Matthew 22:37-40 records Jesus answering a question about which commandment matters most, and his reply is that love for God comes first and love for your neighbor comes right alongside it. He says these two commands sum up the whole of God’s law and the teaching of the prophets. The passage appears in the final week of Jesus’ ministry in Jerusalem, during a series of pointed exchanges with religious leaders who were trying to test him.
37 Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 A second likewise is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”
Matthew 22:37-40 (WEB)
Matthew 22:37-40 Summary
A lawyer, an expert in the Jewish law, asks Jesus which commandment is the greatest. Jesus answers by quoting Deuteronomy 6:5, calling for wholehearted love of God with heart, soul, and mind. He then adds a second command from Leviticus 19:18, love for your neighbor as yourself, and declares that this second command is like the first.
Jesus closes by saying that all the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments. In other words, the whole of Israel’s Scripture can be read as an expansion of love toward God and toward other people. The lawyer asked for a ranking, and Jesus gives him a summary that holds the entire law together.
Context of Matthew 22:37-40
Matthew’s Gospel was written for a community with deep roots in Jewish tradition, and it presents Jesus as the teacher who fulfills the Scriptures. The author is traditionally identified as Matthew, one of the twelve disciples, though many scholars note that the book itself is anonymous. The Gospel shows Jesus confronting rival groups, including Pharisees, Sadducees, and lawyers, who try to trap him with difficult questions.
The verses just before and after this passage show the rising tension. Jesus has just silenced the Sadducees over the resurrection, and the Pharisees gather to try their own question. After answering, Jesus turns the tables and asks them about the identity of the Messiah, using Psalm 110. So the passage sits inside a sharp back-and-forth where Jesus is both answering and asking hard questions of his opponents.
Matthew 22:37-40 Verse by Verse
1 John 4:20
If a man says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who doesn’t love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?
(WEB)
John connects love of God with love of the brother or sister we can see. The verse reminds readers that claims of love toward God are tested by how we treat the people around us. It echoes Jesus’ teaching that the two loves belong together.
Romans 13:10
Love doesn’t harm a neighbor. Love therefore is the fulfillment of the law.
(WEB)
Paul describes love as the fulfillment of the law, showing that the same idea Jesus taught was known and taught in the early church. Love does no harm to a neighbor, and so it accomplishes everything the commandments were meant to achieve.
A Prayer Based on Matthew 22:37-40
Lord, you are the God I am called to love with all my heart, soul, and mind. I confess that my attention often drifts toward things that matter less, and I ask you to draw my whole self back to you. Teach me to love you first, so that my love for others flows from a heart that has already been held by your grace. Help me to see the people around me as you see them, and to treat them with the kindness I hope to receive. Shape my daily choices so that they reflect the love at the center of everything you have given. Amen.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the greatest commandment in Matthew 22:37-40?
Jesus names loving the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind as the first and great commandment. He draws this from Deuteronomy 6:5, which was central to Jewish daily prayer.
Why does Jesus add the command to love your neighbor?
Jesus joins the command to love your neighbor with the command to love God, saying the second is like the first. Taken from Leviticus 19:18, it shows that love of God and love of people belong together.
What does it mean that the law and prophets depend on these two commandments?
Jesus is saying that the whole of Israel’s Scripture is organized around these two loves. Every other command and teaching can be understood as an expression of love toward God and neighbor.
