Matthew 22:37

“And 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.’”
Matthew 22:37 · direct translation from the Greek

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With the Greek beneath

Andδὲheὁsaidἔφηto him,αὐτῷ“‘You shall loveἈγαπήσειςthe Lordκύριονyour Godτὸν θεόν σουwithἐνallὅλῃyour heartτῇ καρδίᾳ σουandκαὶwithἐνallὅλῃyour soulτῇ ψυχῇ σουandκαὶwithἐνallὅλῃyour mind.’τῇ διανοίᾳ σου

Quotation · Deuteronomy 6:5

Go to Deuteronomy 6:5

Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 6:5. Where the Hebrew says “with all your strength,” Matthew says “with all your mind.”

See the original texts

Greek of the New Testament: ὁ δὲ ἔφη αὐτῷ Ἀγαπήσεις κύριον τὸν θεόν σου ἐν ὅλῃ τῇ καρδίᾳ σου καὶ ἐν ὅλῃ τῇ ψυχῇ σου καὶ ἐν ὅλῃ τῇ διανοίᾳ σου

Hebrew (Masoretic text): וְאָהַבְתָּ אֵת יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ בְּכָל לְבָבְךָ וּבְכָל נַפְשְׁךָ וּבְכָל מְאֹדֶךָ

Septuagint (Deuteronomy 6:5-6 in the Septuagint numbering): καὶ ἀγαπήσεις κύριον τὸν θεόν σου ἐξ ὅλης τῆς διανοίας σου καὶ ἐξ ὅλης τῆς ψυχῆς σου καὶ ἐξ ὅλης τῆς δυνάμεως σου. καὶ ἔσται τὰ ῥήματα ταῦτα, ὅσα ἐγὼ ἐντέλλομαί σοι σήμερον, ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ σου καὶ ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ σου·

The Greek of the NT matches the Septuagint word for word in 5 consecutive words: “Ἀγαπήσεις κύριον τὸν θεόν σου.”

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

Matthew 22:37, word by word

saidἔφηephē

say

Say.

Where else “ephē” appears

“‘You shall loveἈγαπήσειςAgapēseis

love

Love: to seek the good of the other, even of someone who does not deserve it.

Where else “Agapēseis” appears

the Lordκύριονkyrion

Lord

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

Where else “kyrion” appears

your Godθεόνtheon

God

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

Where else “theon” appears

allὅλῃholēi

whole, all

Whole, entire, all.

Where else “holēi” appears

your heartκαρδίᾳkardiai

heart

Heart: the center of the person, where one thinks, feels and decides.

Where else “kardiai” appears

your soulψυχῇpsychēi

soul

A person's innermost self: what they feel and desire.

Where else “psychēi” appears

your mind.’διανοίᾳdianoiai

mind, understanding

Mind, understanding.

Where else “dianoiai” appears

Translation note

Deuteronomy 6:5; in the Hebrew, “YHWH your Elohim… with all your strength.”

Parallel passages

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

The greatest commandment

Mark 12:28-34 Luke 10:25-28

Luke 10 may be a different occasion.

See them side by side

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.”

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.

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 6:5

Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 6:5. Where the Hebrew says “with all your strength,” Matthew says “with all your mind.”

See them side by side

Matthew 22:37

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.’

Deuteronomy 6:5

⁵You shall love YHWH your Elohim with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.

The context

36“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”

37 · This verse (above)

38This is the great and first commandment.

Read all of Matthew 22

To study Matthew 22 in a group

1. What it says
Which commandment did Jesus say is the greatest, and which is the second (vv. 37–39)?
2. What it means
Why does Jesus say that all the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commandments (v. 40)?
3. How I live it
Jesus joined loving God with loving your neighbor (vv. 37–39). What will make your love for someone near you concrete today?

How to use it