Luke 10:27

Luke 10:27, in plain English

The expert answered, 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind, and love your neighbor as yourself.' He knew the right words.

Why it's here

The man nailed the answer. But knowing the right answer and living it are two very different things. His head was in the right place. Jesus was about to check his heart.

Who's speaking

The legal expert gives the correct answer from Scripture.

Where it sits in the story

The expert answered his own question perfectly: love God with everything you have, and love your neighbor as yourself. Textbook answer. But Jesus was about to show him that textbook answers are not enough.

The scholarly reading

The lawyer correctly combines the Shema (Deuteronomy 6:5) with Leviticus 19:18: agapēseis kyrion ton theon sou ex holēs tēs kardias ('love the Lord your God with all your heart') plus kai ton plēsion sou hōs seauton ('and your neighbor as yourself'). The fourfold 'all' (heart, soul, strength, mind) emphasizes totality.

Language and setting

In Matthew/Mark, Jesus gives this answer. In Luke, uniquely, the lawyer himself provides it, demonstrating his competence. The combination of these two commands into a single love ethic was not common in first-century Judaism, making the lawyer's answer notably sophisticated.

Voice

The legal expert answers his own question correctly.

Significance

The expert answered perfectly, combining Deuteronomy's command to love God completely with Leviticus's command to love your neighbor as yourself. He knew the right answer intellectually but was about to discover how little he understood it practically.

25One day an expert in the law stood up to test Him. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

26“What is written in the Law?” Jesus replied. “How do you read it?”

27He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ and ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”

28“You have answered correctly,” Jesus said. “Do this and you will live.”

29But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

Read all of Luke 10 — A lawyer asks how to inherit eternal life and gets an answer he doesn't expect. The hero of the story is the one everyone despises.