“Teacher, which commandment is the greatest in the Law?”
Parallel translations
- WEB “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law?”
- KJV Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
- NKJV “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”
- NASB “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”
- NLT “Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?”
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
He asks which is the greatest commandment in the law. The question seeks the central principle of God's requirements.
Overview
Jewish teachers debated how to weigh the many commandments, so the question carried real significance. By asking for the greatest, the lawyer probes Jesus' grasp of the law's essence. Jesus' answer will distill the whole law into love for God and neighbor.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Mark 12:28–33Now one of the scribes had come up and heard their debate. Noticing how well Jesus had answered them, he asked Him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?”
- Matt 5:19–20So then, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do likewise will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever practices and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
- Luke 11:42Woe to you Pharisees! You pay tithes of mint, rue, and every herb, but you disregard justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without neglecting the former.
- Matt 23:23–24Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You pay tithes of mint, dill, and cumin. But you have disregarded the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.
- Hos 8:12Though I wrote for them the great things of My law, they regarded them as something strange.
- Matt 15:6he need not honor his father or mother with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Matthew presents Jesus as the promised King — son of David, son of Abraham — the new Moses and true Israel in whom every prophecy reaches 'that it might be fulfilled.'
How Matthew 22:36 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.