The Meaning of Mark 12:29 Explained

Mark 12:29

KJV: And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:

YLT: and Jesus answered him -- 'The first of all the commands is, Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is one;

Darby: And Jesus answered him, The first commandment of all is, Hear, Israel: the Lord our God is one Lord;

ASV: Jesus answered, The first is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God, the Lord is one:

KJV Reverse Interlinear

And  Jesus  answered  him,  The  first  of all  the commandments  [is], Hear,  O Israel;  The Lord  our  God  is  one  Lord: 

What does Mark 12:29 Mean?

Context Summary

Mark 12:28-44 - The First Commandment
To the young ruler our Lord named one command as great-the love of one's neighbor. Now, in answer to this scribe, he turned with unerring choice, first to Deuteronomy 6:4-5, and then to Leviticus 19:18, for the two pillars on which the collective and individual life of man must rest. The reverent answer of the scribe proves that he was no ordinary questioner; and our Lord acknowledged this when He told him that a few steps more would bring him into the kingdom of God. Our Lord was David's son by human descent, but as Son of God, proceeding from the Father, He is exalted far above David and all mankind.
In terrible words, Mark 12:38-40, Christ denounced the moral and religious leaders of the time. They made a pretense and a gain of their religion. How great the contrast between them and this poor widow, who cast into God's treasury all that she had to provide for her day's living! Our Lord is quick to notice acts like these, which give evidence of the true heart. [source]

Chapter Summary: Mark 12

1  Jesus tells the parable of the tenants
13  He avoids the snare of the Pharisees and Herodians about paying tribute to Caesar;
18  convicts the Sadducees, who denied the resurrection;
28  resolves the scribe, who questioned of the first commandment;
35  refutes the opinion that the scribes held of the Christ;
38  bidding the people to beware of their ambition and hypocrisy;
41  and commends the poor widow for her two mites, above all

What do the individual words in Mark 12:29 mean?

Answered - Jesus The foremost is Hear this O Israel [The] Lord God of us One is
Ἀπεκρίθη Ἰησοῦς Ὅτι Πρώτη ἐστίν Ἄκουε Ἰσραήλ Κύριος Θεὸς ἡμῶν εἷς ἐστιν

Ἀπεκρίθη  Answered 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Indicative Passive, 3rd Person Singular
Root: ἀποκρίνομαι  
Sense: to give an answer to a question proposed, to answer.
  - 
Parse: Article, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
Ἰησοῦς  Jesus 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: Ἰησοῦς  
Sense: Joshua was the famous captain of the Israelites, Moses’ successor.
Πρώτη  foremost 
Parse: Adjective, Nominative Feminine Singular
Root: πρῶτος  
Sense: first in time or place.
Ἄκουε  Hear  this 
Parse: Verb, Present Imperative Active, 2nd Person Singular
Root: ἀκουστός 
Sense: to be endowed with the faculty of hearing, not deaf.
Ἰσραήλ  O  Israel 
Parse: Noun, Vocative Masculine Singular
Root: Ἰσραήλ  
Sense: the name given to the patriarch Jacob (and borne by him in addition to his former name).
Κύριος  [The]  Lord 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: κύριος  
Sense: he to whom a person or thing belongs, about which he has power of deciding; master, lord.
Θεὸς  God 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: θεός  
Sense: a god or goddess, a general name of deities or divinities.
ἡμῶν  of  us 
Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Genitive 1st Person Plural
Root: ἐγώ  
Sense: I, me, my.
εἷς  One 
Parse: Adjective, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: εἷς  
Sense: one.