Matthew 22:37-40 records Jesus answering a question about the greatest commandment in the Law of Moses. He points to love for God as the first and greatest command, and love for one’s neighbor as a second that is like it, and he says everything in the Law and the Prophets hangs on these two.
The passage takes place in Jerusalem during the final week of Jesus’ ministry, after a series of confrontations with religious leaders in the temple courts. A lawyer, meaning an expert in Jewish law, asks Jesus a question meant to test him, and the answer he receives becomes one of the most quoted summaries of biblical ethics.
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 asks Jesus which commandment in the Law is the greatest. Jesus does not choose one command over the others. Instead he quotes the Shema, the central prayer of Israel from Deuteronomy, which calls for total devotion to the Lord with the whole heart, soul and mind.
He then adds a second command from Leviticus, to love your neighbor as yourself, and says that the rest of Scripture rests on these two. The answer takes a question that could have divided the Law into rankings and shows that all its requirements flow from one root, a heart turned toward God and toward other people.
Context of Matthew 22:37-40
The Gospel of Matthew was written for a community that knew the Jewish Scriptures well and wanted to see how Jesus fulfilled them. Its author is traditionally identified as Matthew, the former tax collector, though the book itself is anonymous. Its original readers were likely Jewish Christians and the wider church, and this exchange shows Jesus engaging the teaching of the scribes and Pharisees on their own ground.
The verses just before this section describe the Pharisees gathering together after Jesus silenced the Sadducees in a debate about the resurrection. The following verses turn the tables, as Jesus asks his own question about the identity of the Messiah. The commandment exchange sits between these two moments, showing that Jesus can answer hard questions and also ask them.
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 links love for God and love for people so closely that he calls a claim to love God while hating a brother a lie. The verse explains why Jesus treats the two commandments as inseparable: a love that never reaches other people has not yet taken root in the heart.
Romans 13:10
Love doesn’t harm a neighbor. Love therefore is the fulfillment of the law.
(WEB)
Paul states that love does no harm to a neighbor and so fulfills the Law. His words echo Jesus’ summary and show how the early church understood love as the practical heart of all God’s commands.
A Prayer Based on Matthew 22:37-40
Lord, you have given me a single command that holds all the others together. I want to love you with my whole heart, my soul and my mind, not in pieces but completely. Where my affections have drifted, draw them back to you. Where my thinking has grown distracted, settle it on your goodness.
Help me also to love the people you have placed around me. Give me patience with the ones who test me and kindness toward those who are easy to overlook. Let my love for others flow from my love for you, and let both grow as I walk with you each day. Amen.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did Jesus quote Deuteronomy and Leviticus?
Jesus drew on two passages already familiar to his listeners. The first, Deuteronomy 6:5, was the opening of the Shema recited daily by faithful Jews. The second, Leviticus 19:18, appeared in the holiness code. Using them showed that his answer came from the Scriptures his hearers already revered.
What does it mean that the whole Law and Prophets depend on these commandments?
Jesus is saying that the rest of the Old Testament, including its laws and the messages of the prophets, rests on love for God and neighbor. These two commands express the purpose behind the specific rules. Other commands teach how this love should look in particular circumstances.
Is loving God with all the mind a call to academic study?
Loving God with the mind includes thinking carefully about who he is and what he has revealed. It does not require everyone to become a scholar. It does ask that a believer not leave their reasoning out of their devotion, but bring their thoughts under God’s truth.
