Passage
On these two commandments the whole law and the prophets hang.
Matthew 22:40 (DBY)
Nearby Context
Matthew 22:38 This is [the] great and first commandment.
Matthew 22:39 And [the] second is like it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Matthew 22:40 On these two commandments the whole law and the prophets hang.
Matthew 22:41 And the Pharisees being gathered together, Jesus demanded of them,
Matthew 22:42 saying, What think ye concerning the Christ? whose son is he? They say to him, David's.
Study Lenses
The verse centers on "commandments", "whole", "prophets", and "hang". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "commandments" and "whole", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.
The nearby context moves from verse 39's "And the second is like it Thou..." into verse 41's "And the Pharisees being gathered together Jesus...", so "commandments" and "whole" belong inside that flow. In Matthew context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.
A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "commandments" and "whole" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.