The Great Commandment (Great Mitzvah), or Summary of the Law (Summary of the Torah) in the Book of Common Prayer, is one of the best known exegeses of the Torah put into the mouth of Isho bar Yossef the Nazorean (Jesus Christ) by the authors of the gospels.
Most Christians believe, and most Christian theologians teach, that
this conjoining of two separate positive prescriptions was unique to Isho. It was not.
Nor was the question about which commandment, or mitzvah, of the Torah
is the greatest. Both go back at least
two centuries, maybe longer.
The Great Commandment, or Great Mitzvah, is, both by its essence and
its history, inextricably bound with the Golden Rule.
The examples proceed by the order in which they were written, not the
time period in which the events they depict take place, thus the gospels follow
Paul.
Several examples come from works of the early Christian period known as
“church orders”, which dealt with moral issues, church polity, the calendar,
and liturgy, to varying degrees from document to document.
Antecedents in the Torah
Both prescriptions in the Summary of the Torah quite naturally
originate in the Torah.
‘Hear, O Yisrael: Yahuweh your God is one Yahuweh. You shall love Yahuweh your God with all your
heart, with all your soul, and with all your might.’ (Deuteronomy 6:4-5)
‘You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your
people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am Yahuweh.’ (Leviticus
19:18)
In the same chapter of Leviticus, that prescription extends to
cover foreigners among the Israelites in their land, and by doing so in effect
extends the mitzvah to love to all humanity.
‘The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among
you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of
Egypt: I am Yahuweh your God.’ (Leviticus 19:34)
Tobit
This deuterocanonical work, part of the Septuagint Tanakh,
the canonical Old Testament of the Roman and Eastern churches, and the
Protestant Apocrypha, tells the story of Tobit, who was taken captive to
Nineveh in Assyria, and his wives Hannah and Sarah, the archangel Raphael, and
the demon Asmodeus.
Composed in the late third century BCE, the work is related
to the Jewish wisdom literature written in this same time. It contains the oldest known Jewish
expression of the Golden Rule:
‘And what you hate, do not do to anyone’. (Tobit 4:15a).
Sirach
Formally titled Book of the All-Virtuous Wisdom of Joshua ben
Sira and also known as the Wisdom of Sirach, this work from the
early second century clearly belongs to the wisdom category of Jewish religious
literature. It contains a paraphrasing
of the Golden Rule in which the message is identical:
‘Judge your neighbor’s feelings by your own, and in every
matter be thoughtful’. (Sirach 31:15)
Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs
This is an apocalyptic work originally written in the mid-second
century BCE, which in its final form circa 200 CE included many Christian
interpolations that Jewish scholars have nonetheless easily separated out. Though all the full copies we have are in
Greek or Latin, it was originally written in Aramaic or Hebrew. In form, it is
the final testaments of the twelve sons of Jacob.
In three places, the work gives versions of the conjoined
mitzvot which together make up the Great Mitzvah.
‘But love Yahuweh and your neighbor.’ (Issachar 5:2)
‘I loved Yahuweh; likewise also every man with all my heart.’
(Issachar 7:6)
‘Love Yahuweh through all your life, and one another with a
true heart.’ (Dan 5:3)
Jubilees
Written during the reign of John Hyrcanus (134-104 BCE) and originally
composed in Hebrew, it purports to be secrets revealed to Moses by Yahuweh atop
Mount Sinai/Horeb/Paran. It covers the
same time period as Genesis, but is greatly expanded. Noah’s last words (Jubilees 7:20), Avrahim’s last words (Jubilees 20:2), and Yitzak’s final words (Jubilees 36:4) all include the admonition to the hearer(s) to “Love
their neighbor”.
Hillel and Shammai
The earliest story of someone asking a teacher about which mitzvah is
greatest of all involves the two sages who were the last two Zugot and the
first two Tannaim, founders of the two major schools of the Pharisees in the
first century CE, Beit Hillel and Beit Shammai.
