MARK 12:29 — KING JAMES VERSION 1
“And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:”
The most important one, answered Jesus, is this: hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one — the Shema (Deuteronomy 6:4) is the foundational confession of Jewish faith, recited twice daily. Jesus begins the greatest commandment answer with the Shema itself, which is not technically a commandment but the theological foundation for all the commandments: the Lord our God, the Lord is one. The oneness of God is the foundation; the love command follows from it.