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NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Mat_22:34-40
34But when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered themselves together. 35One of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, 36"Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?" 37*And 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.'38This is the great and foremost commandment. 39The second is like it, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'40On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets."
Mat_22:35 "a lawyer" Matthew usually called these legal experts "scribes." He never used this term "lawyer" anywhere else in his Gospel. This term may have been an assimilation by a copyist from Luk_10:25. Luke used the term often (cf. Luk_7:30; Luk_10:25; Luk_11:45-46; Luk_11:52; Luk_14:3). It is not found in the parallel in Mar_12:28. However it is present in almost all ancient Greek manuscripts. Jewish religious lawyers developed during the Babylonian exile. Ezra typified this group (cf. Ezr_7:10). In many ways they took the place of the local Levites. Basically they answered practical questions related to the written Law and the oral law (Talmud) as they applied to common life.
▣ "testing Him" This verb (peiraze), rendered alternately "tempt," " try," " test" or "prove," has the connotation of "to test with a view toward destruction" (see Special Topic at Mat_4:1, cf. Mat_4:1; Mat_16:1; Mat_19:3; Mat_22:18; Mat_22:35; the noun in Mat_6:13; Mat_26:41).
Mat_22:36 "which is the great commandment in the Law" The rabbis had asserted that there were 248 positive and 365 negative commandments in the writings of Moses (Genesis - Deuteronomy) for a total of 613 commands.
Mat_22:37-38 The greatest commandment is stated in Deu_6:5. There is a slight difference between the Masoretic Hebrew text and Jesus' quote, but the essence is the same. This verse is not concerned with the dichotomous (cf. Heb_4:12) or trichotomous (cf. 1Th_5:23) nature of man but rather deals with a person as a unity (cf. Gen_2:7; 1Co_15:45): a thinking and feeling, physical and spiritual being. It is true that because humans are earthly animals they depend upon this planet for food, water, air, and all the other things animal life needs to survive. Humans are also spiritual beings who relate to God and the spiritual realms. However, it is a false interpretation to build theology on these different descriptions of human nature. The key to this verse is the thrice-repeated "all," not the supposed distinctions between "heart," " soul," and "mind."
By quoting this central affirmation of the oneness of God, Jesus is inseparably linking the OT and NT understanding of God. The NT is the fulfillment of the OT. YHWH is now revealed as a Triune Unity. Oneness has been redefined! NT believers fully assert monotheism, but with a footnote. Apparently the NT writers did not see the implication of Psa_110:1 as a contradiction (cf. 1Co_8:6; Eph_4:5; Php_2:11). There is surely mystery here! See the Special Topic: The Trinity at Mat_3:17.
Mat_22:39 The second commandment was not requested by the scribe, but it does show that a balance between believers'love for God and their love for their fellow human must be maintained. It is impossible to love God and hate people (cf. 1Jn_2:9; 1Jn_2:11; 1Jn_3:15; 1Jn_4:20). This is a quote from Lev_19:18.
Mat_22:40 Jesus was asserting that the OT has an integrating center (i.e., covenant love, cf. Mat_7:12; Mar_12:31; Rom_13:8-10; Gal_5:14). These two OT commands are obviously applicable to NT believers. Love for God expresses itself in being like God, because God is love (cf. 1Jn_4:7-21).