SEV Biblia, Chapter 22:36
Maestro, ¿cuál es el Mandamiento Grande en la ley?
Clarke's Bible Commentary - Matthew 22:36
Verse 36. Which is the great commandment] We see here three kinds of enemies and false accusers of Christ and his disciples; and three sorts of accusations brought against them. 1. The Herodians, or politicians and courtiers, who form their questions and accusations on the rights of the prince, and matters of state, ver. 16.
2. The Sadducees, or libertines, who found theirs upon matters of religion, and articles of faith, which they did not credit, Matthew xxii. 23.
3. The Pharisees, lawyers, scribes, or Karaites, hypocritical pretenders to devotion, who found theirs on that vital and practical godliness (the love of God and man) of which they wished themselves to be thought the sole proprietors, ver. 36.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 36. Master, which is the great commandment in the law? ] He calls him “master, Rabbi, or doctor”, as the Sadducees had in ( Matthew 22:24) either because he was usually so called by his disciples, and by the generality of the people; or merely in complaisance to engage his attention to him, and his question: and might hereby suggest, that should he return a proper and satisfactory answer to it he should be his master. The question is not which of the laws was the greatest, the oral, or the written law: the Jews give the preference to the law delivered by word of mouth; they prefer the traditions of the elders before the written law of Moses; (See Gill on “ Matthew 15:2”); but the question was about the written law of Moses; and not merely about the decalogue, or whether the commands of the first table were greater than those of the second, as was generally thought; or whether the affirmative precepts were not more to be regarded than negative ones, which was their commonly received opinion; but about the whole body of the law, moral and ceremonial, delivered by Moses: and not whether the ceremonial law was to be preferred to the moral, which they usually did; but what particular command there was in the whole law, which was greater than the rest: for as there were some commands that were light, and others that were weighty, a distinction often used by them f1197 , and to which Christ alludes in ( Matthew 23:23). It was moved that it might be said which was the greatest and weightiest of them all. Some thought the commandment of the sabbath was the greatest: hence they say f1198 , that he that keeps the sabbath is as if he kept the whole law: yea, they make the observance of the three meals, or feasts, which, according to the traditions of the elders, they were obliged to eat on the sabbath, to be at least one of the greatest of them. “These three meals (says one of their writers f1199 ) are a great matter, for it is one hrwtbç twlwdgh twxmhm , “of the great commandments in the law”.”
Which is the very phraseology used in this question. Others give the preference to circumcision, on which they bestow the greatest encomiums, and, among the rest f1200 , say, it drives away the sabbath, or that is obliged to give place unto it. Others say of the “phylacteries”, that the holiness of them is the greatest of all, and the command to be arrayed with them all the day, is more excellent than all others; and even of the fringe upon the borders of their garments, others observe f1202 , that a man that is guilty of that command, is guilty of all others, and that single precept is equal to all the rest. In this multiplicity of opinions, Christ’s is desired on this subject, though with no good intention.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 34-40 - An interpreter of the law asked our Lord a question, to try, not s much his knowledge, as his judgment. The love of God is the first an great commandment, and the sum of all the commands of the first table Our love of God must be sincere, not in word and tongue only. All ou love is too little to bestow upon him, therefore all the powers of the soul must be engaged for him, and carried out toward him. To love ou neighbour as ourselves, is the second great commandment. There is self-love which is corrupt, and the root of the greatest sins, and it must be put off and mortified; but there is a self-love which is the rule of the greatest duty: we must have a due concern for the welfar of our own souls and bodies. And we must love our neighbour as trul and sincerely as we love ourselves; in many cases we must den ourselves for the good of others. By these two commandments let ou hearts be formed as by a mould.
Greek Textus Receptus
διδασκαλε 1320 N-VSM ποια 4169 I-NSF εντολη 1785 N-NSF μεγαλη 3173 A-NSF εν 1722 PREP τω 3588 T-DSM νομω 3551 N-DSM
Vincent's NT Word Studies
36. Which is the great commandment (poia entolh megalh). The A.V. and Rev. alike miss the point of this question, which is: which kind of command is great in the law? That is, what kind of a commandment must it be to constitute it a great one? Not, which commandment is greatest as compared with the others? The scribes declared that there were 248 affirmative precepts, as many as the members of the human body; and 365 negative precepts, as many as the days in the year; the total being 613, the number of letters in the Decalogue. Of these they called some light and some heavy. Some thought that the law about the fringes on the garments was the greatest; some that the omission of washings was as bad as homicide; some that the third commandment was the greatest. It was in view of this kind of distinction that the scribe asked the question; not as desiring a declaration as to which commandment was greatest, but as wanting to know the principle upon which a commandment was to be regarded as a great commandment.
Robertson's NT Word Studies
22:36 {The great commandment in the law} (entole megale en twi nomwi). The positive adjective is sometimes as high in rank as the superlative. See megas in #Mt 5:19 in contrast with elacistos. The superlative megistos occurs in the N.T. only in #2Pe 1:4. Possibly this scribe wishes to know which commandment stood first (#Mr 12:28) with Jesus. "The scribes declared that there were 248 affirmative precepts, as many as the members of the human body; and 365 negative precepts, as many as the days in the year, the total being 613, the number of letters in the Decalogue" (Vincent). But Jesus cuts through such pettifogging hair-splitting to the heart of the problem.
