Matthew 22:37

Mat 22:37-40. Jesus said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart — Concerning this first and great commandment, and the words wherewith Moses prefaced it, see note on Deu 6:5; and for the elucidation of this whole paragraph, see the notes on Mar 12:28-34, where the conversation which our Lord had with this scribe is related more at large. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets — That is, they contain the substance or abridgment of all the religious and moral duties contained in the law and the prophets, which therefore may be all said to hang or depend on them. The expression, says Dr. Whitby, is a metaphor taken from a custom mentioned by Tertullian of hanging up their laws in a public place to be seen of all men; and it imports that in these precepts is compendiously contained all that the law and prophets require, in reference to our duty to God and man; for though there be some precepts of temperance which we owe to ourselves, yet are they such as we may be moved to perform from the true love of God and of our neighbour; whom if we truly love we cannot be wanting in them. For the love of God will make us humble and contented with our lot; it will preserve us from all intemperance, impatience, and unholy desires; it will make us watchful over ourselves, that we may keep a good conscience, and solicitous for our eternal welfare. And the love of our neighbour will free us from all angry passions, envy, malice, revenge, and other unkind tempers: so that both taken together will introduce into us the whole mind that was in Christ, and cause us to walk as he walked.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

22:37 Jesus answers from the Shema (Deut 6:4-9), one of the core statements of God’s covenant with Israel (The first Hebrew word of Deut 6:4-9 is shema‘, “hear”).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Mat 22:37. Ἀγαπήσεις, κ.τ.λ., thou shalt love, etc.) Moses repeats this in Deu 6:8, from the Decalogue in Ib. Mat 5:10; and it is frequently repeated in the same book, of which it is the sum, the last time with a most solemn adjuration; Ib. 30:19, 20.—ἐν ὅλῃ καρδίᾳ σου καὶ ἐν ὅλῃ ψυχῇ σου, καὶ ἐν ὅλῃ τῇ διανοίᾳ σου,[972] with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. Those who have copied or collated MSS., have for the most part treated the article with indifference; but as far as can be gathered from MSS. lately collated, St Matthew introduced the article only in the last clause. In the Hebrew it is ובכל מאדך, q.d., and with all thy strength (et in omni validitate tuג). The LXX. render it καὶ ἐξ ὅλης τῆς δυνάμεώς σου, and with all thy might. In St Mark it is, ΚΑῚ ἘΞ ὍΛΗς Τῆς ΔΙΑΝΟΊΑς ΣΟΥ, ΚΑῚ ἘΞ ὍΛΗς Τῆς ἸΣΧΎΟς ΣΟΥ, and with all thy mind and with all thy strength. In St Luk 10:27, it is καὶ ἐξ ὅλης τῆς ἰσχύος σου καὶ ἐξ ὅλης τῆς διανοίας σου, one Hebrew word, מאד[973] being expressed by two Greek ones. [sc. ἸΣΧΎΟς, strength, and διανοίας, mind, or understanding.] Even the Hebrew accents[974] distinguish this third clause from the two previous ones, which are closely united. They all form an epitasis,[975] with which St Matthew’s introduction of the article only in the third clause agrees. John James Syrbius, Philos. primæ, Part I., ch. i., § 1, thus expresses himself,—“Of ALL those things which are ever found in man, there are three fundamental principles, idea, desire, and emotion.” ALL ought to be animated and governed by the love of God.

[972] E. M. has ἐν ὅλῃ τῇ καρδίᾳ σου, καὶ ἐν ὅλῃ τῇ ψυχῇ σου, καὶ ἐν ὅλῃ τῇ διανοίᾳ σου.—(I. B.)

[973] מְאד— 1)subst. m. strength, force, from the root אוּד. No. 3, Deu 6:5, “And thou shalt love Jehovah thy God with all thy heart, with all thy mind, וּבְכל מְא̇דֶף, and with all thy strength,” i.e. in the highest degree. Gesenius.—(I. B.)

[974] For some account of the Hebrew accents, see p. 132, f. n. 5.—(I. B.)

[975] See explanation of technical terms in Appendix—(I. B.)

