The final test of Jesus from the constituents of the Sanhedrin comes from a scribe (12:28–37). Scribes (NIV “teachers of the law”) were torah experts of great erudition who both advised the Sanhedrin and enjoyed legendary reputations and privileges. Famous rabbis were often asked, as Jesus is asked here, to summarize the essence of all 613 commandments in the torah in a nutshell. According to the NIV (12:28), the scribe asks which is the greatest of the “commandments.” The Greek, however, does not read “commandments” but something more absolute and unqualified: which commandment comes before everything and is incumbent on everyone? Jesus answers by quoting the Shema (12:29–30), the quintessent…