Matthew 22:40. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
1. It was customary among the Jews to hang a copy of their laws in a public place, and some commentators suppose an allusion to this custom to be made here.
2. Jewish teachers have at various times attempted to make compendiums of the law. Tholuck gives a very interesting account of one of the most remarkable of these made by Rabbi Samlai, and contained in the Gemara. The following is a condensed statement of Samlai’s compendium of the law: Moses gave six hundred and thirteen commandments on Mount Sinai. David reduced these commandments to eleven, which may be found in the fifteenth Psalm, in answer to the question, “Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle?” Afterward Isaiah came and reduced the eleven to six, as may be seen in Isaiah 33:16. Then came Micah and reduced the six to three. See Micah 6:8. Once more Isaiah brought down the three to two (Isa. 61:1). Lastly came Habakkuk, and reduced them all to one: “The just shall live by faith” (Hab. 2:4). See Tholuck's Commentary on the Sermon on the Mount, (Am. Ed.), p. 139.