Reading the Shema (Deuteronomy 6:4–5)

"Hear": Deuteronomy 6:4

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is One.

Deuteronomy 6:4

This verse is called the Shema after its first word, שְׁמַע, "shema", "hear!": a Qal imperative, second person masculine singular. In Hebrew, "hear" often goes beyond the ear and reaches to acting on what you have heard. The person addressed is יִשְׂרָאֵל, "O Israel", a name that occurs about 2,500 times.

The statement that follows has no verb at all: יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ יְהוָה אֶחָד. We read יְהוָה as "the LORD", following the reading custom. אֱלֹהֵינוּ, "eloheinu", is the construct אֱלֹהֵי plus the suffix נוּ, "our", so "our God". The last word, אֶחָד, "echad", is the "one" you know; the database labels it a noun here, but the meaning is "one".

With no verb, you must decide where "is" goes, and that gives different readings. One is "The LORD our God, the LORD is one", which is how the BSB has it. Another is "The LORD is our God, the LORD alone", where "one" means "the only one". The 개역한글 divides the words a third way, taking "the LORD our God" as the subject and "the one LORD" as what is said of him ("the LORD our God is the only one LORD"), and its added "only" stresses that there is no other. On any reading the verse confesses that the LORD, and no other, is Israel's God. Translations differ because the grammar leaves room for both, and neither is wrong.

"Love": Deuteronomy 6:5

And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.

Deuteronomy 6:5

Now comes the command. וְאָהַבְתָּ, "ve'ahavta", is a consecutive perfect: a perfect with וְ, here continuing the command that began with "hear", so "and you shall love". The root is אָהֵב, "to love", about 200 occurrences. After it comes אֵת יְהוָה: the object marker shows that "the LORD" is the one loved. אֱלֹהֶיךָ is "your God": the suffix ךָ is "your" (singular), which you can compare with נוּ "our" in verse 4.

Next, "how?" is answered three times with בְּכָל־: בְּ "with" plus כָל "all", so "with all …". Each of the three nouns carries the suffix ךָ, "your".

לְבָבְךָ, "levavecha", is לֵבָב "heart", about 250 times in the Old Testament. For a Hebrew reader the heart is not only feeling but the centre of the inner person, where one thinks and decides. נַפְשְׁךָ, "nafshecha", is from נֶפֶשׁ, the breathing life, a person's whole self. The BSB has "soul", the 개역한글 has 성품 ("nature"), and the database's gloss is "being". The word has too wide a range for any one English word. The last, מְאֹדֶךָ, "me'odecha", is built on מְאֹד, which usually means "very" (it is the "very" in "very good", Genesis 1:31) and occurs about 300 times. Here it is used as a noun, and literally means "your muchness", so "all you have and are", which the BSB and 개역한글 render "strength". (The database tags it an adjective here, which is just its label.) The three words do not divide a person into parts; they pile up to say "everything".

What follows: Deuteronomy 6:6–7

These words I am commanding you today are to be upon your hearts.

Deuteronomy 6:6

And you shall teach them diligently to your children and speak of them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.

Deuteronomy 6:7

Verse 6 says these words must be on your heart, and verse 7 continues with consecutive perfects: וְשִׁנַּנְתָּם, "and you shall repeat them", and וְדִבַּרְתָּ, "and you shall speak". Then four moments are named: sitting, walking, lying down, rising. They are infinitive constructs with a suffix (for example בְּשִׁבְתְּךָ, "when you sit"), and together they cover the whole day.

Summary

The Shema opens with a command, "hear"; makes a verbless confession, "the LORD our God, the LORD is one"; goes on with a consecutive perfect, "and you shall love"; and asks for love with all heart, soul and strength, which together mean "with everything". You also saw the suffixes נוּ ("our") and ךָ ("your") again. No new labels were needed.

Words in this lesson

• אָהֵבahavto love: lover198 times in the OT
• לֵבָבlevavheart252 times in the OT
• מְאֹדmeodmuch300 times in the OT
• יִשְׂרָאֵלyisraelIsrael2,505 times in the OT

Practice