is should inspire us to be like Him; to copy His characteristics the things of His Name in our personalities. We must be &quot;perfect&quot; as our Father is; &quot;be holy&quot;, because He is holy (1 Pet. 1:14-16); &quot;kind one to another, tender hearted, forgiving one another, even as God forgave&hellip; be you therefore followers of God, as dear children&quot; (Eph. 4:32; 5:1); &quot;merciful, as your Father is merciful&quot; (Lk. 6:36). Prov. 19:11 RV uses language frequently applied to Yahweh Himself and applies it to the wise man: &quot;The discretion of a man makes him slow to anger; and it is his glory to pass over a transgression&quot;. And thus Phinehas was commended for being &quot;jealous with my jealousy&quot; (Num. 25:11 RV)- his emotion at that time was a mirror of that of God Himself.</p><p>Not only was language re-interpreted by the Christian movement. Whole concepts were reoriented. Holiness in the sense of separation from the unclean had been a major theme in the Mosaic Law, and it figured largely in the theology of the Pharisees. But the Lord quoted &ldquo;Be holy because I, Yahweh your God am holy&rdquo; (Lev. 19:2) as &ldquo;Be merciful, even as your father in heaven- AV is merciful&rdquo;. To be merciful to those who sin is now the true holiness- not merely separation from them and condemnation of their ways. Note, too, how He invites us to interpret the Yahweh as &ldquo;father&rdquo;, rather than transliterating the Name.</p>