DZ. support the articles before καρδιά, and before διανοίᾳ: the reading of B. is doubtful. Only inferior uncial MSS. Δ., etc., omit the articles.—ED.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mat 22:37 . ἀγαπήσεις , etc. Jesus replies by citing Deu 6:5 , which inculcates supreme, devoted love to God, and pronouncing this the great ( μεγάλη ) and greatest, first ( πρώτη ) commandment. The clauses referring to heart, soul, and mind are to be taken cumulatively, as meaning love to the uttermost degree; with “all that is within” us ( πάντα τὰ ἐντός μου , Psa 103:1 ). This commandment is cited not merely as an individual precept, but as indicating the spirit that gives value to all obedience.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The Hebrew text readeth, Deut. 6:5, with thine heart, soul, and strength: and in Mark 12:30 and Luke 10:27 we read with soul, heart, strength and thought.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 37. Thou shalt love the Lord] This is a subject of the greatest importance, and should be well understood, as our Lord shows that the whole of true religion is comprised in thus loving God and our neighbour.

It may not be unnecessary to inquire into the literal meaning of the word love. αγαπη, from αγαπαω, I love, is supposed to be compounded either of αγαν and ποιειν, to act vehemently or intensely; or, from αγειν κατα παν, because love is always active, and will act in every possible way; for he who loves is, with all his affection and desire, carried forward to the beloved object, in order to possess and enjoy it. Some derive it from αγαν and παυεσθαι, to be completely at rest, or, to be intensely satisfied; because he who loves is supremely contented with, and rests completely satisfied in, that which he loves. Others, from αγαν and παω, because a person eagerly embraces, and vigorously holds fast, that which is the object of his love. Lastly, others suppose it to be compounded of αγαω, I admire, and παυομαι, I rest, because that which a man loves intensely he rests in, with fixed admiration and contemplation. So that genuine love changes not, but always abides steadily attached to that which is loved.

Whatever may be thought of these etymologies, as being either just or probable, one thing will be evident to all those who know what love means, that they throw much light upon the subject, and manifest it in a variety of striking points of view. The ancient author of a MS. Lexicon in the late French king's library, under the word αγαπη, has the following definition: σπαϚος προθεσις επι τη φιλια του φιλουμενου - Σομψυχια. "A pleasing surrender of friendship to a friend: - an identity or sameness of soul." A sovereign preference given to one above all others, present or absent: a concentration of all the thoughts and desires in a single object, which a man prefers to all others. Apply this definition to the love which God requires of his creatures, and you will have the most correct view of the subject. Hence it appears that, by this love, the soul eagerly cleaves to, affectionately admires, and constantly rests in God, supremely pleased and satisfied with him as its portion: that it acts from him, as its author; for him, as its master; and to him, as its end. That, by it, all the powers and faculties of the mind are concentrated in tho Lord of the universe. That, by it, the whole man is willingly surrendered to the Most High: and that, through it, an identity, or sameness of spirit with the Lord is acquired-the man being made a partaker of the Divine nature, having the mind in him which was in Christ, and thus dwelling in God, and God in him.

But what is implied in loving God with all the heart, soul, mind, strength, c., and when may a man be said to do this?

1. He loves God with all his heart, who loves nothing in comparison of him, and nothing but in reference to him: - who is ready to give up, do, or suffer any thing in order to please and glorify him:-who has in his heart neither love nor hatred, hope nor fear, inclination, nor aversion, desire, nor delight, but as they relate to God, and are regulated by him.

2. He loves God with all his soul, or rather, εν ολη τη ψυχη, with all his life, who is ready to give up life for his sake - to endure all sorts of torments, and to be deprived of all kinds of comforts, rather than dishonour God: - who employs life with all its comforts, and conveniences, to glorify God in, by, and through all: - to whom life and death are nothing, but as they come from and lead to God, From this Divine principle sprang the blood of the martyrs, which became the seed of the Church. They overcame through the blood of the Lamb, and loved not their lives unto the death. See Re 12:11.

3. He loves God with all his strength (Mr 12:30 Lu 10:27) who exerts all the powers of his body and soul in the service of God: - who, for the glory of his Maker, spares neither labour nor cost - who sacrifices his time, body, health, ease, for the honour of God his Divine Master: - who employs in his service all his goods, his talents, his power, credit, authority, and influence.

