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.”
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.”
- KJV 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.
- 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.”
- 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 desire mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.
- Mic 6:6–8How shall I come before Yahweh, and bow myself before the exalted God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old?
- 1 Sam 15:22Samuel said, “Has Yahweh as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying Yahweh’s voice? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.
- Matt 12:7But if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless.
- Matt 9:13But you go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ for I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
- 1 Cor 13:1–3If I speak with the languages of men and of angels, but don’t have love, I have become sounding brass, or a clanging cymbal.
- Amos 5:21–24I hate, I despise your feasts, and I can’t stand your solemn assemblies.
- Isa 1:11–17“What are the multitude of your sacrifices to me?”, says Yahweh. “I have had enough of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed animals. I don’t delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of male goats.
- Jer 7:21–23Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel says: “Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices, and eat meat.
- Ps 50:8–15I don’t rebuke you for your sacrifices. Your burnt offerings are continually before me.
- Ps 50:23Whoever offers the sacrifice of thanksgiving glorifies me, and prepares his way so that I will show God’s salvation to him.”
- Prov 21:3To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to Yahweh than sacrifice.
- Heb 10:8Previously saying, “Sacrifices and offerings and whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin you didn’t desire, neither had pleasure in them” (those which are offered according to the law),
- Isa 58:5–7Is this the fast that I have chosen? A day for a man to humble his soul? Is it to bow down his head like a reed, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under himself? Will you call this a fast, and an acceptable day to Yahweh?
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 12:33 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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