Mark 12:31 (KJV)

Passage

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

Nearby Context

Mark 12:29 And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:

Mark 12:30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.

Mark 12:31 And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.

Mark 12:32 And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he:

Mark 12:33 And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "second", "like", "namely", "thou", "shalt", "love", "neighbour", and "thyself". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "second" and "like", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 30's "And thou shalt love the Lord thy..." into verse 32's "And the scribe said unto him Well...", so "second" and "like" belong inside that flow. In Mark context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "second" and "like" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.