Marcos 12:29

Filipino Cebuano Bible

29 Si Jesus mitubag nga nag-ingon, "Ang sugo nga una sa tanan mao kini: Patalinghugi, O Israel: Ang Ginoo nga atong Dios, ang Ginoo usa ra;

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Hear: Mark 12:32, Mark 12:33, Deuteronomy 6:4, Deuteronomy 10:12, Deuteronomy 30:6, Proverbs 23:26, Matthew 10:37, Luke 10:27, 1 Timothy 1:5

Reciprocal: Deuteronomy 4:35 - none else 1 Kings 3:3 - loved Nehemiah 9:6 - even thou Psalms 86:10 - God Psalms 119:96 - but thy Matthew 7:12 - for Matthew 22:37 - General 1 Corinthians 8:4 - there is 1 Corinthians 13:13 - the greatest 1 Timothy 2:5 - one God James 2:19 - General 1 John 2:7 - but 1 John 4:21 - General

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Jesus answered him, the first of all the commandments is,.... Christ replied at once, without taking any time to consider of it, that the chief and principal of all the commands of the law, and what is of the greatest importance is,

hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord. The Vulgate Latin, and Arabic versions read, "one God"; but the Syriac, and Ethiopic render it, "one Lord"; and that rightly, agreeably to the Greek text, and to Deuteronomy 6:4, from whence this is taken. This passage of Scripture, to the end of the ninth verse, is the first of the sections which were put into their phylacteries; Deuteronomy 6:4- :; and was repeated twice every day, morning and evening; which is by the Jews called from the first word קריאת שמע, "the reading of the Shema": concerning the exact time of the reciting of this, morning and evening, and of the posture in which they do it, reclining in the evening, and standing in the morning, and of the prayers before and after it, various rules are given in their Misna p, or oral law; it is a precept of great esteem and veneration with them, and attended to with much solemnity. The account Maimonides q gives of it is this:

"twice every day they read Keriath Shema; (i.e. "hear, O Israel", c.) in the evening and in morning, as it is said, Deuteronomy 6:7. "When thou liest down, and when thou risest up" in the hour it is the custom of men to lie down, and this is night; and in the hour it is the custom of men to stand, and this is day: and what does he read? three sections; and they are these, "hear", c. Deuteronomy 6:4, and it shall come to pass, "if ye shall hearken", c. Deuteronomy 11:13, "and Moses said", &c. Exodus 13:3, and they read the section, "hear, O Israel", first, because there is in it the unity of God, and the love of him and his doctrine for it is,

העקר הגדול, "the great root", or "foundation", on which all hangs or depends.''

And it is observable, that the last letter of the word "hear", and the last of the word "one", are both written in very large characters in the Hebrew Bible, to denote the greatness of the command, and to cause attention to it. The Jews seek for mysteries in these letters, and think the unusual size of them, points at some very great things: they observe, that the first of these letters is numerically "seventy", and directs to the seventy names of the law, and the seventy ways in which it may be interpreted, and the seventy nations of the world, from whom the Israelites are distinguished, by their belief of the one God r and that the latter stands for the number "four", and shows that the Lord is the one God, in heaven and in earth, in all the world, and in the four parts of it; and that both these letters put together, make a word, which signifies "a witness"; showing that this passage is a glorious testimony of the unity of God, and that the Israelites are witnesses of it, by believing and professing it; and that should they depart from the faith of it, God would be a witness against them: and now, though there is no solid foundation for such interpretations, yet this shows what an opinion they had of the greatness of this command; to which, may be added, they ask s,

"why does, "hear, O Israel", c. go before that passage in

Deuteronomy 11:13. "And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments", c. but because a man must take upon him, first the yoke of the kingdom of heaven, and after that he must take upon him the yoke of the commandments.''

