Matthew 22:36-40

22:36 “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” ¹  22:37 Jesus ²  said to him, “‘Love ³  the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ ⁴  22:38 This is the first and greatest ⁵  commandment. 22:39 The second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ ⁶  22:40 All the law and the prophets depend ⁷  on these two commandments.”

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¹ tn Or possibly “What sort of commandment in the law is great?”

² tn Grk “And he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

³ tn Grk “You will love.” The future indicative is used here with imperatival force (see ExSyn 452 and 569).

⁴ sn A quotation from Deut 6:5. The threefold reference to different parts of the person says, in effect, that one should love God with all one’s being.

⁵ tn Grk “the great and first.”

⁶ sn A quotation from Lev 19:18.

⁷ tn Grk “hang.” The verb κρεμάννυμι (kremannumi) is used here with a figurative meaning (cf. BDAG 566 s.v. 2.b).