Hear, Israel Jehovah our God is one Jehovah;
Moses speaks to Israel just before they cross into the land. He puts one sentence at the centre of everything else he says. This line shaped a nation's worship. Jesus later called it the first of all the commandments. And it still raises a question: how can "one" God be Father, Son and Spirit?
Israel is about to enter the land. This people had already shown where their hearts drifted.
The point then for the Jew was the one true God… He was the only God. To what were they always inclined? Setting up other gods in the wilderness. So this is the solemn and central truth brought in here… God revealed it as the great truth that works in practice, pressed on Israel again and again — their one true God.
The verse uses God's covenant name, and that name carries a claim no one else can make.
"Jehovah, our Elohim is one Jehovah" — that is how the name of God is used in this verse. The verse states that the name Jehovah (the Self-existing One) belongs to Him alone. He is the one who is God in the full sense. It stands as the testimony against the polytheism (many and different gods) of the nations that surrounded Israel on every side. And so, because He is the one God, and there is no other beside Him, He must be loved with all the heart, with all the soul, with all the might. Spirit, soul and body must be devoted to Him. And we know this Jehovah as our Redeemer, who came and died in our place.
(These writers quote older translations. Where they write "Jehovah," the ESV has "the LORD.")
This one sentence gave the nation its identity and its protection.
Here we are given that great, basic truth which the nation of Israel had a special duty to hold fast and confess: the unity of the Godhead… As long as they kept it, they were a happy, prosperous, fruitful people. But when they let it go, all was gone. It was their great national defence, and the thing that marked them off from all the nations of the east.
One God means one direction for love and for worship.
This was the great central truth that Moses, the lawgiver, pressed on Israel. Every other truth circled around it. There could be only one object of love, this one Jehovah, to whom every affection should flow (v. 5). And there could be only one object of worship and service (v. 13) — the words our Lord used when He answered Satan.
The verse is often used to argue that God cannot be Father, Son and Spirit. Commentators answer from the Hebrew itself.
Orthodox Jews have made much of this verse, and they hold it in deep reverence. They call it the "Shema" after the first word, "Hear." Jews and Unitarians often use it to deny the three persons of the Godhead. But the Hebrew word "echod" (one) rules out that denial forever, because it means a compound unity. Hebrew has another word for what those who reject the three persons in the Godhead believe. It is the word "yochid", and it means a single one.
Others point to the grammar itself.
With this in mind, the verse reads like this: "Hear O Israel: The LORD [Jehovah, singular] our God [Elohim, plural] is one LORD [Jehovah, singular]." Here is a striking statement of the Oneness of God. Yet along with it, equal care is taken to point clearly and unmistakably to the truth of the Holy Trinity.
When asked to name the greatest commandment, Jesus did not start with a command at all. He started here.
When he asks which is the first commandment, he clearly means the one that is first in importance. The Lord's answer comes from Deuteronomy 6:5. But notice how vital the first words here are: "Hear, O Israel; the Lord our God is one Lord." This is the basis of all obedience on man's part. If people do not confess the unity of the Godhead, the very spirit of obedience is missing. This agrees with the words of the Lord Jesus, "I and the Father are one" (John 10:30).
Israel abandoned this confession again and again. That failure changed nothing about the truth.
Did Israel not fail completely to keep, confess and live out the truth of the unity of the Godhead? And did their failure touch that glorious truth in the smallest degree? There were as many idol altars as there were streets in Jerusalem. Was it not still just as true that there is one God… as on the day Moses proclaimed to the whole assembly those majestic words, "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord"? Blessed be God, His truth does not depend on the faithless, foolish ways of men.
- One Name — the covenant name, the Self-existing One, belongs to Him alone, and we know Him as our Redeemer.
- One Centre — this truth was Israel's national defence, marking them off from every nation around them.
- One Love — because there is one God, there is one object of affection, one object of worship, one object of service.
- One in Three — the Hebrew "echod" means a compound unity, and the plural "Elohim" sits between two singular uses of the covenant name.
- One Foundation — Jesus put this line first, because without it obedience has no spirit in it. Israel's failure never dimmed the truth.
and thou shalt love Jehovah thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thy heart;
The call to love the LORD your God with all your heart, soul and might comes first. Then comes this verse: His words must live in the heart. The verse raises the question of what God actually wants from His people — a set of religious duties, or an inward hold on His word that then shapes speech, home, and daily life.
The place chosen for these words matters. God puts them at the spring from which everything else in life flows.
"And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart" — at the very source of all that flows out in life. This is precious. Whatever is in the heart comes out through the lips, and in the life. How important, then, to fill the heart with the word of God — so full that no room is left for the empty, foolish things of this present evil world... When the word of God rules the heart, the whole character shows the blessed result. It must be so, since the heart is the mainspring of our entire moral condition.
The command comes right after the statement that the LORD alone is God. That setting shapes the loyalty He asks for.
The point for the Jew was the one true God. "The LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt" — He was the only God... "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." They were to tie them on as a sign. They were to make much of them everywhere — outside the house and inside, and at all times... It was to be real loyalty: not merely a teaching held on paper, but something known as a fact.
