Ulangan 6:4

The Essence of the Covenant Principles

6:4 Listen, Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord is one! ¹ 

Ulangan 6:20

Exhortation to Remember the Past

6:20 When your children ²  ask you later on, “What are the stipulations, statutes, and ordinances that the Lord our God commanded you?”

Ulangan 6:24-25

6:24 The Lord commanded us to obey all these statutes and to revere him ³  so that it may always go well for us and he may preserve us, as he has to this day. 6:25 We will be innocent if we carefully keep all these commandments ⁴  before the Lord our God, just as he demands.” ⁵ 

[6:4]  ¹ tn Heb “the Lord, our God, the Lord, one.” (1) One option is to translate: “The Lord is our God, the Lord alone” (cf. NAB, NRSV, NLT). This would be an affirmation that the Lord was the sole object of their devotion. This interpretation finds support from the appeals to loyalty that follow (vv. 5, 14). (2) Another option is to translate: “The Lord is our God, the Lord is unique.” In this case the text would be affirming the people’s allegiance to the Lord, as well as the Lord’s superiority to all other gods. It would also imply that he is the only one worthy of their worship. Support for this view comes from parallel texts such as Deut 7:9 and 10:17, as well as the use of “one” in Song 6:8-9, where the starstruck lover declares that his beloved is unique (literally, “one,” that is, “one of a kind”) when compared to all other women.

[6:4]  sn Verses 4-5 constitute the so-called Shema (after the first word שְׁמַע, shÿma’, “hear”), widely regarded as the very heart of Jewish confession and faith. When Jesus was asked what was the greatest commandment of all, he quoted this text (Matt 22:37-38).

[6:20]  ² tn Heb “your son.”

[6:24]  ³ tn Heb “the Lord our God.” See note on the word “his” in v. 17.

[6:25]  ⁴ tn The term “commandment” (מִצְוָה, mitsvah), here in the singular, refers to the entire body of covenant stipulations.

[6:25]  ⁵ tn Heb “as he has commanded us” (so NIV, NRSV).