It is this story which specifically ties the Golden Rule and the Great
Mitzvah together.
In the tale, a proselyte comes to Shammai asking to teach him to whole
Torah standing on one foot. Shammai
tells him he is crazy, because there are 613 mitzvot in the Torah, plus all the
commentary on and rulings about each mitzvah.
So the proselyte goes to Hillel to make the same request, and Hillel responds
by standing on one foot and saying:
“Whatever you do not want done to you, do not do to others; all the
Torah rests on that. The rest is just
commentary”. (Talmud, Shabbat 31a)
It is this story which binds the Golden Rule and the Great Mitzvah together.
Doctrina
Apostolorum, early 1st
century
This work, an exposition on the Two Ways, the Way of Life and the Way
of Death, or the Way of Light and the Way of Darkness, is basically an earlier version of the Didache’s first six
chapters. It probably originated as a
Jewish catechetical manual in the late first century BCE or early first century
CE, and has only been made “Christian” by a doxology appended onto the end.
In the document as we have it today, the only part of it that points to
Christianity is a doxology appended on the end.
It may have first been an Essene document, though other sects had
versions of the two ways. Its first
chapter (Doctrina Apostolorum 1:2) contains the following:
‘The way of life is this: first, you shall love the eternal God who
made you; second, your neighbor as yourself, and what you do not
want to be done to you, do not do to another’.
The third prescription matches Hillel’s version of the Golden Rule in
its negative prescription.
Flavius Philo Judaeus, early 1st century
In The Decalogue
22:108-110, Philo writes that love of God and love of one’s fellow humans are
both necessary to be righteous. Without
specifically citing the two prescriptions that make up the Summary of the
Torah, he arrives at the same end, with exponentially more words.
In Every Good Man Is
Free 12:83, Philo writes that Jews center their lives on and judge events
by the threefold basis of ‘the love of God, and the love of virtue, and the
love of mankind’, the two prescriptions of the Great Mitzvah with love of
virtue added under influence of Hellenistic philosophy surrounding him in
Alexandria.
James the Just, mid-1st century
Probably called Yaakob bar Yossef in life, he was Isho’s
eldest brother and succeeded him as leader of The Way, the Nazoreans. The Church anachronistically refers to him as
the first Bishop of Jerusalem. Yaakob
wrote what most scholars consider to be one of the authentic general epistles,
meaning that he himself actually wrote it.
His offer to this conversation is:
‘You do well if you really fulfill the royal law according
to the scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”’ (James 2:8)
Paul of Tarsus, mid-1st century
Self-described as the Pharisee son of a Pharisee, Saul of Tarsus,
better known by his Roman name Paul, attended a school in Jerusalem headed by
Gamaliel, son of Hillel the Elder. In
his letter to the church at Galatia in Asia Minor written in about 53 CE, Saul,
said:
‘For the whole Torah is summed up in a single mitzvah, “You
shall love your neighbor as yourself.”’ (Galatians
5:14).
In his letter to the Christians at Rome, Saul included the
following:
‘Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the
one who loves another has fulfilled the Torah.
The mitzvot, “You shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder; You
shall not steal; You shall not covet”; and any other mitzvah, are summed up in
this decree, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of
the Torah.’ (Romans 13:8-10)
Didache, late 1st/early
2nd century
The first six chapters of the Didache (short for, The
Teaching of our Lord through the Twelve Apostles to the Gentiles)match
those of the Doctrina Apostolorum in essential content, but surpass them
in verbiage, its additions being obvious Christian interpolations. Written in the mid-first century, its overall
length is greater also, extending to sixteen chapters, almost all of it clearly
deriving from or at least patterned on Jewish antecedents. Nearly identical to its predecessor, its
version of the greatest mitzvot is:
‘Love the God who made you, love your neighbor as yourself, and do not
to others that which you would not wish them to do to you’.
