The Two Great Commandments

Lets start a new year of working our way through the #gospel of #Matthew with the Two Great Commandments.

Matthew 22:34-40  Jesus's response to the Pharisees and Sadducees was to quote 2 Old Testament verses.

Love your lord god with the whole of your heart and the whole of your soul and he adds on and with your mind!

That's from Det. 6.5 and yes EN can mean with Do check Liddell and Scott's entry on this !

Then he states

second and like this

Love the one nearby of you as yourself.

Which comes from Lv. 19:18

Note how he emphasizes practical action!

and then in verse 40 he finishes by stating

on these two commandments / laws whole the law hangs and the prophets

Hang is used as it is sometimes in English also to mean DEPEND SUSPEND.

I wonder if decorated parchment scrolls of the Ten Commandments or other Old Testament quotes were popular cheap wall hangings?

Remember throughout this new year that Love is something we do.

Do something practical whether its a minor or major action.


And Happy Epiphany and Christmas again if you're Orthodox to all my readers!