What Does Mark 12:31 Mean in the King James?

And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.

Mark 12:31 · KJV

The analysis reads the King James wording.

King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.

This verse in the Selah Decoded Version

THE KEY

The word translated “neighbour” means “the one near,” making everyday closeness the place where love takes shape.

THE MEANING

The person near you is held in the same field of regard as yourself. This command stands beside love of God as one of the two commands that gather all the rest.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

The person near me is outside the care I naturally reserve for myself.

THE ROOT

ὁ πλησίον

ho plēsion

GROWS FROM

πλησί-

plēsi-

Near, close at hand.

“neighbour” in this verse is ho plēsion. In Greek, the “neighbor” is literally the person near at hand; nearness names the relation before status or kinship does. The command places that concrete closeness alongside the self’s own measure of care.

ALSO GROWS

plēsios: Near, nearby.

πλησίος

This related form makes the word’s sense of nearness audible inside “neighbor.”

plēsiazō: Draw near, approach.

πλησιάζω

The same nearness can become an approach toward another person.

THE PATTERN

Love becomes the measure of commandment when the neighbor is held in the same regard as the self.

Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD.

Leviticus 19:18 · KJVThe same measure of love appears alongside commands against retaliation and grudge-bearing.

But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

Matthew 5:44 · KJVLove extends even to enemies, showing that regard can reach beyond kinship and reciprocity.

For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

Romans 13:9 · KJVCommands against harming others gather into the single measure of neighbor-love.

THE THREAD

Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves?

Luke 10:36 · KJV

It uses the same Greek word, ⁨πλησίον⁩ (plēsion, “neighbor,” the one near). There, the word describes the one who came near to a wounded stranger, opening this command as nearness taking form in care.

This reading is from Selah Verse.

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