12:28–34 As the final words of verse 34 indicate, this is the last of a series of questions directed to Jesus by representatives of various major groups in ancient Judaism. This question comes from a member of the “scribes,” a class of people trained to interpret the OT law for the life of the people. The question asked is discussed in ancient Jewish sources. Since it was commonly understood that the OT law included 613 commandments, it is understandable that there was a desire to try to organize this body of material around a basic commandment so as to give a fundamental premise on which to hang all the individual commands. For example, the great Jewish teacher Hillel, whose career is dated in the decades just before Jesus’ ministry, is quoted as having replied to a Gentile who asked for …