Mark 12:28-34

The Greatest Commandment

12:28 Now ¹  one of the experts in the law ²  came and heard them debating. When he saw that Jesus ³  answered them well, he asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” 12:29 Jesus answered, “The most important is: ‘Listen, Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. 12:30 Love ⁴  the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ ⁵  12:31 The second is: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ ⁶  There is no other commandment greater than these.” 12:32 The expert in the law said to him, “That is true, Teacher; you are right to say that he is one, and there is no one else besides him. ⁷  12:33 And to love him with all your heart, with all your mind, and with all your strength ⁸  and to love your neighbor as yourself ⁹  is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 12:34 When Jesus saw that he had answered thoughtfully, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” Then no one dared any longer to question him.

Isaiah 8:20

8:20 Then you must recall the Lord’s instructions and the prophetic testimony of what would happen. ¹⁰  Certainly they say such things because their minds are spiritually darkened. ¹¹ 

Matthew 5:17-20

Fulfillment of the Law and Prophets

5:17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have not come to abolish these things but to fulfill them. ¹²  5:18 I ¹³  tell you the truth, ¹⁴  until heaven and earth pass away not the smallest letter or stroke of a letter ¹⁵  will pass from the law until everything takes place. 5:19 So anyone who breaks one of the least of these commands and teaches others ¹⁶  to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever obeys them and teaches others to do so will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 5:20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness goes beyond that of the experts in the law ¹⁷  and the Pharisees, ¹⁸  you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 19:17-19

19:17 He said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.” 19:18 “Which ones?” he asked. Jesus replied, “Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, 19:19 honor your father and mother, ¹⁹  and love your neighbor as yourself.” ²⁰ 

Luke 10:26-28

10:26 He said to him, “What is written in the law? How do you understand it?” ²¹  10:27 The expert ²²  answered, “Love ²³  the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, ²⁴  and love your neighbor as yourself.” ²⁵  10:28 Jesus ²⁶  said to him, “You have answered correctly; ²⁷  do this, and you will live.”

Luke 18:20

18:20 You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.’” ²⁸ 

Romans 3:20

3:20 For no one is declared righteous before him ²⁹  by the works of the law, ³⁰  for through the law comes ³¹  the knowledge of sin.

Galatians 4:21

An Appeal from Allegory

4:21 Tell me, you who want to be under the law, do you not understand the law? ³² 

[12:28]  ¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.

[12:28]  ² tn Or “One of the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 1:22.

[12:28]  ³ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[12:30]  ⁴ tn Grk “You will love.” The future indicative is used here with imperatival force (see ExSyn 452 and 569).

[12:30]  ⁵ sn A quotation from Deut 6:4-5 and Josh 22:5 (LXX). The fourfold reference to different parts of the person says, in effect, that one should love God with all one’s being.

[12:31]  ⁶ sn A quotation from Lev 19:18.

[12:32]  ⁷ sn A quotation from Deut 4:35.

[12:33]  ⁸ sn A quotation from Deut 6:5.

[12:33]  ⁹ sn A quotation from Lev 19:18.

[8:20]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “to [the] instruction and to [the] testimony.” The words “then you must recall” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. In the Hebrew text vv. 19-20a are one long sentence, reading literally, “When they say to you…, to the instruction and to the testimony.” On the identity of the “instruction” and “testimony” see the notes at v. 16.

[8:20]  ¹¹ tn Heb “If they do not speak according to this word, [it is] because it has no light of dawn.” The literal translation suggests that “this word” refers to the instruction/testimony. However, it is likely that אִם־לֹא (’im-lo’) is asseverative here, as in 5:9. In this case “this word” refers to the quotation recorded in v. 19. For a discussion of the problem see J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 230, n. 9. The singular pronoun in the second half of the verse is collective, referring back to the nation (see v. 19b).

[5:17]  ¹² tn Grk “not come to abolish but to fulfill.” Direct objects (“these things,” “them”) were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context, but have been supplied here to conform to contemporary English style.

[5:18]  ¹³ tn Grk “For I tell.” Here an explanatory γάρ (gar) has not been translated.

[5:18]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[5:18]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “Not one iota or one serif.”

[5:19]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “teaches men” ( in a generic sense, people).

[5:20]  ¹⁷ tn Or “that of the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[5:20]  ¹⁸ sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.

[19:19]  ¹⁹ sn A quotation from Exod 20:12-16; Deut 5:16-20.

[19:19]  ²⁰ sn A quotation from Lev 19:18.

[10:26]  ²¹ tn Grk “How do you read?” The pronoun “it” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[10:27]  ²² tn Grk “And he”; the referent (the expert in religious law, shortened here to “the expert”) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[10:27]  ²³ tn Grk “You will love.” The future indicative is used here with imperatival force (see ExSyn 452 and 569).

[10:27]  ²⁴ sn A quotation from Deut 6:5. The fourfold reference to different parts of the person says, in effect, that one should love God with all one’s being.

[10:27]  ²⁵ tn This portion of the reply is a quotation from Lev 19:18. The verb is repeated in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[10:28]  ²⁶ tn Grk “And he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[10:28]  ²⁷ sn Jesus commends the reply (you have answered correctly). What is assumed here, given the previous context, is that he will respond to Jesus’ message, as to love God is to respond to his Son; see v. 22.

[18:20]  ²⁸ sn A quotation from Exod 20:12-16 and Deut 5:16-20. Jesus cited the parts of the ten commandments that relate to how others should be treated.

[3:20]  ²⁹ sn An allusion to Ps 143:2.

[3:20]  ³⁰ tn Grk “because by the works of the law no flesh is justified before him.” Some recent scholars have understood the phrase ἒργα νόμου (erga nomou, “works of the law”) to refer not to obedience to the Mosaic law generally, but specifically to portions of the law that pertain to things like circumcision and dietary laws which set the Jewish people apart from the other nations (e.g., J. D. G. Dunn, Romans [WBC], 1:155). Other interpreters, like C. E. B. Cranfield (“‘The Works of the Law’ in the Epistle to the Romans,” JSNT 43 [1991]: 89-101) reject this narrow interpretation for a number of reasons, among which the most important are: (1) The second half of v. 20, “for through the law comes the knowledge of sin,” is hard to explain if the phrase “works of the law” is understood in a restricted sense; (2) the plural phrase “works of the law” would have to be understood in a different sense from the singular phrase “the work of the law” in 2:15; (3) similar phrases involving the law in Romans (2:13, 14; 2:25, 26, 27; 7:25; 8:4; and 13:8) which are naturally related to the phrase “works of the law” cannot be taken to refer to circumcision (in fact, in 2:25 circumcision is explicitly contrasted with keeping the law). Those interpreters who reject the “narrow” interpretation of “works of the law” understand the phrase to refer to obedience to the Mosaic law in general.

[3:20]  ³¹ tn Grk “is.”

[4:21]  ³² tn Or “will you not hear what the law says?” The Greek verb ἀκούω (akouw) means “hear, listen to,” but by figurative extension it can also mean “obey.” It can also refer to the process of comprehension that follows hearing, and that sense fits the context well here.