The sense is, that he must first make a confession of his faith in God, which is contained in Deuteronomy 6:4 and then he must obey his commands so that they plainly considered this, as the first and greatest of all. These words are frequent in the mouths of the modern Jews, in proof of the unity of God, and against a plurality in the Deity but the ancient ones, not only consider them as a good and sufficient proof, that there is but one God, but as expressive of a Trinity in the Godhead: with a view to this text they observe t, that

"Jehovah, "our God, Jehovah"; these are, תלת דרגין, "three degrees" (or persons) with respect to this sublime mystery, "in the beginning, God", or "Elohim, created", c.''

And again u,

"there is an unity which is called Jehovah the first, our God, Jehovah behold! they are all one, and therefore called one: lo! these three names are as one; and although we call them one, and they are one; but by the revelation of the Holy Ghost it is made known, and they are by the sight of the eye to be known, that "these three are one", (see 1 John 5:7,) and this is the mystery of the voice that is heard; the voice is one; and there are three things, fire, and wind, and water, and they are all one, in the mystery of the voice, and they are not but one: so here, Jehovah, our God, Jehovah, these, תלתא גוונין, "three modes, forms", or "things", are one.''

Once more they w say,

"there are two, and one is joined to them, and they are three; and when they are three, they are one: these are the two names of hear, O Israel, which are Jehovah, Jehovah, and Elohenu, or our God, is joined unto them; and it is the seal of the ring of truth.''

To which I shall subjoin one passage more, where R. Eliezer is asking his father R. Simeon ben Jochai, why Jehovah is sometimes called Elohim, he replies x, among other things;

"come see, there are גדרגין, "three degrees", (or persons,) and every degree is by itself; although they are all one, and bound together in one, and one is not separated from another.''

To believe this, is the first and chief commandment in the law, and is the principal article of the Christian faith; namely, to believe that there is one God, and that there are three persons, Father, Son, and Spirit, in the Godhead.

p Berncot, c. 1. sect. 1, 2, 3, 4. q Hilch. Keriat Shema, c. 1. sect. 1, 2. r Baal Hatturim, in Deut. vi. 4. s Misn. Berncot, c. 2. sect. 2. t Zohar in Gen. fol. 1. 3. u Zohar in Exod. fol. 18. 3, 4. w Ib. in Num. fol. 67. 3. x Zohar in Lev. fol. 27. 2.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

See the notes at Matthew 22:34-40.

Mark 12:28

Perceiving that he answered them well - That is, with wisdom, and with a proper understanding of the law. In this case the opinion of the Saviour corresponded with that of the Pharisees; and the question which this scribe put to him now seems to have been one of the very few candid inquiries of him by the Jews for the purpose of obtaining information. Jesus answered it in the spirit of kindness, and commended the conduct of the man.

Mark 12:29

Hear, O Israel! - This was said to call the attention of the Jews to the great importance of the truth about to be proclaimed. See Deuteronomy 6:4-5.

The Lord our God ... - Literally, “Yahweh, our God, is one Yahweh.” The other nations worshipped many gods, but the God of the Jews was one, and one only. יהוה Yahweh was undivided; and this great truth it was the design of the separation of the Jewish people from other nations to keep in mind. This was the “peculiar” truth which was communicated to the Jews, and this they were required to keep and remember forever.

Mark 12:30

And thou shalt love ... - If Yahweh was the “only” God, then they ought not to love any other being supremely - then they might not bow down before any idol. They were required to love God above all other beings or things, and with all the faculties of their minds. See the notes at Matthew 22:37.

Mark 12:32-34

This answer of the scribe is not found in Matthew.

Is more than all - Is of more importance and value.

Discreetly - Wisely, according to truth.

Not far from the kingdom of God - Thou who dost prefer the “internal” to the “external” worship of God - who hast so just a view of the requirements of the law - canst easily become a follower of me, and art almost fit to be numbered among my disciples. This shows that a proper understanding of the Old Testament, of its laws and requirements, would prepare the mind for Christianity, and suit a person at once to embrace it when presented. One system is grafted on the other, agreeably to Galatians 3:24.

And no man after that durst ask him any question - That is, no one of the scribes, the Pharisees, or the Sadducees durst ask him a question for the purpose of “tempting” him or entangling him. He had completely silenced them. It does not appear, however, but that his “disciples” dared to ask him questions for the purpose of information.