Deuteronomy 6:4 9 – The Shema

Target year level: Year Five, Year Ten

Scripture text

World behind the text

Deuteronomy claims the authority of Moses as author (Deut 31:24-26) but scripture scholars agree that Deuteronomy emerged from a complex process over three centuries from the eighth Century BCE untilthe fall of Jerusalem and the Babylonian Exile.

The Deuteronomist author/s or editor/s is usually cited as simply D and is treated by scholars as one of the primary sources for many of the basic texts in the Christian Old Testament. They were probably either priests or prophets who most likely came from the northern kingdom of Israel because that's where the editorial bias tends to be.

The Book of Deuteronomy was known as Hadabarim in Hebrew Scripture, which means “the words” – the words Moses spoke to the people. The English title is from a Greek mistranslation of the Hebrew phrase mishneh ha-torah ha-zoth, “a copy of this law” to deuteronomion touto meaning “this second law”. Moses reviewed the Law at the doorstep to the Promised Land, urging this new generation (ones that were too young to have participated in the first covenant) to re-covenant with Yahweh.

The structure of the Book of Deuteronomy is often described as a series of three speeches or sermons.

For further background, see the Introduction to Deuteronomy, from the New American Bible.

World of the text

The Shema (or Sh’ma) is Israel’s basic creed, it is not a prayer, but rather a declaration of faith. The Jews call this section “Kiriathshema” – the last letter of the first word in this verse is “Shema” meaning hear, and the last letter of the last word is ‘Echad” meaning “one’. English translation became “Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is one.” Israel is first called to ‘hear’, second, they must learn that Yahweh is the only God, and third, that their response to Yahweh is to be one of love.

There are 3 parts to the Shema; Deuteronomy 6:4-9 – accepting God’s absolute sovereignty and God’s love; Deuteronomy 11:13-21 - accepting all the commandments and the concept of reward and punishment; and finally Numbers 15:37-41 – (the tzitzit) serves as a constant reminder of their obligations to God.

The Gospel of Mark 12:29-31 mentions that Jesus considered the beginning call of the Shema to be the first of his two greatest commandments. In addition, the apostle Paul reworked the Shema in 1 Corinthians 8:6.

World in front of the text

In the Jewish faith the Shema is a pledge of allegiance to one God. It is said upon arising in the morning and upon going to sleep at night. It is said when praising God and when beseeching him (v. 7). It was commanded that it should be carried about with them wherever they went (v. 8) and written on the entry to their homes (v. 9). The Shema is written on parchment that is contained in the mezuzahthat Jewish people affix to the doorpost of their home, and in the tefillinthat they bind to their arm and head. The Shema is the first thing that a Jewish child is taught to say (v. 7).

The Shema is a call to be completely faithful to the covenant, its focus is on daily life rather than in liturgy. When the Shema says to “love God with all your heart,” it means to use not only your “good traits” like kindness and compassion to do god’s will, but also to use your more challenging traits to serve him. How you respond to God’s love is to be demonstrated by actions (“a sign on your hands”) and to keep the covenant in your forethoughts (“fix them as an emblem on your forehead”). The living, active expression of doing is the ultimate "evidence" or sign of our faith.

The Shema was and is Judaism's Creed. Jesus, Mary and Joseph, and all Jews recited it morning and evening and because of Jesus all Christians are familiar with its beginning.