The Meaning of Matthew 22:37 Explained

Matthew 22:37

KJV: Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

YLT: And Jesus said to him, 'Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thine understanding --

Darby: And he said to him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy understanding.

ASV: And he said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

<1161> Jesus  said  unto him,  Thou shalt love  the Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy  heart,  and  with  all  thy  soul,  and  with  all  thy  mind. 

What does Matthew 22:37 Mean?

Context Summary

Matthew 22:34-46 - The Summary Of The Law
Our Lord seemed to say: "Here is all Scripture in a nutshell; the whole range of human duty in a portable pocket form." We are reminded of Ecclesiastes 12:13. But what a magnificent definition is here given of pure and undefiled religion! The whole Law is gathered up in that one word love! See Romans 13:8-10.
In Mark 12:33 the word strength is added. There are four channels of love. The heart stands for our emotions; the soul for our will and general individuality; the mind for our intellect; and strength for the activities and energies of our service. Often we cannot feel love, but we can always use our strength for God and show our love by doing things which we would never do except for His sake.
The question which the Master propounded to the scribes can be solved only by the admission of His two natures-divine and human-as existing in His one person. As David's Lord He is divine; as his son, He was born of the Virgin. See Matthew 1:1. [source]

Chapter Summary: Matthew 22

1  The parable of the marriage of the king's son
9  The vocation of the Gentiles
12  The punishment of him who lacked a wedding garment
15  Tribute ought to be paid to Caesar
23  Jesus confutes the Sadducees for the resurrection;
34  answers which is the first and great commandment;
41  and puzzles the Pharisees by a question about the Messiah

What do the individual words in Matthew 22:37 mean?

- And He said to him You shall love [the] Lord the God of you with all the heart and soul mind
δὲ ἔφη αὐτῷ Ἀγαπήσεις κύριον τὸν Θεόν σου ἐν ὅλῃ τῇ καρδίᾳ καὶ ψυχῇ διανοίᾳ

  - 
Parse: Article, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
ἔφη  He  said 
Parse: Verb, Imperfect Indicative Active, 3rd Person Singular
Root: φημί  
Sense: to make known one’s thoughts, to declare.
αὐτῷ  to  him 
Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Dative Masculine 3rd Person Singular
Root: αὐτός  
Sense: himself, herself, themselves, itself.
Ἀγαπήσεις  You  shall  love 
Parse: Verb, Future Indicative Active, 2nd Person Singular
Root: ἀγαπάω  
Sense: of persons.
κύριον  [the]  Lord 
Parse: Noun, Accusative Masculine Singular
Root: κύριος  
Sense: he to whom a person or thing belongs, about which he has power of deciding; master, lord.
Θεόν  God 
Parse: Noun, Accusative Masculine Singular
Root: θεός  
Sense: a god or goddess, a general name of deities or divinities.
σου  of  you 
Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Genitive 2nd Person Singular
Root: σύ  
Sense: you.
καρδίᾳ  heart 
Parse: Noun, Dative Feminine Singular
Root: καρδία  
Sense: the heart.
ψυχῇ  soul 
Parse: Noun, Dative Feminine Singular
Root: ψυχή  
Sense: breath.
διανοίᾳ  mind 
Parse: Noun, Dative Feminine Singular
Root: διάνοια  
Sense: the mind as a faculty of understanding, feeling, desiring.