In Other Words: Reading Matthew 22:39

To tackle the next couple of chapters, it’s worthwhile to take a quick look at Matthew 22:39. It’s been a while since I’ve done translation for the sake of exegesis, but let’s give it a whirl. For the sake of clarity, I’ll include the whole statement of Jesus (22:37–40):

ὁ δὲ ἔφη αὐτῷ· ἀγαπήσεις κύριον τὸν θεόν σου ἐν ὅλῃ τῇ καρδίᾳ σου καὶ ἐν ὅλῃ τῇ ψυχῇ σου καὶ ἐν ὅλῃ τῇ διανοίᾳ σου· αὕτη ἐστὶν ἡ μεγάλη καὶ πρώτη ἐντολή. δευτέρα δὲ ὁμοία αὐτῇ· ἀγαπήσεις τὸν πλησίον σου ὡς σεαυτόν. ἐν ταύταις ταῖς δυσὶν ἐντολαῖς ὅλος ὁ νόμος κρέμαται καὶ οἱ προφῆται.

Translations

Whenever anyone does a translation, it’s good to have a couple of reference translations as well. There’s a whole scope of ways scholars approach translation — literal, thoughts, and paraphrases. Here’s a handy chart:

Without going into a massive explanation here, my encouragement is to find a couple that work for you and use those. I like the New Revised Standard Version for its balance of language and interpretation and Eugene Peterson’s masterwork “The Message.” Because I’m translating here myself, I’m not as worried about a literal translation as well, but those are helpful to have on your bookshelf when you’re digging into a passage.

Why do this in the first place? Well, let’s say you were going to try a new food. You might want to know the ingredients and the nutrition facts. Sometimes, people just want to know the taste. All those descriptors are important, but they don’t always tell the whole story on their own.

Each translation is trying to get at something different for us as we read — none of them are necessarily wrong, but they all emphasize something different. So reading a couple of different translations helps get a full sense of what the passage is trying to say. So here in particular, when SK is going to unwind most of his foundational thesis on these passages, we need to get a sense of the full scope of the words.

My Translation

…and he (meaning Jesus), said to him “Love God with everything you are: your emotions and will, all the parts that give breath to you and animate your actions, and with every bit of reason. That is absolutely the top instruction. And the second is similar (and together with the first!): have the warmest God-love for those near you like you have for yourself. Those two instructions are what hold everything else you’ve heard (and believe).”

NRSV

He said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”

The Message

Jesus said, “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence.’ This is the most important, the first on any list. But there is a second to set alongside it: ‘Love others as well as you love yourself.’ These two commands are pegs; everything in God’s Law and the Prophets hangs from them.”

Let’s talk about the differences…

So while the NRSV and The Message are kind of similar, you can see where they start to separate: directly translating heart, soul, and mind; dropping “shall”; and then again talking about commandments. My translation moves a little closer to The Message in that way. And here’s why:

• καρδίᾳ, ψυχῇ, διανοίᾳ: the word for heart, soul, and mind (kardia, psyche, dianoia) are all hinting at the varying seats in which all of our internal life decides on action. Jesus implores the listener to embrace loving God as the whole self, the whole be-ing. Which is why…
• I dropped “shall.” SK will use that shall, and I think his argument still stands without it. For Jesus, this isn’t a lawful edict. This is just a function of life. There is a requirement within the verb “love” (as I think SK will get at too).
• Related to that, I don’t necessarily like the use of “commandment.” For Jesus, it connects to the interpretation of the law and the prophets. Yet, if we only look at it as some kind of legalese, I think we miss his larger point of embodiment. When any of us follow the law, it’s a good question to ask why. Do we follow the law for the sake of the law, or do we do it because in following the law, we’re loving others? Our response alters our approach: if we embody love, then we follow the law as a part of who we are. Otherwise, then we’re just simply performing an act. In the case of SK, he wants to push us to embody love fully — not as an edict, but as life itself.

Here are some other smaller changes:

• The use of God-love. Sometimes, direct translations can be clunky, especially if there aren’t easily translatable words, or, as in this case, our word doesn’t entirely capture the essence of intent. Here, we have the word ἀγαπήσεις, which is at its core the word “agape.” It’s a specific type of transcendent love, different than “eros,” (erotic love) or “phileo” (“brotherly love” — think of Philadelphia). Indicating that specific love that is not solely human both bolsters what Jesus is saying, and in the case of SK, helps us read further into why he thinks this love is so unique.
• Explanation of the word κρέμαται. Its direct translation is related to hanging something. There is a structural component to the concept: this idea of loving God and loving the other is foundational. I’m using some creativity in my translation, and I believe you arrive at the same place with the NRSV and Message, but I liked to make it clear that everything else is supported and held by these two ways we see ourselves.

…So What?

As mentioned earlier, what is at stake here is nothing less than how we live the in the world. SK will constantly challenge us on this throughout all of Works of Love. In this passage, we witness Jesus doing the same. The person receiving this response was attuned to the law (some translations call him a ‘lawyer’), trying to entrap Jesus. Yet Jesus looks past the question of prioritization of law and instead invites people to look into their whole being.

Coupled with last week’s introduction, we can start to see what SK will invite us to consider: are we willing to live our lives completely given over to God-love, both in giving and receiving? Are we willing to ground our entire worldview solely on these two edicts?

All of the law and the prophetic works that the lawyer would know are built upon loving God and neighbor. So whether we do make that change or not, we are subject to it. But is that enough? That will be what we continue to unfold in Works of Love.