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JPS Old Testament
Deuteronomy 6:4
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Hear, Yisra'el: the LORD is our God; the LORD is one:
Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord :
"Hear, Israel, Yahweh our God, Yahweh is unique.
"Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.
Listen, people of Israel! The Lord our God is the only Lord .
Listen, Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord is one!
"Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one [the only God]!
"Hear, Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one!
Heare, O Israel, The Lord our God is Lord onely,
"Hear, O Israel! Yahweh is our God, Yahweh is one!
The Most Important Commandment Moses said to Israel: The Lord told me to give you these laws and teachings, so you can obey them in the land he is giving you. Soon you will cross the Jordan River and take that land. And if you and your descendants want to live a long time, you must always worship the Lord and obey his laws. Pay attention, Israel! Our ancestors worshiped the Lord , and he promised to give us this land that is rich with milk and honey. Be careful to obey him, and you will become a successful and powerful nation. Listen, Israel! The Lord our God is the only true God!
(A:vi, S: v) "Sh'ma, Yisra'el! Adonai Eloheinu, Adonai echad [Hear, Isra'el! Adonai our God, Adonai is one];
Hear, Israel: Jehovah our God is one Jehovah;
"Listen, people of Israel! The Lord is our God. The Lord is the only God.
Hear, O Israel: the LORD our God is one LORD;
"Israel, remember this! The Lord —and the Lord alone—is our God.
“Listen, Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.
Hear, O Israel, Jehovah our God is one Jehovah.
Heare O Israel, the LORDE oure God is one LORDE onely.
Hear, O Israel: Jehovah our God is one Jehovah:
Give ear, O Israel: the Lord our God is one Lord:
Heare O Israel, the Lorde our God is Lorde only.
Heare, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord.
Hear, O Israel, The Lord our God is one Lord.
Hear, O Israel: the LORD our God is one LORD:
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is One.
Thou Israel, here, thi Lord God is o God.
`Hear, O Israel, Jehovah our God [is] one Jehovah;
Hear, O Israel: Yahweh our God, Yahweh is [the only] one:
Hear, O Israel: the LORD our God [is] one LORD:
Hear, Israel: Yahweh is our God; Yahweh is one:
"Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! [fn]
"Listen, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone.
"Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is one Lord!
Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone.
Hear, O Israel: Yahweh, is our God, - Yahweh alone.
Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord.
"Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD;
Attention, Israel! God , our God! God the one and only!
"Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one!
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
Shema Yisrael, Yehowah, Elohainoo, Yehowah aichod. "Hear, Israel, Jehovah, our God, is one Jehovah." On this passage the Jews lay great stress; and it is one of the four passages which they write on their phylacteries. On the word Elohim, Simeon ben Joachi says: "Come and see the mystery of the word Elohim. There are three degrees, and each degree is by itself alone, and yet they are all one, and joined together in one, and are not divided from each other."
the Lord: Deuteronomy 4:35, Deuteronomy 4:36, Deuteronomy 5:6, 1 Kings 18:21, 2 Kings 19:5, 1 Chronicles 29:10, Isaiah 42:8, Isaiah 44:6, Isaiah 44:8, Isaiah 45:5, Isaiah 45:6, Jeremiah 10:10, Jeremiah 10:11, Mark 12:29-32, John 17:8, 1 Corinthians 8:4-6, 1 Timothy 2:5
Reciprocal: Exodus 20:2 - the Lord Nehemiah 9:6 - even thou Psalms 86:10 - God Isaiah 43:11 - General Mark 11:14 - No Mark 12:32 - for Galatians 3:20 - but James 2:19 - General 1 John 5:7 - and these
Cross-References
And this is how thou shalt make it: the length of the ark three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits.
Of the fowl after their kind, and of the cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the ground after its kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive.
And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and gather it to thee; and it shall be for food for thee, and for them.'
Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he.
And they said: 'Come, let us build us a city, and a tower, with its top in heaven, and let us make us a name; lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.'
And there we saw the Nephilim, the sons of Anak, who come of the Nephilim; and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.'
and they rose up in face of Moses, with certain of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty men; they were princes of the congregation, the elect men of the assembly, men of renown;
For only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of the Rephaim; behold, his bedstead was a bedstead of iron; is it not in Rabbah of the children of Ammon? nine cubits was the length thereof, and four cubits the breadth of it, after the cubit of a man.--
And there went out a champion from the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.
