Mar 12:31 And the second like, this, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
Mar 12:31 And the second [is] like, [namely] this, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is none other commandment greater than these.
Alternative: And the second [is] the same, same as you will care for those near you as much as of yourself, no other command is greater.
Wordplay: Christ repeats two different words meaning the same, emphasizing the equality of two different types.
Hidden meaning: Christ is emphasizes the absolute equality of loving God with loving those near us. Notice, the word that Christ uses for "neighbor" is not a word that can be applied to the faceless masses. This is a word that refers only to personal acquaintances but not normally used to refer to family or friends.
The sense of equality also carries over to the equality between ourselves and others in terms of treatment.
Thematically and Linguistically Related Verse(s): Mat 22:39 is the parallel verse in Matthew, but without the second phrase about greater.
Vocabulary:
"Second" is from deuteros (deuteros), which means "second," "next," "second of two," and "later."
"Like" is from homoios (homoios), which means "like," "resembling," "the same," "equal in force, "a match for one," "suiting," "of the same rank," "alike," "in like manner," and "equally."
"This" is from a word not appearing in the actual Greek (at least in blueletterbible.com that I use), houtos (houtos), which means "this," "that," "the nearer." As an adverb, it means "therefore," and "that is why."
Untranlated is frm autos (autos), which means "the same," and the reflexive pronouns, "myself," "yourself," "himself," "herself," "itself," or the oblique case of the pronouns, "him," "her," and "it." It also means "one's true self," that is, "the soul" as opposed to the body and "of ones own accord."
"As" is from hôs (hos), which means to "thus," "as," "how," "when," "where," "like," "just as," "so far as," "as much as can be," "that," "in order that," "nearly (with numbers)," and "know that."
"Love" is from agapaô (agapao), which means "to be fond of," "to greet with affection," "to persuade," "to caress," "to prize," "to desire," "to be pleased with," and "to be contended with." This love is more associated with affection than passion. The Greek word for passionate love, especially in a sexual sense, is eros. The word is seldom associated with sexual love though Christ uses another word, phileô, which means "to love," "to like," "to be fond of doing," and "to show affection" to express what "love" in the sense of like and dislike.
"Neighbor" is from plêsios (plesion), which means "close," "near," and "one's neighbor."
"Yourself" is from seautou (seatou), which means "of yourself."
"There is" is from eimi (eimi), which means "to be," "to exist," "to be the case," and "is possible." (The future form is esomai. The 3rd person present indicative is "esti.")
"Other" is from allos (allos), which means "another."
"Commandment" is from entolê (entole) which means "injunction," "order," and "command."
"Greater" is from meizôn, (meizon) which means "bigger," and "greater" and is the comparative form of megas, which means "big" and "great."
