{Heard them questioning together} (akousas aut(936e)
sunz(8874)ount(936e)). The victory of Christ over the Sadducees pleased
the Pharisees who now had come back with mixed emotions over the
new turn of things ( Mt 22:34 ). Lu 20:39 represents one of the
scribes as commending Jesus for his skilful reply to the
Sadducees. Mark here puts this scribe in a favourable light,
"knowing that he had answered them well" (eid(9373) hoti kal(9373)
apekrith(8820)autois). "Them" here means the Sadducees. But Mt
22:35 says that this lawyer (
omikos) was "tempting"
(peiraz(936e)) by his question. "A few, among whom was the scribe,
were constrained to admire, even if they were willing to
criticize, the Rabbi who though not himself a Pharisee, surpassed
the Pharisees as a champion of the truth." That is a just picture
of this lawyer. {The first of all} (pr(9374)(8820)pant(936e)). First in
rank and importance. Mt 22:36 has "great" (megal(885c)). See
discussion there. Probably Jesus spoke in Aramaic. "First" and
"great" in Greek do not differ essentially here. Mark quotes De
6:4f. as it stands in the LXX and also Le 19:18 . Mt 22:40
adds the summary: "On these two commandments hangeth (krematai)
the whole law and the prophets."
|