Matthew 22:36-46

Context
22:36 “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?”¹ 22:37 Jesus² said to him, “‘Love³ the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’⁴ 22:38 This is the first and greatest⁵ commandment. 22:39 The second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’⁶ 22:40 All the law and the prophets depend⁷ on these two commandments.”

The Messiah: David’s Son and Lord

22:41 While⁸ the Pharisees⁹ were assembled, Jesus asked them a question:¹⁰ 22:42 “What do you think about the Christ?¹¹ Whose son is he?” They said, “The son of David.”¹² 22:43 He said to them, “How then does David by the Spirit call him ‘Lord,’ saying,

22:44 ‘The Lord said to my lord,¹³

“Sit at my right hand,

until I put your enemies under your feet”’?¹⁴

22:45 If David then calls him ‘Lord,’ how can he be his son?”¹⁵ 22:46 No one¹⁶ was able to answer him a word, and from that day on no one dared to question him any longer.

[22:36] ¹tn Or possibly “What sort of commandment in the law is great?”

[22:37] ²tn Grk “And he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[22:37] ³tn Grk “You will love.” The future indicative is used here with imperatival force (see ExSyn 452 and 569).

[22:37] ⁴sn A quotation from Deut 6:5. The threefold reference to different parts of the person says, in effect, that one should love God with all one’s being.

[22:38] ⁵tn Grk “the great and first.”

[22:39] ⁶sn A quotation from Lev 19:18.

[22:40] ⁷tn Grk “hang.” The verb κρεμάννυμι (kremannumi) is used here with a figurative meaning (cf. BDAG 566 s.v. 2.b).

[22:41] ⁸tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[22:41] ⁹sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.

[22:41] ¹⁰tn Grk “asked them a question, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is somewhat redundant here in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[22:42] ¹¹tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[22:42] ¹²sn It was a common belief in Judaism that Messiah would be the son of David in that he would come from the lineage of David. On this point the Pharisees agreed and were correct. But their understanding was nonetheless incomplete, for Messiah is also David’s Lord. With this statement Jesus was affirming that, as the Messiah, he is both God and man.

[22:44] ¹³sn The Lord said to my Lord. With David being the speaker, this indicates his respect for his descendant (referred to as my Lord). Jesus was arguing, as the ancient exposition assumed, that the passage is about the Lord’s anointed. The passage looks at an enthronement of this figure and a declaration of honor for him as he takes his place at the side of God. In Jerusalem, the king’s palace was located to the right of the temple to indicate this kind of relationship. Jesus was pressing the language here to get his opponents to reflect on how great Messiah is.

[22:44] ¹⁴sn A quotation from Ps 110:1.

[22:45] ¹⁵tn Grk “how is he his son?”

[22:46] ¹⁶tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.