The gospels
None of these were written before the end of the Great
Jewish Revolt of 66-70 CE that ended with the almost complete destruction of
Jerusalem (according to Josephus, nothing left standing but the western wall of the city and three of its
towers). The Temple was completely
burned and its mound fortifications completely dismantled, all of them. Three of them (Matthew, Luke, John) may not have reached their current
form until the end of the second century.
The Summary of the Torah in the gospels
In all three Synoptics, this passage quotes Deuteronomy 6:5
followed by Leviticus 19:18.
Also known as the Great Mitzvah, this comes, in Mark and Matthew,
after an exchange in which someone from the crowd asks Isho about which mitzvah
of the Torah is the greatest. Luke
places the exchange much earlier and orders this story a bit differently.
Only Mark begins the summary with the Shema Yisrael:
‘One of the scribes came near and heard them disputing with one
another, and seeing that he answered them well, he asked him, “Which mitzvah is
the first of all?” Isho answered, “The
first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: Yahuweh our God is one Yahuweh; you shall love Yahuweh
your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind,
and with all your strength.’ The second is this, ‘You shall love your
neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other mitzvah greater than these.”’ (Mark 12:28-31)
Almost immediately, the scribe rephrases the summary back to Isho:
‘Then the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher; you have truly
said that ‘he is one, and besides him there is no other’; and
‘to love him with all one’s heart, and with all one’s understanding, and with
all one’s strength,’ and ‘to love one’s neighbor as oneself,’—this is much more
important than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” When Isho saw that he answered wisely, he
said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” After that no one dared
to ask him any question.’ (Mark 12:32-34)
The version in Matthew was included in the service for the
Eucharist in the Book of Common Prayer of the Anglican churches from the
sixteenth century until the later twentieth, and still does in some communions. In the original service, at least beginning
with the second BCP of 1552, the service began with the Decalogue followed by
the Summary of the Torah.
‘When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they
gathered together, and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which mitzvah in the Torah is
the greatest?” He said to him, ‘You shall love Yahuweh your God with all
your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first mitzvah. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your
neighbor as yourself.’ On these two mitzvot
hang all the Torah and the Prophets.”’ (Matthew 20:34-40)
In a different take, Luke puts the summary in the mouth of the
lawyer, or scribe, who asked Isho the question.
‘Just then a lawyer stood up to test Isho. “Teacher,” he said,
“what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
He said to him, “What is written in the Torah? What do you read there?” He answered, “You shall love Yahuweh 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.” And he said to him, “You have given the right
answer; do this, and you will live.”’ (Luke 10:25-28)
When the lawyer then asks, “But who is my neighbor?”, Isho replies with
the Parable of the Good Samaritan, asking at the end, “Which one of these was a
neighbor to the victim?”.
The scribes had traditionally interpreted such references to “neighbor”
as referring solely to one’s fellow Jews, even of other ethnic groups, though
not Samaritans. The parable may have
originated as a polemic against worldly and self-absorbed clergy, with a lay
Israelite following the priestly Cohen and the clerical Levite. A Samaritan was substituted for the Israelite
here to demonstrate that even a despised outsider could be a neighbor more than
one of higher religious status. This
expansion of the definition of “neighbor” would have been consistent with how the
Pharisees were trying to redefine “neighbor” in the first century to include
all fellow humans.
The pericope of the rich man
All three of the Synoptics include a very similar summary in the
exchange presented as taking place on the road through Judea to Jerusalem in
which someone asks what he must do to have eternal life.
Then someone came to him and said, “Teacher, what good deed must I do
to have eternal life?” And he said to him, “Why do you ask me about what
is good? There is only one who is good. If you wish to enter into life, keep
the mitzvot.” He said to him, “Which
ones?” And Isho said, “You shall not murder; You shall not commit
adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; Honor
your father and mother; also, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew
19:16-19)
As he [Isho] was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt
before him, and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal
life?” Isho said to him, “Why do you
call me good? No one is good but God
alone. You know the mitzvot: ‘You shall
not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not
bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honor your father and mother.’” (Mark
10:17-19)
A certain ruler asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit
eternal life?” Isho said to him, “Why do
you call me good? No one is good but God alone.
