Matthew 22:37

22:34-40 An interpreter of the law asked our Lord a question, to try, not so much his knowledge, as his judgment. The love of God is the first and great commandment, and the sum of all the commands of the first table. Our love of God must be sincere, not in word and tongue only. All our love is too little to bestow upon him, therefore all the powers of the soul must be engaged for him, and carried out toward him. To love our neighbour as ourselves, is the second great commandment. There is a self-love which is corrupt, and the root of the greatest sins, and it must be put off and mortified; but there is a self-love which is the rule of the greatest duty: we must have a due concern for the welfare of our own souls and bodies. And we must love our neighbour as truly and sincerely as we love ourselves; in many cases we must deny ourselves for the good of others. By these two commandments let our hearts be formed as by a mould.

37 . See Deuteronomy 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. Matthew 23:5 . St Mark ( Mark 12:32-34 ) adds the lawyer’s rejoinder and the commendation of Jesus, “thou art not far from the Kingdom of God.”

Matthew 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 Deuteronomy 6:5 ; and for the elucidation of this whole paragraph, see the notes on Mark 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.

Matthew 22:37 . ἀγαπήσεις , etc. Jesus replies by citing Deuteronomy 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 , Psalm 103:1 ). This commandment is cited not merely as an individual precept, but as indicating the spirit that gives value to all obedience.

(37) Thou shalt love the Lord thy God. —In St. Mark’s report ( Mark 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 ( Deuteronomy 6:4-5 ) which supplied our Lord with two out of His three answers to the Tempter (see Notes on Matthew 4:4 ; Matthew 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 Luke 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.

Matthew 22:37 . Ἀγαπήσεις , κ . τ . λ ., thou shalt love , etc.) Moses repeats this in Deuteronomy 6:8 , from the Decalogue in Ib. Matthew 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 tuâ ). 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 Luke 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, Deuteronomy 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.

Jesus said unto him ... - Mark says that he introduced this by referring to the doctrine of the unity of God "Hear, O Israel! the Lord thy God is one Lord" - taken from Deuteronomy 6:4 . This was said, probably, because all true obedience depends on the correct knowledge of God. None can keep his commandments who are not acquainted with his nature, his perfections, and his right to command, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart - The meaning of this is, thou shalt love him with all thy faculties or powers. Thou shalt love him supremely, more than all other beings and things, and with all the ardor possible. To love him with all the heart is to fix the affections supremely on him, more strongly than on anything else, and to be willing to give up all that we hold dear at his command, With all thy soul - Or, with all thy "life." This means, to be willing to give up the life to him, and to devote it all to his service; to live to him, and to be willing to die at his command, With all thy mind - To submit the "intellect" to his will. To love his law and gospel more than we do the decisions of our own minds. To be willing to submit all our faculties to his teaching and guidance, and to devote to him all our intellectual attainments and all the results of our intellectual efforts. "With all thy strength" (Mark). With all the faculties of soul and body. To labor and toil for his glory, and to make that the great object of all our efforts.