Deut. 6, part 1-- Hear, O Israel

Scripture: Deuteronomy 6:1-9 (especially verses 4-9)

We have come to perhaps the most important passage in the entire Old Testament. The passage, found in verses 4-9 of Deuteronomy 6, has come to be known by its first word in the Hebrew text-- 'The Shema.'


Some evidence of the Shema's importance to both Judaism and Christianity: orthodox and conservative Jews recite the passage twice every single day, and it is spoken aloud if possible just before death. When Jesus was asked the most important command in Mark 12, he famously responded with the first two verses of the Shema.

Clearly this passage is crucial to Jewish and Christian tradition. As for why, one rabbi suggests it's because in the midst of many practical, tangible laws, Deut. 4:6-9 issues a command that goes straight to belief, straight to the heart. Yet the Shema isn't without its practical helps: it recommends keeping God and His commands in one's heart by teaching them to others, discussing them regularly, and displaying them in plain sight.

I don't want to add anything more. I hope you're excited to read and meditate on the Shema. With that, here it is:

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.