And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.
Parallel translations
- WEB and to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbor as himself, is more important than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
- BSB and to love Him with all your heart and with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself, which is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
- NKJV And to love Him with all the heart, with all the understanding, with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
- NASB and to love Him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is much more than all the burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
- NLT And I know it is important to love him with all my heart and all my understanding and all my strength, and to love my neighbor as myself. This is more important than to offer all of the burnt offerings and sacrifices required in the law.”
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
The scribe agrees that wholehearted love for God and neighbor outweighs all sacrifices. It shows that the heart of the law is love, not mere ritual.
Overview
Echoing Deuteronomy 6 and Leviticus 19, the scribe affirms Jesus' summary of the greatest commandments and adds that such love surpasses burnt offerings. The prophets had said the same (Hosea 6:6; 1 Samuel 15:22): God desires obedient love over empty ceremony. This points forward to Christ, whose perfect love for the Father and for sinners fulfills the law and becomes the once-for-all sacrifice that all the offerings foreshadowed.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Hos 6:6For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.
- Mic 6:6–8Wherewith shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old?
- 1 Sam 15:22And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.
- Matt 12:7But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless.
- Matt 9:13But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
- 1 Cor 13:1–3Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.
- Amos 5:21–24I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies.
- Isa 1:11–17To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats.
- Jer 7:21–23Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Put your burnt offerings unto your sacrifices, and eat flesh.
- Ps 50:8–15I will not reprove thee for thy sacrifices or thy burnt offerings, to have been continually before me.
- Ps 50:23Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me: and to him that ordereth his conversation aright will I shew the salvation of God.
- Prov 21:3To do justice and judgment is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice.
- Heb 10:8Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law;
- Isa 58:5–7Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the LORD?
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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 12:33 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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