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27 He is not the God of the dead but of the living. You are very badly mistaken.”

28 The Greatest Commandment.[a] Then one of the scribes who had listened to these discussions, and who had observed how well Jesus answered them, asked Jesus, “Which is the first of all the commandments?”[b]

29 Jesus answered, “The first is: ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one!

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Footnotes

  1. Mark 12:28 This friendly dialogue between Jesus and a scribe is unique in the Synoptic Gospels. See also note on Mt 22:34-40.
  2. Mark 12:28 First of all the commandments: among the 613 precepts listed by the teachers of the Law; of these, 365 (as many as the days of the year) were negative, that is, contained prohibitions, and 248 (as many as the parts of the human body were thought to be) were positive.