4. He loves God with all his mind (intellect - διανοια) who applies himself only to know God, and his holy will: - who receives with submission, gratitude, and pleasure, the sacred truths which God has revealed to man: - who studies no art nor science but as far as it is necessary for the service of God, and uses it at all times to promote his glory - who forms no projects nor designs but in reference to God and the interests of mankind: - who banishes from his understanding and memory every useless, foolish, and dangerous thought, together with every idea which has any tendency to defile his soul, or turn it for a moment from the centre of eternal repose. In a word, he who sees God in all things - thinks of him at all times - having his mind continually fixed upon God, acknowledging him in all his ways - who begins, continues, and ends all his thoughts, words, and works, to the glory of his name: - this is the person who loves God with all his heart, life, strength, and intellect. He is crucified to the world, and the world to him: he lives, yet not he, but Christ lives in him. He beholds as in a glass the glory of the Lord, and is changed into the same image from glory to glory. Simply and constantly looking unto Jesus, the author and perfecter of his faith, he receives continual supplies of enlightening and sanctifying grace, and is thus fitted for every good word and work. O glorious state! far, far, beyond this description! which comprises an ineffable communion between the ever-blessed Trinity and the soul of man!

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(37) Thou shalt love the Lord thy God.—In St. Mark’s report (Mar_12:29) our Lord’s answer begins with the Creed of Israel (“Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord”), and so the truth is in its right position as the foundation of the duty. It is significant (1) that the answer comes from the same chapter (Deu_6:4-5) which supplied our Lord with two out of His three answers to the Tempter (see Notes on Mat_4:4; Mat_4:7); and (2) that He does but repeat the answer that had been given before by the “certain lawyer” who stood up tempting Him, in Luk_10:25. In their ethical teaching the Pharisees had grasped the truth intellectually, though they did not realise it in their lives, and our Lord did not shrink, therefore, so far, from identifying His teaching with theirs. Truth was truth, even though it was held by the Pharisees and coupled with hypocrisy.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

37. See Deu_6:5.

heart … soul … mind] St Mark and St Luke add “strength.” In Deut. the words are heart … soul … might. Heart includes the emotions, will, purpose; soul, the spiritual faculties; mind, the intellect, the thinking faculty. This greatest commandment was written on the phylactery which the “lawyer” was probably wearing. See ch. Mat_23:5.

St Mark (Mar_12:32-34) adds the lawyer’s rejoinder and the commendation of Jesus, “thou art not far from the Kingdom of God.”

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. Not that all that is contained in the five books of Moses, and in the books of the prophets, and other writings of the Old Testament, is comprehended in, and is reducible to these two precepts; for there are many things delivered by way of promise, written by way of history, &c. which cannot, by any means, be brought into these two general heads: but that everything respecting duty that is suggested in the law, or is more largely explained and pressed in any of the writings of the prophets, is summarily comprehended in these two sayings: hence love is the fulfilling of the law; see Rom 13:8. The substance of the law is love; and the writings of the prophets, as to the preceptive part of them, are an explanation of the law, and an enlargement upon it: hence the Jews have a saying (c), that "all the prophets stood on Mount Sinai", and received their prophecies there, because the sum of them, as to the duty part, was then delivered. Beza thinks, that here is an allusion to the "phylacteries", or frontlets, which hung upon their foreheads and hands, as a memorial of the law. And certain it is, that the first of these commands, and which is said to be the greatest, was written in these phylacteries. Some take the phrase, "on these hang all the law and the prophets", to be a mere Latinism, but it is really an Hebraism, and often to be met with in the Jewish writings: so Maimonides says (d),

"the knowledge of this matter is an affirmative precept, as it is said, "I am the Lord thy God"; and he that imagines there is another God besides this, transgresses a negative, as it is said, "thou shalt have no other Gods before me"; and he denies the fundamental point, for this is the great foundation, , "on which all hang":

and so the word is used in many other places (e). The sense is plainly this, that all that are in the law and prophets are consistent with, and dependent on these things; and are, as the Persic version renders the word, "comprehended" in them, and cannot be separated from them,

