hang on (depend on)

In the Gospel According to Matthew 22:40 (NABRE), Jesus makes a fascinating point that’s easy to misinterpret when he says: “The whole law and prophets depend on these two commandments.” The word “depend” here carries a lot of weight and suggests an interesting dependency.

The Greek verb that is translated as “depend” is κρεμάννυμι (kremannumi), a word that literally means “hang.” With that in mind, the statement in the Gospel According to Matthew is that the law and the prophets hang on the two commandments of loving God and loving one’s neighbor. This statement is frequently interpreted as a suggestion that the law and the prophets are summarized in these two commandments, which seems like a fair assessment but also isn’t the claim that Jesus is making. The point isn’t that these two commandments are the entirety of God’s revelation but that these two commandments hold up all of the law and prophets. Without this the other laws and commandments become insignificant.

Why is this distinction important? There are many laws and prophecies in the Bible and in Tradition that God has revealed to his people, and these have been given for our benefit. In context, Jesus is engaged in a conversation with legal scholars about which is most important. With his response, Jesus makes clear that endless study and debate over the law isn’t the most fruitful course of action. For those of us seeking to live a life pleasing to God, these things—loving God and loving one another—seem like they ought to be our main focus and concern. If we spend more time doing these things rather than arguing about or even focusing on other less important points we can make great progress.

you also may like our two-part study of the prophets
Thus Says the LORD: God Speaks Through His Servants the Prophets—Volume I: A Kingdom Divided examines the prophets in their historical context using the First and Second Books of the Kings and other Old Testament passages written before the Babylonian Exile in 586 B.C. Volume II: Restoration & Redemption looks at the post-exilic prophets. This 51-lesson Catholic Bible study builds on The United Kingdom of Israel: Saul, David & Solomon Foreshadow Christ the King. Click on the books’ covers to view a sample lesson from each volume.

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