Gill's Notes on the Bible
Hear, O Israel,.... These are the words of Moses, stirring up the people to an attention to what he was about to say of this great and momentous article, the unity of God, to prevent their going into polytheism and idolatry. From one of the words here used, the Jews call this section Kiriathshema, which they oblige themselves to read twice a day, morning and evening n; the last letter of the first word in this verse, "Shema", meaning "hear", and the last letter of the last word in it, "Echad", meaning "one", are greater than ordinary; which seems designed to excite the attention to what is contained in this passage:
the Lord our God is one Lord; the doctrine of which is, that the Lord, who was the covenant God and Father of his people Israel, is but one Jehovah; he is Jehovah, the Being of beings, a self-existent Being, eternal and immutable; and he is but one in nature and essence; this appears from the perfection of his nature, his eternity, omnipotence, omnipresence, infinity, goodness, self-sufficiency, and perfection; for there can be but one eternal, one omnipotent, one omnipresent, one infinite, one that is originally and of himself good; one self, and all sufficient, and perfect Being; and which also may be concluded from his being the first cause of all things, which can be but one; and from his relations to his creatures, as their King, ruler, governor, and lawgiver. And for this purpose these words are cited in Mark 12:29 but then they no ways contradict the doctrine of a trinity of persons in the unity of the divine essence, the Father, Word, and Holy Spirit, which three are one; the one God, the one Jehovah, as here expressed; see 1 John 5:7 and so the ancient Jews understood this passage. In an ancient book of theirs it is said o Jehovah, Elohenu, Jehovah (i.e. Jehovah, our God, Jehovah); these are the three degrees with respect to this sublime mystery; "in the beginning God (Elohim) created the heavens and the earth"; and again p, Jehovah, Elohenu, Jehovah, they are one; the three forms (modes or things) which are one; and elsewhere q it is observed, there are two, and one is joined to them, and they are three; and when the three are one, he says to (or of) them, these are the two names which Israel heard, Jehovah, Jehovah, and Elohenu (our God) is joined unto them; and it is the seal of the ring of truth, and when they are joined they are one in one unity; which is illustrated by the three names the soul of man is called by, the soul, spirit, and breath; and elsewhere they say r the holy blessed God, and his Shechinah, are called one; see John 10:30.
n Mist. Beracot, c. 1. sect. 1, 2. o Zohar in Gen. fol. 1, 3. p Ib. in Exod. fol. 18. 3, 4. q Ib. in Numb. fol. 67. 3. r Tikkune Zohar, Correct. 47. fol. 86. 2.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
These words form the beginning of what is termed the âShemaâ (âHearâ) in the Jewish Services, and belong to the daily morning and evening office. They may be called âthe creed of the Jews.â
This weighty text contains far more than a mere declaration of the unity of God as against polytheism; or of the sole authority of the revelation that He had made to Israel as against other pretended manifestations of His will and attributes. It asserts that the Lord God of Israel is absolutely God, and none other. He, and He alone, is Jehovah (Yahweh) the absolute, uncaused God; the One who had, by His election of them, made Himself known to Israel.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse Deuteronomy 6:4. Hear, O Israel — ש××¢ ×שר×× ×××× ××××× × ×××× ××× shemA Yisrael, Yehovah Eloheinu, Yehovah achaD. These words may be variously rendered into English; but almost all possible verbal varieties in the translation (and there can be none other) amount to the same sense: "Israel, hear! Jehovah, our God, is one Jehovah;" or, "Jehovah is our God, Jehovah is one;" or, "Jehovah is our God, Jehovah alone;" or, "Jehovah is our God, Jehovah who is one;" or, "Jehovah, who is our God, is the one Being." On this verse the Jews lay great stress; it is one of the four passages which they write on their phylacteries, and they write the last letter in the first and last words very large, for the purpose of exciting attention to the weighty truth it contains. It is perhaps in reference to this custom of the Jews that our blessed Lord alludes, Matthew 22:38; Mark 12:29-30, where he says, This is the first and great commandment; and this is nearly the comment that Maimonides gives on this place: "Hear, O Israel; because in these words the property, the love, and the doctrine of God are contained."
Many think that Moses teaches in these words the doctrine of the Trinity in Unity. It may be so; but if so, it is not more clearly done than in the first verse of Genesis, to which the reader is referred. When this passage occurs in the Sabbath readings in the synagogue, the whole congregation repeat the last word achad for several minutes together with the loudest vociferations: this I suppose they do to vent a little of their spleen against the Christians, for they suppose the latter hold three Gods, because of their doctrine of the Trinity; but all their skill and cunning can never prove that there is not a plurality expressed in the word ××××× × Eloheinu, which is translated our God; and were the Christians, when reading this verse, to vociferate Eloheinu for several minutes as the Jews do achad, it would apply more forcibly in the way of conviction to the Jews of the plurality of persons in the Godhead, than the word achad, of one, against any pretended false tenet of Christianity, as every Christian receives the doctrine of the unity of God in the most conscientious manner. It is because of their rejection of this doctrine that the wrath of God continues to rest on them; for the doctrine of the atonement cannot be received, unless the doctrine of the Godhead of Christ is received too. Some Christians have joined the Jews against this doctrine, and some have even outdone them, and have put themselves to extraordinary pains to prove that ××××× Elohim is a noun of the singular number! This has not yet been proved. It would be as easy to prove that there is no plural in language.
