Commentaries:
Robertson's Word Pictures (NT)
Heard them questioning together (akousav autwn sunzhtountwn). The victory of Christ over the Sadducees pleased the Pharisees who now had come back with mixed emotions over the new turn of things (Matthew 22:34). Luke 20:39 represents one of the scribes as commending Jesus for his skilful reply to the Sadducees. Mark here puts this scribe in a favourable light, "knowing that he had answered them well" (eidwv oti kalwv apekriqh autoiv). "Them" here means the Sadducees. But Matthew 22:35 says that this lawyer (nomikov) was "tempting" (peirazwn) by his question. "A few, among whom was the scribe, were constrained to admire, even if they were willing to criticize, the Rabbi who though not himself a Pharisee, surpassed the Pharisees as a champion of the truth." That is a just picture of this lawyer.
The first of all (prwth pantwn). First in rank and importance. Matthew 22:36 has "great" (megalh). See discussion there. Probably Jesus spoke in Aramaic. "First" and "great" in Greek do not differ essentially here. Mark quotes Deuteronomy 6:4 f. as it stands in the LXX and also Leviticus 19:18. Matthew 22:40 adds the summary: "On these two commandments hangeth (krematai) the whole law and the prophets."
Other Robertson's Word Pictures (NT) entries containing Mark 12:28:
Matthew 22:36
Matthew 22:42
Luke 10:27
Luke 20:41
1 John 3:23
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