Great Commandment

He answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself."

5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.Leviticus 18 You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.Matthew Henry sums up the question of which is the great commandment: It was a question disputed among the critics in the Law.

[2]Adam Clarke, in his Commentary on the Bible, wrote: This is the first and great commandment.

It is "first and greatest": "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God" is interpreted by Rabbi Adin Even-Israel Steinsaltz to mean "Act in such a manner that God will be beloved by all His creatures.

"[4] Consequently, Israel, being, as the priest-people, enjoined like the Aaronite priest to sanctify the name of God and avoid whatever tends to desecrate it (Lev.

32), is not only obliged to give his life as witness or martyr for the maintenance of the true faith (see Isa.

This verse is interpreted by Rabbi Even-Israel Steinsaltz to enjoin him to willingly surrender life and fortune whenever the cause of God demands it, while it at the same time urges him to make God beloved by all his creatures through deeds of kindness, as Abraham did (Sifre, Deut.

[7] It may simply reflect the "seven rules (Middot) of Hillel", in this case the first one, called Ḳal wa-ḥomer (Hebrew: קל וחומר).