Marty, thanks for the effort you've put into your replies; it shows the seriousness with which you're taking this subject.

I'm surprised you would narrow the relevance of Jesus' teaching at Matthew 5:44 and Luke 6: 27:, since Jesus is clearly addressing the treatment of enemies (plural); he is most certainly not addressing just two-persons conflict. Even if he were, the moral principle he is trying to impart to his disciples, weaned on a diet of regulated reprisal, is a new approach (God's approach) to dealing with enemy,  whether he numbers one, or in in the tens of thousands.

The ancient Israelites, the Hebrews, or the Jews (they are referenced variously in the Bible, according to their timeline) forgot that love should inform relations with others and replaced it with a rigid legalism governing how one should act and react. Christians have done much the same. Both religions have compromised what was taught them by God.

Jesus is disavowing violence at Mt 26:52. Nothing more.