This book leans very little on ritual. What it asks for can be kept in any circumstance.
It is not a book of ceremony; it is a book of moral and affectionate obedience. In almost every section it teaches one priceless lesson. The heart that loves, values and honours the word of God is ready for every act of obedience — offering a sacrifice, or keeping a day. An Israelite could end up somewhere that made careful attention to rites and ceremonies impossible. But he could never be anywhere that stopped him loving, revering and obeying the word of God.
Since the command reaches the heart, a life that looks right on the surface can still miss it entirely.
An earnest purpose of heart is most precious to God. We may dare to call it the great regulator of our moral life. It gives the Christian character an attractive earnestness that we should all want. It is a divine antidote against coldness, deadness and formality, all of which God hates. The outward life may be very correct, and the beliefs held may be entirely sound. But if the earnest purpose of heart is missing — the affectionate clinging of the whole being to God and His Christ — it is all worthless.
The command comes right after the call to love. One writer treats that order as the condition for everything else.
Verses 4 and 5 are necessary if this is to be fulfilled: you must "love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might." All that follows completes it. God first, and then His word.
The teaching of children in the next verse depends entirely on this one. A parent hands on only what he already holds.
First, the word taught must be in the parent's own heart. He must own it and love it. No one can teach a truth whose power he has not felt himself. Second, the responsibility is personal, and no one else can carry it: the parent himself must be the teacher. Third, he must be diligent. He must seize every passing opportunity to press God's word on his children's hearts.
The same book looks ahead. God promises to do inside His people what the command asks of them.
"And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live" (Deut. 30:6). This verse looks on to the future... The terms of the New Covenant come to mind here: "I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts" (Jer. 31:33).
- Heart first. God aims His word at the mainspring of life. What fills the heart comes out through the lips and in the way we live.
- Heart, not ritual. Circumstances can make ceremonies impossible. Nothing can stop you loving and obeying God's word.
- Heart, not veneer. A correct life and sound beliefs are worthless without an earnest purpose of heart.
- Heart, then home. Only a parent who owns and loves the word can pass it on, and no one else can do it for him.
- Heart, given by God. God promises to write on the heart Himself what He first told Israel to keep there.
and thou shalt impress them on thy sons, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thy house, and when thou goest on the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
And thou shalt bind them for a sign on thy hand, and they shall be for frontlets between thine eyes.
Moses has just told Israel to keep God's words in the heart and pass them on to their children. Now he turns to the hand and the eyes: does God want leather boxes strapped to the body, or a life shaped by His word?
The same command appears twice more, in Exodus and Deuteronomy 11. Each time the words go into the heart first, and that settles how to read the outward language.
Strictly speaking, a frontlet is something worn on the forehead and, as the passages say, between the eyes. Israel's deliverance from Egypt and the law were to be constantly before them as a token on their hand and frontlets between their eyes (Exodus 13:16; Deuteronomy 6:8; Deuteronomy 11:18). The passages also say they were to store these words in their hearts. So it seems clear that wearing them as frontlets was meant as a picture. It was always to be before them that they were a redeemed people. In the New Testament we find that people took it literally, and the things they wore were called phylacteries.
The two body parts stand for what a person does and how a person sees.
Binding these laws as a sign on Israel's hand is not literal. It speaks of applying these laws to the works of their hands. As frontlets between their eyes speaks of their seeing everything from God's viewpoint, all the time (v.8).
Commenting on the same command in Deuteronomy 11, he adds what drives a person and where they look for help.
Having the words in their hearts would mean they were the motivating power, while binding them on their hand speaks of the control of their actions. As frontlets before their eyes shows that they were to keep their eyes centred on the truth of God. They were not to look in other directions for help or guidance.
Heart, soul, hand and eyes leave no part of a person untouched.
The "heart" — the "soul" — the "hand" — the "eyes" — all engaged with the precious word of God. This was real work. It was to be no empty formality, no barren routine. The whole person was to be given up, in holy devotion, to the statutes and judgements of God.
If the sign is not worn on the body, it has to show in the home.
Are our children taught in this way? Do they see the word of God shining out in our daily life? Do they see its influence on our habits, our temper, our family life, our business dealings? This is what we understand by binding the word as a sign on the hands, having it as a frontlet between the eyes, writing it on the doorposts and on the gates.
Another writer traces each clause to a separate area of life.
Deuteronomy says, "bind them as a sign on your hand" — what you read in the word of God is to govern your service. "They shall be as frontlets between your eyes" — the word of God is to govern what you look at. … "You shall write them on the doorposts of your house, and on your gates" — there is to be a testimony to those outside, that the people in this home love the word of God.
Here is what the phylacteries were, and where they went wrong.
Phylacteries were short portions of the law written on strips of parchment. They were placed in a case made of calf skin and worn on the forehead and the left arm, in what was supposed to be obedience to Deuteronomy 6:8 and Deuteronomy 11:18. The Pharisees and scribes made them large to attract attention; it was their being made "broad" that the Lord condemned. Matthew 23:5. In later times people wore them as a kind of charm.
