Matthew 22:36

Master. Literally, “Teacher” (see on Luke 10:25).

The great commandment. Though this question dealt with fundamental principles, it was nevertheless probably prompted by the rabbinical attempt to arrange all the commandments of the law in a hierarchy of importance. Where the requirements of two commands appeared to be in conflict, the one assumed to be “greater” took precedence and released a man from responsibility for violating the “lesser” of the two (see further on ch. 5:19). Here, “great” means, in effect, “greatest.” The Pharisees exalted the first four precepts of the Decalogue as being more important than the last six, and as a result failed when it came to matters of practical religion.