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Manila Bulletin devider Opinion devider Which commandment in the law is the greatest?

Which commandment in the law is the greatest?

Published Aug 21, 2026 12:05 am  |  Updated Aug 20, 2026 05:27 pm
REFLECTIONS TODAY
The Jewish rabbis counted 613 commandments (Hebrew miswot) in the Law of Moses. Given the number, they would have asked the revered rabbis among them the most important of these, the same question asked of Jesus:
“Which commandment in the law is the greatest?” (v 36). A practical necessity dictates that a unifying principle and a certain order or hierarchy among these commandments need to be established.
In answer to the scribe, Jesus cites the Shema (“Listen, O Israel!”—Dt 6:5) and the command to love one’s neighbor in Leviticus 19:18.
The love of God with one’s heart, soul, and mind, and the love of neighbor as one’s self give meaning to all the commandments. The love of neighbor is not the same as the love of God, but it belongs to the very same first category. It is just as serious and urgent as the first.
To love God with all our heart, soul, and mind means to give him our whole being; it is above all other commandments, and justly so, because our entire existence depends upon God.
The challenge, however, is to manifest this love to one’s neighbor who does not have the divine qualities and may be far from lovable. But John makes it clear: “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ but hates his brother, he is a liar; for whoever does not love a brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen” (1 Jn 4:20).
Gospel • Matthew 22:34-40
When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them, a scholar of the law, tested him by asking, “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?”
He said to him, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”
Source: “365 Days with the Lord 2026,” St. Paul’s, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 632-895-9701; E-mail: [email protected]; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.
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