Matthew 22:35-40

| Matt 22 |

35 d And one of them, e a lawyer, asked him a question f to test him. 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And he said to him, g “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And h a second is like it: i You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 j On these two commandments depend k all the Law and the Prophets.”

My Notes

ESV Study Bible Notes

Sign in or register to access ESV Study Bible notes or save your personal notes and highlights.

Your email address:

Have you created a password for the ESV Study Bible?


Forgot Your Password?

Enjoy this free preview of the ESV Study Bible notes.

Matt. 21:1–23:39 The Messiah Asserts His Authority over Jerusalem. Jesus' authority over Jerusalem is revealed in his triumphal entry (21:1–11), actions in the temple (21:12–17), cursing the fig tree (21:18–22), debates with religious leaders (21:23–22:46), and woes pronounced on the teachers of the law and the Pharisees (23:1–39).

Matt. 21:23–22:46 Controversies in the Temple Court over Jesus' Authority. On Tuesday of Holy Week, Jesus presents three extended parables showing God's judgment on the leaders for not encouraging the people to accept Jesus' invitation to the kingdom of heaven (21:28–22:14). This is followed by a series of four interactions as the religious leaders try to trap Jesus, who in turn reveals his true identity as the Son of God (22:15–46).

Matt. 22:35 A lawyer is an expert in the law; this is another expression for “scribes of the Pharisees” (Mark 2:16; cf. Acts 23:9; and Jewish Groups at the Time of the New Testament).

Matt. 22:36 the great commandment. The rabbis engaged in an ongoing debate to determine which commandments were “light” and which were “weighty” (cf. 23:23; and note on 5:19). The Law refers here to the entire OT.

Matt. 22:37–38 love the Lord your God . . . heart . . . soul . . . mind. This command from Deut. 6:5, repeated twice daily by faithful Jews, encapsulates the idea of total devotion to God and includes the duty to obey the rest of God's commandments (cf. Matt. 5:16–20). “Heart,” “soul,” and “mind” do not represent rigid compartments of human existence but rather together refer to the whole person.

Matt. 22:39 You shall love your neighbor as yourself. See Lev. 19:18, 34. Love signifies a concrete responsibility to seek the greatest good of one's neighbors, both Jew and Gentile.

Matt. 22:40 The kingdom life that Jesus initiated—summarized in these two commandments—fulfills the deepest longings of human beings created in the image of God to display his glory. the Law and the Prophets. See note on 5:17.