Matthew 22:37-40 records Jesus answering a direct question about which commandment matters most. He names two commands, love for God and love for your neighbor, and says that everything in the Law and the Prophets hangs on them. The passage comes in the last week of Jesus’ ministry, in Jerusalem, during a series of tense exchanges with religious leaders.
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, one of the experts in Jewish law, asks Jesus which commandment is greatest. Jesus answers by quoting the Shema from Deuteronomy, which calls for wholehearted love for the Lord, and then joins it to a command from Leviticus to love your neighbor as yourself. He presents these as the first and second great commandments.
Jesus then makes a sweeping claim: the whole Law and the Prophets rest on these two commands. In other words, every rule, every warning and every hope in Israel’s Scriptures can be traced back to love for God and love for people. The answer is simple enough for a child to repeat, yet it reaches the root of everything else.
Context of Matthew 22:37-40
Matthew’s Gospel was written for a community that knew the Jewish Scriptures well and was working out its relationship to Jesus as Messiah. The author is traditionally identified as Matthew, one of the twelve disciples, though the text itself is anonymous. The audience would have recognized the Pharisees, scribes and lawyers as the people who debated how the Law should be kept.
The verses just before this passage show Jesus winning debates with the Sadducees and the Pharisees, so this question is another test of his teaching. The verses that follow shift to Jesus asking about the Messiah and David’s son, which turns the conversation toward his own identity. Verses 37-40 sit at the center of that rising tension, offering a clear summary of Torah in the middle of a hostile exchange.
Matthew 22:37-40 Verse by Verse
Deuteronomy 6:5
You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might.
(WEB)
This is the verse Jesus quotes at the start of his answer. It is the heart of Israel’s daily confession, and reading it alongside Matthew 22 shows how deeply the call to love God runs through the whole Bible.
1 John 4:20-21
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? 21 This commandment we have from him, that he who loves God should also love his brother.
(WEB)
John connects love for God and love for people in the strongest terms. His words echo Jesus’ teaching and remind you that love for the unseen God is tested by how you treat the people you can see.
A Prayer Based on Matthew 22:37-40
Lord, you are the one I most want to love with all that I am. Some days my heart wanders and my attention drifts to lesser things. Draw me back to you, and let my thinking, my feelings and my choices be shaped by your goodness. Teach me to see the people around me the way you do, and give me the courage to love them in practical, ordinary ways. Let my love for you show in how I treat my neighbors, and let my love for my neighbors point back to you. Amen.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the greatest commandment according to Matthew 22:37-40?
Jesus says the greatest commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind. He calls this the first and great commandment. The passage places it at the root of all other obedience.
Why does Jesus connect loving God with loving your neighbor?
Jesus joins two commands from different parts of the Old Testament to show they belong together. Love for God shapes how you treat people, and love for people reflects love for God. Neither can be fully lived without the other.
What does it mean that the whole Law and the Prophets depend on these commands?
Jesus is saying that the many rules and messages in the Old Testament all trace back to these two principles. They are the foundation from which the rest of God’s instructions flow. Understanding them helps you read Scripture as a unified whole.
