Mark 12:29

“Jesus answered, “The first is, ‘Hear, Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one;”
Mark 12:29 · direct translation from the Greek

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Jesus answers which commandment is the first of allLove

With the Greek beneath

Jesusὁ Ἰησοῦςanswered,ἀπεκρίθη“The firstΠρώτηis,ἐστίν‘Hear,ἌκουεIsrael:Ἰσραήλthe Lordκύριοςour God,ὁ θεὸς ἡμῶνthe Lordκύριοςisἐστινone;εἷς

Quotation · Deuteronomy 6:4-5

Go to Deuteronomy 6:4-5

Mark is the only Gospel that also quotes Deuteronomy 6:4 (“Hear, Israel”). To the three parts of 6:5 he adds “with all your mind.”

Formula: Πρώτη ἐστίν “the first is” (Mark 12:29)

See the original texts

Greek of the New Testament: ἀπεκρίθη ὁ Ἰησοῦς ὅτι Πρώτη ἐστίν Ἄκουε Ἰσραήλ κύριος ὁ θεὸς ἡμῶν κύριος εἷς ἐστιν καὶ ἀγαπήσεις κύριον τὸν θεόν σου ἐξ ὅλης τῆς καρδίας σου καὶ ἐξ ὅλης τῆς ψυχῆς σου καὶ ἐξ ὅλης τῆς διανοίας σου καὶ ἐξ ὅλης τῆς ἰσχύος σου

Hebrew (Masoretic text): שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ יְהוָה אֶחָד וְאָהַבְתָּ אֵת יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ בְּכָל לְבָבְךָ וּבְכָל נַפְשְׁךָ וּבְכָל מְאֹדֶךָ

Septuagint (Deuteronomy 6:4-5 in the Septuagint numbering): Καὶ ταῦτα τὰ δικαιώματα καὶ τὰ κρίματα ὅσα ἐνετείλατο κύριος τοῖς υἱοῖς Ἰσραήλ, ἐξελθόντων αὐτῶν ἐκ γῆς Αἰγύπτου Ἄκουε, Ἰσραήλ· κύριος ὁ θεὸς ἡμῶν Κύριος εἷς ἐστιν· καὶ ἀγαπήσεις κύριον τὸν θεόν σου ἐξ ὅλης τῆς διανοίας σου καὶ ἐξ ὅλης τῆς ψυχῆς σου καὶ ἐξ ὅλης τῆς δυνάμεως σου.

The Greek of the NT matches the Septuagint word for word in 18 consecutive words: “Ἄκουε Ἰσραήλ κύριος ὁ θεὸς ἡμῶν κύριος εἷς ἐστιν καὶ ἀγαπήσεις κύριον τὸν θεόν σου ἐξ ὅλης τῆς.”

Septuagint, Swete’s text, First1KGreek transcription (with reading errors), CC BY-SA 4.0

Mark 12:29, word by word

JesusἸησοῦςIēsous

Jesus

Jesus, the Greek form of the Hebrew Yehoshua (Joshua), which means "YHWH saves". It is the name the angel told Joseph to give him (Matthew 1:21).

Where else “Iēsous” appears

answeredἀπεκρίθηapekrithē

answer

To say something back to the one who spoke or asked.

Where else “apekrithē” appears

“The firstΠρώτηPrōtē

first

The one who comes before all others, in time or in order.

Where else “Prōtē” appears

isἐστίνestin

To be: says who or what something is.

Where else “estin” appears

‘HearἌκουεAkoue

listen

To pay attention and obey.

Where else “Akoue” appears

IsraelἸσραήλIsraēl

Israel

Israel: the name God gave to Jacob, and the people descended from him.

Where else “Israēl” appears

the Lordκύριοςkyrios

Lord

The Lord: God, whose name is YHWH; also Jesus.

Where else “kyrios” appears

our Godθεὸςtheos

God

The Creator and Lord of all, the one God of Israel.

Where else “theos” appears

oneεἷςheis

one

The quantity one, or a single one within a group.

Where else “heis” appears

Translation note

Deuteronomy 6:4-5, the confession the people repeated every day (the “Shema”). Where the Hebrew says YHWH, the Greek quotation says “the Lord.”

Parallel passages

Other books that tell the same thing or quote these words.

The greatest commandment

Matthew 22:34-40 Luke 10:25-28

Luke 10 may be a different occasion.

See them side by side

Mark 12:28-34

²⁸And one of the scribes came up, having heard them debating, and seeing that he had answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is first of all?” ²⁹Jesus answered, “The first is, ‘Hear, Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; ³⁰and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ ³¹The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” ³²And the scribe said to him, “Well said, Teacher; in truth you have said that he is one and there is no other besides him; ³³and to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love the neighbor as oneself, is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” ³⁴And Jesus, seeing that he had answered wisely, said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And no one dared any longer to question him.

Matthew 22:34-40

³⁴But the Pharisees, hearing that he had silenced the Sadducees, gathered together in the same place. ³⁵And one of them, a lawyer, asked a question, testing him: ³⁶“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?” ³⁷And he said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ ³⁸This is the great and first commandment. ³⁹And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ ⁴⁰On these two commandments hang the whole law and the prophets.”

Luke 10:25-28

²⁵And look, a certain expert in the law stood up to test him, saying, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” ²⁶And he said to him, “What is written in the law? How do you read it?” ²⁷And he answered and said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” ²⁸And he said to him, “You answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”

Quotation · Deuteronomy 6:4-5

Mark is the only Gospel that also quotes Deuteronomy 6:4 (“Hear, Israel”). To the three parts of 6:5 he adds “with all your mind.”

See them side by side

Mark 12:29

²⁹Jesus answered, “The first is, ‘Hear, Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one;

Deuteronomy 6:4-5

⁴Hear, Israel: YHWH our Elohim, YHWH is one.

The context

28And one of the scribes came up, having heard them debating, and seeing that he had answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is first of all?”

29 · This verse (above)

30and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’

Read all of Mark 12

To study Mark 12 in a group

1. What it says
What did Jesus answer about paying tribute to Caesar (vv. 15–17)?
2. What it means
Why did Jesus say the poor widow put in more than all the others (vv. 41–44)?
3. How I live it
Jesus said the first commandment is to love the Lord, and the second to love your neighbor (vv. 29–31). How will you make this concrete today?

How to use it