In Deuteronomy Moses sometimes refers to the instruction he conveys to Israel as "the commandment" (6:1). He communicates quite a number of precepts in Deuteronomy, but there is one that is most important: exclusive loyalty to God. If the Israelites would maintain that loyalty, they would prosper in the land.
Deuteronomy 6:4 is Moses' famous declaration, "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one" (ESV). There are a number of variations in English translations of this verse. Since the key issue is not how many God is, but who is the God of Israel, the translation "the Lord alone," as in the NRSV, is a good one. Israel is to have no other gods alongside Yahweh.
Verse 5 expresses the Israelites' ideal relationship with God. "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might." The Hebrew word for "heart", lev, refers to both emotions and thoughts---all of our inner being. The word for soul, nephesh, refers to one's whole person. The word for "might," meod, is an adverb meaning "very." In other words, one should love God with all of one's resources and possessions.
So Deuteronomy 6:5 describes a total commitment to God. Paul's exhortation in Romans 12:1 to "present your bodies as a living sacrifice" expresses a similar idea.
In verses 6-9, Moses goes on to say that commitment to God is personal (v. 6), a family matter (v 7), and a public matter (vv 8-9). Commentator Daniel Block recalls that when he was studying in Germany, he often walked past a house with a message carved into its outer wall: "An Gottes Segen ist alles gelegen" (everything depends on God's blessing). This was sort of a German Protestant analogue of a mezuzah.
In the remainder of chapters 6-8, Moses describes tests of commitment that Israel would face. One major test would be internal: When they enjoyed the blessings of the land, would they forget God? Another was external: How would they deal with the Canaanites?
In verses 20-25 of chapter 6, Moses raises and answers a question: What is the point of the things God is asking them to do? In answering the question, he begins by recalling the fact that God had delivered them from Egypt and guided them to where they were. As always, he puts the commandments of God in the context of the Gospel. He then says that the Torah leads to the fear of God and is the key to life, well-being, and righteousness.
The centrality of the Shema reverberates through the rest of Scripture. Jesus cited it as one of the two great commandments---Mark 12:28-34. Paul stressed that our commitment to God includes commitment to Jesus (1 Cor 8:6).
There is also a prophetic dimension of the Shema. It looks forward to the time when the whole world will follow the one true God (Zech 14:9).
In a sermon at Church of the Messiah on March 18, 2023, Kyle Kettering discussed the meaning of the Shema, the traditions surrounding it, and its application in the lives of followers of God.
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