The failure was a reversal. A reminder of God became a display of self.
God set this up to lead them to remember the Lord and to obey His precious word humbly. Instead they turned it into an occasion of self-exaltation and religious pride. Instead of thinking of God and His word, they thought of themselves, and of the place they held in the opinion of others. … Let us make sure we do not turn the heavenly memorial into an earthly badge. Let us not turn what ought to lead to humble obedience into an occasion of self-exaltation.
- Inside first. The words go into the heart before they go onto the hand. That order shows the hand and forehead language is a picture, not a dress code.
- Hand. What is bound to the hand governs the works of the hands — service and daily dealings come under the word.
- Eyes. What sits between the eyes fixes the outlook. You see everything from God's viewpoint, and look nowhere else for guidance.
- Whole person. Heart, soul, hand and eyes together mean real work, not empty formality — the whole person given to God's word.
- Warning. Kept only on the outside, the same command produced broad phylacteries worn to be seen. A reminder meant for humble obedience became a badge for self-display.
And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and upon thy gates.
Deuteronomy 6:9 ends a chain of commands that begins in the heart and finishes on the doorframe of the house and the gate of the town. So was this an order about carpentry, or a picture of a life so shaped by God's word that no one could miss it?
The doorpost and the gate are the two places every Israelite passed each day. One writer says the signs were never meant literally, and shows what each one stands for:
Binding these laws as a sign on Israel's hand is not literal. It speaks of applying these laws to the works of their hands. Wearing them as frontlets between the eyes speaks of seeing everything from God's viewpoint, always (v.8). Writing them on the doorposts of the house and on the gates was meant to keep the law in Israel's mind, going out or coming in (v.9).
Read in order, the commands divide up a person's world — work, sight, waking hours — and the doorpost comes last, where private life meets the street:
Deuteronomy says, "bind them for a sign upon your hand"; your service is to be governed by what you read in the word of God. "Bind them… be as frontlets between your eyes"; what you look upon is to be governed by the word of God. "And you 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 up"; your whole day is to be governed by the word of God. "And you shall write them upon the posts of your house, and on your gates"; there is to be a testimony to those outside, that the people in this home love the word of God, they are governed by it, they follow it, they believe that this is the most important instruction that they can have.
The same writer adds that verses 4 and 5 make all of this possible — loving God comes first, and His word follows.
Passers-by could read words written on a gatepost. But reading them was not the whole point:
The words were not there only for passers-by to read. In their light, those same passers-by were to see a life that matched them. It is what the world expects from the Christian, and rightly so. May it never be said, truly, of anyone who claims to know Christ and to keep His word, "They preach, but do not practice."
For centuries some have obeyed these verses to the letter, and one writer describes how:
Verses 6-9 are literally carried out by orthodox Jews. They write these words on parchment and put them in little boxes, which they bind with strips of leather to their foreheads and upon the hand. These are the phylacteries. They also put them in tin boxes and nail them on the doors of their houses. All His words are worth remembering at every moment. The Word must be hidden in the heart. It belongs in the family. We are never to forget it, whether we sit in the house, or walk, or rest, or rise up.
Another writer asks parents what their children actually see at home:
Are our children taught this way? Is it our constant aim to present the word of God, in all its heavenly attractiveness, to their young hearts? Do they see it shining out in our daily life? Do they see its influence upon our habits, our temper, our family life, our business dealings? This is what we understand by binding the word as a sign on the hands. It is what we understand by wearing it as a frontlet between the eyes, and writing it on the doorposts and the gates.
The same writer warns parents of two dangers: lives that do not match the words, and teaching that becomes drudgery:
It is of little use trying to teach our children the word of God if our lives are not governed by that word. We do not believe in making the blessed word of God a mere schoolbook for our children. Doing that turns a delightful privilege into a wearisome drudgery. Our children should see that we live in the very atmosphere of Scripture. They should see that it shapes what we talk about when we sit with the family, in our relaxed moments.
Israel had no printed Bibles. We can buy one anywhere, and that raises the standard instead of lowering it:
They were to teach God's laws to their children, to talk of them in their houses, and to write them on their posts and gates. Here, we venture to think, is a word we need to take home to ourselves. Of course, the invention of printing has given us an enormous advantage over people 3,500 years ago. It has indeed. But if we do not study our Bibles carefully, and then teach and talk about what they say, we are guilty indeed.
- Heart — the chain starts inside. The word is hidden in the heart first, long before it reaches a doorpost.
- Hands and eyes — the word then moves outward. It governs the work of the hands and the way the eyes see everything.
- House — the family talks about it in ordinary, relaxed conversation. It is never drilled into children like a schoolbook.
- Doorpost and gate — at the edge of the home the word goes public. Passers-by should see a life that matches the writing.
- Going out and coming in — the words sit where people move, so nothing in the day escapes them. With printed Bibles in hand, we have even less excuse than Israel had.