Matthew 22:35

Then—a lawyer asked, &c.— A scribe, or public teacher. See Luke 11:44. Tempting or trying him, here, does not mean that he did this with an insidious design; and indeed St. Mark's account, Mark 12:28 forbids such an interpretation; but he proposed the question with a view to make a farther trial of our Lord's skill in the sacred volume. Some of the doctors declared, that the law of sacrifices was the great commandment, because sacrifices, say they, are both the expiations of sin, and thanksgivings for mercies. Others bestowed this honour on the law of circumcision, because it was the sign of the covenant established between God and the nation. A third part yielded to the law of the sabbath, because by that appointment both the knowledge and the practice of the institutions of Moses were preserved; and, to name no more, there were some who affirmed the law of meats and washings to be of the greatest importance, because thereby the people of God were effectually separated from the company and conversation of the heathens. But Jesus, with infinitely better reason,decidedinfavourof the beauties of piety and holiness; mentioning particularly that comprehensive summary of both found in Deuteronomy 6:4 which was one of the sentences written on their phylacteries, and Leviticus 19:18. See Lightfoot's Hor. Heb. on Mark 12:28.