Mark 12:28–31
Jesus answers which commandment is the first of all
Study it word by word28And 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.”
In its context
26But concerning the dead, that they are raised, have you not read in the book of Moses, at the bush, how God spoke to him, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob’?
27He is not God of the dead, but of the living. You are greatly mistaken.”
…
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.”
Its words in the original
- προσελθὼνproselthōn· come to, approach
Come up to, approach someone.
- εἷςheis· one
One.
- γραμματέωνgrammateōn· scribe
Scribe: a teacher of the Law of Moses, who copied it, explained it and applied it.
- ἀκούσαςakousas· hear, listen
Hear, listen; also heed.
- συζητούντωνsyzētountōn· argue, discuss
Discuss, argue together.
- ἰδὼνidōn· see
See, look; notice.
- καλῶςkalōs· well
Well, rightly.
- ἀπεκρίθηapekrithē· answer
Answer, reply; speak up.
- ἐπηρώτησενepērōtēsen· ask
Ask, question.
- ΠοίαPoia· what kind of?
Which? what kind of?
- ἐστὶνestin· be
Be, exist.
- ἐντολὴentolē· commandment
Commandment, order.
- πρώτηprōtē· first
First, foremost.
- ἸησοῦςIēsous· 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).
- ἸσραήλIsraēl· Israel
Israel: the name God gave to Jacob, and the people descended from him.
- κύριοςkyrios· Lord, lord
Lord, master, owner. Said of God, the Lord; in Old Testament quotations it stands for the name YHWH.
- θεὸςtheos· God, god
God. In the plural or in another sense, "gods".
- ἀγαπήσειςagapēseis· love
Love: to seek the good of the other, even of someone who does not deserve it.
- ὅληςholēs· whole, all
Whole, entire, all.
- καρδίαςkardias· heart
Heart: the center of the person, where one thinks, feels and decides.
- ψυχῆςpsychēs· soul, life
Soul: a person's life, the person himself.
- διανοίαςdianoias· mind, understanding
Mind, understanding.
- ἰσχύοςischyos· strength
Strength, might.
- δευτέραdeutera· second
Second.
- πλησίονplēsion· near, neighbor
Near; "the neighbor": the one who is near, the other person.
- σεαυτόνseauton· yourself
Yourself.
- μείζωνmeizōn· great
Great, large.
- ἄλληallē· other, another
Other, another.