The Two Great Commandments Koine Greek 65AD

The art shown is an authentic, artistic replication of original manuscripts still used as source documents for modern biblical translations. Here we reverently display Matthew’s gospel in a medium an ancient Christian artist might have used 2,000 years ago.

The Bible scripture on the right can be read in nearly every language on earth, in any of its thousands of translations as Matthew 22: 37-40. Following is an English translation as it appears in the New American Bible: And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”

That is how the writing appears now. But in 65 AD the New Testament had not yet been organized into the structure we have today. We waited 1500 years for a means to reference the books and verses of the New Testament as we can now. In 65 AD it had not yet been named Matthew 22:37-40. It was a singular manuscript written in Koine Greek. During the first century it, like the other three gospels, was known to be inspired by the Holy Spirit, and it was treated with reverence. The art shown is Matthew’s original testimony. Not a word, not a jot nor a tittle has been added to it nor subtracted from it. We believe religious art, reverently displayed with pride of placement, in our homes, schools and work places, can be an effective positive cultural
counterbalance to many of the sometimes negative influences foisted by more insistent worldly cultures.