12:33

In this verse the scribe repeated the meaning of what Jesus said. He emphasized that it was very important. In Greek he did this in one long sentence. In some languages it may be more natural to use a different way to express the meaning. For example:

And you must love God with all your heart and with all your mind and with all your strength. You must love your neighbor as you love yourself. It is more important to do this than to offer all burnt offerings and other sacrifices to God.

See the General Comment on 12:33a–d at the end of 12:33d for another suggestion.

12:33a

to love Him with all your heart: In Greek this phrase is literally “to love him from the whole of the heart.” It is almost the same expression that was used in 12:30a–b. You could translate in a similar way here.

with all your understanding: In Greek this is literally “from the whole of the intelligence.” The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as understanding means “the ability to understand something.” It is a different word than the one Jesus used in 12:30c that the Berean Standard Bible translated as “mind.” However, these two words have almost the same meaning in this context.

12:33b

and with all your strength: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as strength is the same Greek word that is used in 12:30c. It refers to a person’s ability to do something. It may also include his physical strength or power.

12:33c

and to love your neighbor as yourself: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as love your neighbor as yourself refers to loving another person in the same way that you love yourself. This has the same meaning as the same expression in 12:31b.

12:33d

This part of the verse implies that the scribe agreed with Jesus’ statement in 12:31c.

which is more important than: Here the scribe indicated that he was comparing two important commands in the law:

(a) It is important for a person to love God and his neighbor very much, and

(b) It is important for a person to offer burnt offerings and sacrifices.

Of these two commands, it is more important for a person to love God and his neighbor. In some languages it may be difficult to express this comparison with a phrase like “more…than.” Use a natural way in your language. See the General Comment on 12:33a–d for a suggestion.

all burnt offerings and sacrifices: In the Old Testament God commanded the Jews to burn whole animals as offerings and to also offer other sacrifices to him. The phrase all burnt offerings and sacrifices contains implied information. The word all implies “all that the law requires” or “all that we have been offering.”

burnt offerings: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as burnt offerings is literally “whole burnt offerings.” This refers to animals that the priests sacrificed to God and completely burned up on the altar.

Here are some other ways to translate burnt offerings:

sacrificing animals to God by burning them
-or-
to burn animals as a sacrifice to God

and sacrifices: The word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as sacrifices is a general term that refers to different kinds of offerings. Here it includes other kinds of animal sacrifices (besides the burnt offerings). It also includes other things that people offered to God, such as wheat, oil and wine.

If you need a more general way to translate the word sacrifices, you could say something like:

other things that people give/offer to God

Here is one way to translate this whole phrase:

to offer on the altar animals and other sacrifices to God (Good News Bible)

The focus here is not on specific kinds of offerings. If it awkward to describe a “whole burnt offering” in your language, consider using a more general term. For example:

all the animals and sacrifices we offer to God (New Century Version)
-or-
all the sacrifices and offerings that we could possibly make (Contemporary English Version)

You may also want to add a footnote containing some of the preceding information about offerings and sacrifices.

General Comment on 12:33a–d

In some languages it may be helpful to change the order of some of the verse parts. It may also be helpful to include implied information. For example:

It is important to offer God all burnt offerings and sacrifices that he has commanded. But it is more important that we love him with all our heart, all our understanding, and all our strength. It is also more important to love our neighbor as ourselves.

Translate this verse in a way that is clear and natural in your language.

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All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
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