The First Commandment: Do Not Be Angry

The First Commandment: Do Not Be Angry is the first of five laws that Prince Dmitri Ivanovitch Nekhludoff discovers during his transformative reading of the Gospel on the night after Kryltzoff's death and his final interview with Katerina Maslova. It becomes the foundation of his moral and spiritual awakening, the principle that resolves the tormenting question of why men inflict such terrible suffering on one another and what must be done to end it.

Origin and Content

The commandment is drawn from the Sermon on the Mount, specifically Matthew 5:21-26. As Nekhludoff reads the Gospel for the first time with new eyes, he sees that this law demands not only that a man refrain from murder, but that he not even be angry with his brother, that he not consider any one worthless ("Raca"), and that if he has quarrelled with anyone he must make it up with him before bringing his gift to God—that is, before praying. The law thus extends the prohibition from the outward act of killing to the inward state of anger and contempt, and it insists on active reconciliation as a prerequisite for worship.

Nekhludoff's Discovery

Nekhludoff had read these words many times before, but on this night they struck him as simple, clear, practical laws rather than beautiful abstract thoughts or exaggerated, impossible demands. He had been pacing his hotel room, exhausted by the horrors he had witnessed: the prison cells crowded with degraded human beings, the corpse of Anatole Kryltzoff, the strange old man who accused the officials and was therefore considered mad. The question that had tormented him—whether he was mad or those who committed these deeds were mad—now found an answer. The only certain means of salvation from the terrible evil under which men were suffering was that they should always acknowledge themselves to be sinning against God, and therefore unable to punish or correct others.

The Law of Forgiveness

The First Commandment leads directly to the parable of the unmerciful servant (Matthew 18:21-35), which Nekhludoff reads immediately afterward. A king forgives his servant a debt of ten thousand talents, but that servant goes out and has a fellow-servant thrown into prison for owing him a hundred pence. The king then condemns the wicked servant for failing to show mercy as he had received mercy. Nekhludoff suddenly understands that this is the answer to all the terrible evil he has seen: men must forgive always, an infinite number of times, because there are no men who have not sinned themselves, and therefore none can punish or correct others. The usual objection—"What is one to do with evil-doers? Surely not let them go unpunished?"—no longer confuses him, because punishment has been proved not to lessen crime or improve the criminal, but only to corrupt both the punisher and the punished.

Significance in Nekhludoff's Transformation

This commandment, together with the four that follow, forms the basis of what Nekhludoff calls "the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth." He sees that if men would obey these laws, the violence that fills him with indignation would cease of itself, and the greatest blessing obtainable to men would be established. The First Commandment is the most fundamental because it strikes at the root of the entire system of judgment and punishment that Nekhludoff has spent months observing in prisons and law courts. It reveals that the whole apparatus of criminal justice—the judges, prosecutors, inspectors, and jailers—is built on the false premise that some men are righteous enough to punish others. The commandment demands that every man recognize his own sinfulness and therefore his unfitness to judge. This insight gives Nekhludoff a new purpose: to seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, trusting that all else will be added. The night ends not with despair but with rapture, as a perfectly new life dawns for him.