Mark 12:28

28 et accessit unus de scribis qui audierat illos conquirentes et videns quoniam bene illis responderit interrogavit eum quod esset primum omnium mandatum

Mark 12:28 Meaning and Commentary

Mark 12:28

And one of the Scribes came
Matthew calls him a lawyer, ( Matthew 22:35 ) , an interpreter of the law, as a Scribe was:

and having heard them reasoning together;
being present at the dispute between Christ and the Sadducees, which he diligently attended to:

and perceiving that he had answered them well:
in a most beautiful manner. The Jews have adopted the very Greek word here used, and make use of it in the same sense as (Mwlaq hyl rma) ^F14, "he answered him well": or, as the gloss upon it, "praise worthily"; in a manner deserving praise; and is the same with (trmaq rypv) ^F15, "thou hast said well", or beautifully; and so the answer here was with great solidity, and judgment, and strength of argument, to their utter confusion and silence; whereby he understood he had considerable knowledge in the law, and yet was willing to try if he could not puzzle him with a question relating to it:

asked him, which is the first commandment of all?
of all the commandments in the law, moral and ceremonial.

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FOOTNOTES:

F14 T. Bab. Sabbat, fol. 108. 1.
F15 Zohar in Lev. fol. 2. 3. & 15. 1.

Mark 12:28 In-Context

26 de mortuis autem quod resurgant non legistis in libro Mosi super rubum quomodo dixerit illi Deus inquiens ego sum Deus Abraham et Deus Isaac et Deus Iacob

27 non est Deus mortuorum sed vivorum vos ergo multum erratis

28 et accessit unus de scribis qui audierat illos conquirentes et videns quoniam bene illis responderit interrogavit eum quod esset primum omnium mandatum

29 Iesus autem respondit ei quia primum omnium mandatum est audi Israhel Dominus Deus noster Deus unus est

30 et diliges Dominum Deum tuum ex toto corde tuo et ex tota anima tua et ex tota mente tua et ex tota virtute tua hoc est primum mandatum