You know the mitzvot: ‘You shall not commit adultery; You shall not
murder; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; Honor your
father and mother.’” (Luke 18:18-20)
This are the same passages which end with the rich man sad after being
told to give up his possessions, with Isho saying, “It is easier for a camel to
pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of
God”. Which is another way of saying
that wealth is the date-nut trapping the monkey’s hand inside the coconut shell
because he won’t let go of it.
Note the inclusion in all these passages Isho saying that there is no
one good but God, God in the third person and in a separate category entirely.
Love your enemies
In a couple of place in the gospels, the writers go beyond love of
neighbor or love of resident alien to love of one’s enemies.
From Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount: “You have heard that it was
said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to
you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you’. (Matthew
5:43-44)
From Luke’s Sermon on the Plain: ‘I say to you that listen, Love
your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those
who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.’ (Luke 6:27-28)
A new mitzvah
In two places in his conversation with the disciples after the Last
Supper, Isho gives admonitions to them that mirror those of the Patriarchs of Jubilees
and of Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs to their children and
grandchildren.
‘”I give you a new mitzvah, that you love one another. Just as I have
loved you, you also should love one another.
By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love
for one another.”’ (John 14:34-35)
‘This is my decree, that you love one another as I have loved you.’ (John
15:12)
Golden Rule in the gospels
There is a close version of the Hillel’s saying in Matthew’s
version of the Sermon on the Mount, but with a positive rather than negative
prescription:
“In everything do to others as you would have them do to you; for this
is the Torah and the Prophets.” (Matthew 7:12)
In Luke’s version of the Sermon on the Plain, the Golden Rule is
given more simply as:
“Do to others as you would have them do to you.” (Luke 6:31)
Rabbi Akiva, c. 120 CE
In the early second century CE, Rabbi Akiva ben Joseph, a significant
contributor to the Mishna and the Midrash halakha and, later, spiritual leader
of the Bar Kokhba War of 132-135, said of the mitzvah in Leviticus 19:18
that:
“‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’ is the greatest principle
of the Torah”. Which is almost exactly
what Saul of Tarsus wrote to the church in Galatia.
Epistle of
Barnabas, late 2nd
century
The epistle lays out the Way of Light in chapter 19, giving both
prescriptions of the Summary of the Torah but separated by several negative
prescriptions on morality and behavior.
Love him who created you: glorify him who redeemed you from death. Love your neighbor more than your own soul.
Didascalia
Apostolorum, 230
This church order includes the Summary of the Torah and the Golden Rule
in its opening paragraphs.
‘Love God who has made you, with all your heart, and glorify him who
has redeemed you from death, which is the first mitzvah. But secondly, love your neighbor as yourself, which
is the second commandment, those on which hang all the Law and the Prophets. All
those things that you dost not wish to happen to you, do not do to others.’
Apostolic
Church Order, 300
This church order also begins its discussion of the Way of Life with
the Summary of the Torah and the Golden rule..
First, love the God who made you, and glorify him who ransomed you from
death, which is the first mitzvah. Secondly,
love you neighbor as yourself, which is the second mitzvah: upon which hang all
the Torah, and the Prophets. Everything
that you not wish done to you, do not do to another; that is, what you hate do
not to another.
Apostolic
Constitutions, 375
Book VII, Chapter II of this compilation is based largely on the Didache,
including the Two Ways, generally following its source, but heavily
edited. The exposition of the Way of
Life begins with the Summary of the Torah and the Golden Rule.
‘Love the Lord God, who is the one and only God, besides whom there is
no other, with all your mind, and with all your soul; and your neighbor as yourself.
And whatsoever you are unwilling to have
done to you, that do not do to another.’
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