St Matthew Chapter XXII : Verses 34-40
Contents
- Matt. xxii. 34-40. Douay-Rheims text & Latin text (Vulgate).
- Notes on the text.
- Additional Notes: Note on the Jewish Scribes.
Matt. xxii. 34-40
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| Master, which is the greatest commandment in the law? J-J Tissot. Brooklyn Museum |
Pharisæi autem audientes quod silentium imposuisset sadducæis, convenerunt in unum :
35 And one of them, a doctor of the law, asking him, tempting him:
et interrogavit eum unus ex eis legis doctor, tentans eum :
36 Master, which is the greatest commandment in the law?
Magister, quod est mandatum magnum in lege?
37 Jesus said to him: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind.
Ait illi Jesus : Diliges Dominum Deum tuum ex toto corde tuo, et in tota anima tua, et in tota mente tua.
38 This is the greatest and the first commandment.
Hoc est maximum, et primum mandatum.
39 And the second is like to this: Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Secundum autem simile est huic : Diliges proximum tuum, sicut teipsum.
40 On these two commandments dependeth the whole law and the prophets.
In his duobus mandatis universa lex pendet, et prophetæ.
Notes
34. the Pharisees hearing. Some heard of the Sadducees having been silenced, while certain scribes had witnessed their discomfiture and praised our Lord’s reply — Master., thou hast said well (St Luke xx. 39).
silenced. Lit. “ muzzled ” or “ gagged ” (ἐφίμωσεν)
came together. They held another consultation as to how they could defeat Jesus, and they decided to send a certain scribe, a doctor of the Law, to tempt Him with another question. If they succeeded in entangling our Lord, they would at the same time score a victory over their opponents, the Sadducees.
35. one of them a doctor of the law. This man was one of the scribes that had heard them — i.e. Jesus and the Sadducees — reasoning together. This scribe was also a Pharisee, since he was one of them. The general opinion concerning the difference between a scribe and a doctor of the law is, that the scribe interpreted the traditions of the elders or the unwritten law, and the doctor of the law explained the written law.
Some commentators think that the scribe came forward and asked the question in all sincerity ; others judge, from St Matthew’s words, a doctor of the law asked him, tempting him, that it was another cunningly devised plot. A third solution (based on our lord’s words, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God), is that the doctor of the law came with evil intentions, but that he was partly won over by Christ’s words. It is also possible that the Pharisees employed a conscientious scribe as their tool.
tempting him. The word may be here used in an adverse sense, as in xvi. 1, xix. 3, or it may be in a neutral sense, and simply mean “trying him.”
36. Master, which is the greatest, etc. ? This was a vexed question among the Jews. It might mean, which kind of commandment was the greater, i.e. how were they to know which commandments were great and which were small, or it might mean “ which is the greatest of all the commandments ” ? From our Lord’s answer it would seem to bear the second meaning. The doctors were divided on this point, so it seemed that, however our Lord answered, He would offend some of them. This He avoided by referring the scribe to the commandment which embraces all the others, and which, therefore, must be the greatest.
Many rabbis taught that those commandments which regarded the observance of the Sabbath, circumcision, offerings, and other external ceremonies, took precedence, from their very nature, of those which regulated men’s morals. The practical results of this theory are shewn in St Mark (vii. 11-13), where we see that the rabbis allowed a man to neglect his parents in need, if he had pronounced the word “Corban” over his goods, even though he did not actually give them up for use in the Temple.
37. Thou shalt love the Lord, etc. These words are quoted from Deut. vi. 4, 5, and are part of one of the four sets of verses which were inscribed on the phylacteries or strips of parchment which were rolled up and worn on the left arm and on the forehead. These texts formed part of the Shema, a prayer which the Jews recited morning and evening. The phylacteries were placed in small leathern boxes containing four divisions. The Shema included —
(1) Exodus xiii. 2-10.(2) Exodus xiii.11-17.(3) Deut. vi. 4-9.(4) Deut. vi.13-23.
with thy whole heart, etc.
By heart we may understand — desire and will.
By soul we may understand — sentiment and passion.
By mind we may understand — intellect and reason.
In each of these respective spheres we must worship and love God with all our strength. This love must not be merely theoretical, but should be the mainspring of our daily actions.
39. the second is like to this. Because we prove our love of God whom we have not seen, by loving our neighbour whom we have seen. Man is to be loved, not for his own sake, since this is not always possible, but because —
(1) God commands us to love him.
(2) Man is created to God’s image.
(3) All mankind are brethren.
as thyself. Not in the same degree, but in the same manner. The true love of our neighbour is to treat him as we would that others should treat us.
40. On these two commandments dependeth, etc. Consequently there is no commandment greater than these, since they embrace all others, St Paul inculcates the same doctrine : he that loveth his neighbour hath fulfilled the law (Rom. xiii. 8). Jesus here gives a positive answer, and. places the observance of the moral law above those which regulate rites and ceremonies.
Note. — St Mark alone relates the end of the interview : And the scribe said to him : Well, master, thou hast said in truth, that there is one God, and there is no other besides him. And that he shoudd be loved with the whole heart, and with the whole understanding, and with the whole soul, and with the whole strength ; and to love ones neighbour as oneself, is a greater thing than all holocausts and sacrifices. And Jesus seeing that he had answered wisely, said to him : Thou art not far from the kingdom of God (xii. 32-34).
Additional Notes
Note on the Jewish Scribes.
Some idea of the minute distinctions and analogies drawn by the rabbinical teachers may be gathered from the fact, that having carefully studied each separate precept touching the moral law, or rites and ceremonies, they concluded that there were “ 248 affirmative precepts, being as many as the bones in the human body ; and 365 negative precepts, being as many as the arteries and veins, or the days of the year ; the total being 613, which was also the number of the letters of the Decalogue. They also arrived at the same result from the fact that the Jews were commanded to wear fringes on the corners of their tallith, bound with a thread of blue ; and as each fringe had eight threads and five knots, and the letters of the word ‘ tsitsith ’ (fringes) make 600, the total number of letters in the commandments was, as before, 613” (Farrar).
Totus tuus ego sum
Et omnia mea tua sunt;
Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam.
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