(c) Jarchi in Isa. xlviii. 16. & in Mal. i. 1. (d) Hilch. Yesode Hatorah, c. 1. sect. 6. (e) Vid. Abkath Rokel. l. 1. p. 3.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

Ver. 37. Thou shalt love the Lord] God must be loved and honoured by us, η ολος η μη ολως, saith one; truly, that there be no halting, and totally, that there be no halving; he will not divide with the devil, as the Circassians are said to divide their whole life between rapine and religion. God’s service must be the totum hominis, Ecc 12:13, and the bonum hominis, Mic 6:8. We should love him infinitely; which, because we cannot, we must love him unfeignedly; but how far short we come in loving him with all our heart, soul, strength, &c. (which yet the Papists affirm feasible), appears by our lives, which, do what we can, are fuller of sins than the firmament is of stars or the furnace of sparks.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

37. Jesus said — Jesus gave him not only that which is greatest, but that which, if properly kept, will indeed keep the whole. Heart… soul… mind — All the affections and powers of the man.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Thou shalt love the Lord thy God; Kurion ton sou . (Deu_6:5, from the Septuagint, with some slight variation) Christ enunciates the two great moral precepts of God"s Law, not, indeed, stated in these words in the Decalogue, but implied throughout, and forming the basis of true religion. Heart... soul... mind. The Septuagint has "mind, soul, strength." The expressions mean generally that God is to be loved with all our powers and faculties, and that nothing is to be preferred to him. It is difficult to define with any precision the signification of each term used, and much unprofitable labour has been expended in the endeavour to limit their exact sense. "Quum," as Grotius says, "vocum multarum cumulatio nihil quam intensius studium designet." It is usual to explain thus: Heart; which among the Hebrews was considered to be the seat of the understanding, is here considered as the home of the affections and the seat of the will. Soul; the living powers, the animal life. Mind; diamoia , intellectual powers. These are to be the seat and abode of the love enjoined.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Deut. vi, 5.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

37, 38. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God, etc. Freely quoted from Deut. 6:5. A demand for supreme love for God.

This is the first and great. Great, because it embraces all others; first, in that it precedes the second that he is about to name. He who loves God supremely cannot live in disobedience to him.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

General Information:

Jesus quotes a verse from Deuteronomy as the greatest commandment.

with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind

These three phrases are used together to mean "completely" or "earnestly." Here "heart" and "soul" are metonyms for a person's inner being. (See: Metonymy and Doublet)

the great and first commandment

Here "great" and "first" mean the same thing. They emphasize that this is the most important commandment. (See: Doublet)

translationWords

Jesus

lord

God

heart

soul

mind

command

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

37. See Deu 6:5.

καρδίᾳ … ψυχῇ … διανοία. St Mark and St Luke add ἰσχύς. In Deut. the words are heart … soul … might. καρδία includes the emotions, will, purpose; ψυχή, the spiritual faculties; διάνοια the intellect, the thinking faculty. This greatest commandment was written on the phylactery which the ‘lawyer’ was probably wearing. See ch. Mat 23:5.

St Mark (Mar 12:32-34) adds the lawyer’s rejoinder and the commendation of Jesus, ‘thou art not far from the Kingdom of God.’

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

37. κύρ. τ. θ. σου] Not, ‘The LORD as thy God,’—but the LORD thy God.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

37. And He said to him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.] Mk. has: “Jesus answered that the first is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God from all thy heart, and from all thy soul, and from all thy mind, and from all thy strength.” The quotation is from Deu 6:5. The LXX. has “from all thy mind (διανοίας), and from all thy soul, and from all thy power (δυνάμεως).” But A F Luc have καρδίας for διανοίας. Mk. seems to have conflated the two renderings, and to have substituted ἰσχύος for δυνάμεως. Mt., remembering the fact that there were only three clauses in the original, retains only the first three from Mk., and assimilates to the Hebrew by substituting ἐν for ἐκ.

(M?)

37. διανοίᾳ] c S1 S2 have “power” (c. virtute) = ἰσχῦι from Mk. S1 S2 also have “from” for ἐν throughout, assimilating to Mk. (and the Pesh. VS. of Dt.).

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.