Jesus answered, “The greatest is, ‘Hear, Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one:
Parallel translations
- KJV And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:
- BSB Jesus replied, “This is the most important: ‘Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One.
- NKJV Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.
- NASB Jesus answered, “The foremost is, ‘Hear, Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one;
- NLT Jesus replied, “The most important commandment is this: ‘Listen, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only Lord.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Jesus answers by quoting the Shema: 'Hear, Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.'
Overview
Jesus begins with the Shema (Deuteronomy 6:4), Israel's foundational confession of the one true God. By grounding the greatest commandment in God's oneness, He roots all duty in who God is. True obedience flows from rightly knowing and confessing the Lord.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Deut 6:4Hear, Israel: Yahweh is our God. Yahweh is one.
- Luke 10:27He answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.”
- Gal 3:20Now a mediator is not between one, but God is one.
- Rom 3:30since indeed there is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith, and the uncircumcised through faith.
- 1 Cor 8:4Therefore concerning the eating of things sacrificed to idols, we know that no idol is anything in the world, and that there is no other God but one.
- Jude 1:25to God our Savior, who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen.
- Jas 2:19You believe that God is one. You do well. The demons also believe, and shudder.
- Mark 12:32–33The scribe said to him, “Truly, teacher, you have said well that he is one, and there is none other but he,
- Deut 30:6Yahweh your God will circumcise your heart, and the heart of your offspring, to love Yahweh your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, that you may live.
- 1 Tim 2:5For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
- Matt 10:37He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he who loves son or daughter more than me isn’t worthy of me.
- 1 Tim 1:5but the goal of this command is love, out of a pure heart and a good conscience and sincere faith;
- Deut 10:12Now, Israel, what does Yahweh your God require of you, but to fear Yahweh your God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your soul,
- Matt 23:9Call no man on the earth your father, for one is your Father, he who is in heaven.
- Prov 23:26My son, give me your heart; and let your eyes keep in my ways.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Mark drives urgently to the cross, showing Jesus the Son of God as the suffering Servant who 'came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.'
How Mark 12:29 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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