Mark 12:28

The Question of the Scribe

28. one of the scribes From Matthew 22:34-35, it appears that he was a Pharisee, and a Master of the Law.

Which is the first commandment of all? This question, on which the schools of Hillel and Shammai were disagreed, the Lawyer put, tempting our Lord (Matthew 22:35), hoping that He would commit Himself as an enemy of the Traditions. The Rabbinical schools taught that there were important distinctions between the Commandments, some being great and others small, some hard and weighty, others easy and of less importance. Great commands were the observance of the Sabbath, circumcision, minute rites of sacrifice and offering, the rules respecting fringes and phylacteries. Indeed, all the separate commandments of the ceremonial and moral Law had been carefully weighed and classified, and it had been concluded that there were "248 affirmative precepts, being as many as the members in the human body, and 365 negative precepts, being as many as the arteries and veins, or the days of the year; the total being 613, which was also the number of the letters in the Decalogue."