Matthew says the lawyer asked "tempting him," that is, testing Him (Matthew 22:35). Barnes reads it as "Proposing a question to test his knowledge of the law." The question was a live debate among the teachers of the day: Barnes says some held the law of sacrifice to be greatest, others circumcision, others the washings, and Gill lists views that favored the sabbath, circumcision, or the phylacteries. Gill sees a snare in it. Matthew Henry, reading Mark's account, thinks the man asked not to ensnare Jesus, "but only to see what he would say, and to draw on discourse with him." Mark shows the scribe had heard Jesus answer the Sadducees well (Mark 12:28), so his test may have been sincere.

Jesus answered plainly: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment" (Matthew 22:37-38). He added a second without being asked: "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself" (Matthew 22:39). "On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets" (Matthew 22:40). In Mark the scribe agreed, and Jesus told him, "Thou art not far from the kingdom of God" (Mark 12:32-34).

A "lawyer" was not a courtroom attorney. Barnes says he was one "learned or skilled in the law of Moses," and Gill calls him a Pharisee by sect and a scribe, or interpreter of the law, by office. Barnes explains that "the law" here means the law given by Moses in the first five books of the Bible, and reports that the Jews "are said to have divided" it into greater and smaller commandments without agreeing on which was greatest.

Jesus answered from that same law. The first commandment is Deuteronomy 6:5, part of the passage that begins "Hear, O Israel" (Mark 12:29; Deuteronomy 6:4). The second is Leviticus 19:18 (cited by Barnes). In Mark the scribe asks, "Which is the first commandment of all?" (Mark 12:28).

The lawyer asked for one commandment, and Jesus gave two, joined together. Love for God comes first, and love for neighbor is "like unto it." Barnes explains that the second resembles the first "in importance, dignity, purity, and usefulness." Jesus would not let love for God float free of love for people.

This answer shows the heart of God behind the whole law. Barnes says these two commandments "comprehend the substance of what Moses in the law, and what the prophets have spoken." Matthew Henry adds, "All our love is too little to bestow upon him, therefore all the powers of the soul must be engaged for him." The God who gave the law wanted His people's whole hearts and a love that spills over to others.