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Deuteronomy 7

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The Whosoever Study Bible
Whosoever will, may come.
the fifth book of moses, called deuteronomy
Moses · c. 1406 BC
Chapter the Seventh
When the LORD thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou;
And when the LORD thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them:
Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son.
For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of the LORD be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly.
But thus shall ye deal with them; ye shall destroy their altars, and break down their images, and cut down their groves, and burn their graven images with fire.
For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.
The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people:
But because the LORD loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;
And repayeth them that hate him to their face, to destroy them: he will not be slack to him that hateth him, he will repay him to his face.
Thou shalt therefore keep the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments, which I command thee this day, to do them.
Wherefore it shall come to pass, if ye hearken to these judgments, and keep, and do them, that the LORD thy God shall keep unto thee the covenant and the mercy which he sware unto thy fathers:
And he will love thee, and bless thee, and multiply thee: he will also bless the fruit of thy womb, and the fruit of thy land, thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep, in the land which he sware unto thy fathers to give thee.
Thou shalt be blessed above all people: there shall not be male or female barren among you, or among your cattle.
And the LORD will take away from thee all sickness, and will put none of the evil diseases of Egypt, which thou knowest, upon thee; but will lay them upon all them that hate thee.
And thou shalt consume all the people which the LORD thy God shall deliver thee; thine eye shall have no pity upon them: neither shalt thou serve their gods; for that will be a snare unto thee.
If thou shalt say in thine heart, These nations are more than I; how can I dispossess them?
Thou shalt not be afraid of them: but shalt well remember what the LORD thy God did unto Pharaoh, and unto all Egypt;
The great temptations which thine eyes saw, and the signs, and the wonders, and the mighty hand, and the stretched out arm, whereby the LORD thy God brought thee out: so shall the LORD thy God do unto all the people of whom thou art afraid.
Moreover the LORD thy God will send the hornet among them, until they that are left, and hide themselves from thee, be destroyed.
Thou shalt not be affrighted at them: for the LORD thy God is among you, a mighty God and terrible.
And the LORD thy God will put out those nations before thee by little and little: thou mayest not consume them at once, lest the beasts of the field increase upon thee.
But the LORD thy God shall deliver them unto thee, and shall destroy them with a mighty destruction, until they be destroyed.
And he shall deliver their kings into thine hand, and thou shalt destroy their name from under heaven: there shall no man be able to stand before thee, until thou have destroyed them.
The graven images of their gods shall ye burn with fire: thou shalt not desire the silver or gold that is on them, nor take it unto thee, lest thou be snared therein: for it is an abomination to the LORD thy God.
Neither shalt thou bring an abomination into thine house, lest thou be a cursed thing like it: but thou shalt utterly detest it, and thou shalt utterly abhor it; for it is a cursed thing.
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Chuck Smith on Deuteronomy 7

Verse by verse, the C2000 series. Permission granted by The Word For Today.
Verses 1-11 When God brings you into the land and cast out these enemies that are bigger and stronger than you are; And he delivers them from before you; and smites them, and destroys them; you're not to make any covenant with them, nor show any mercy unto them: Neither shall you make any marriages with them. For they will turn away your son from following me, that they may serve other gods: and so will the anger of the LORD be kindled against you, and you be destroyed suddenly. But you shall deal with them; and destroy their altars, break down their images, cut down their groves, burn their graven images in the fire. For thou art a holy [or a separated] people unto the LORD thy God: and the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all the people that are upon the face of the earth. And the LORD did set his love upon you, did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because you were more in number than the people; for you were the fewest of all: But because the LORD loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house when you were bondmen, in the hand of the Pharaoh in Egypt. Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keeps covenants and mercy with those that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations ( Deuteronomy 7:1-9 ); Now earlier, we skipped over the law the second time through because we've gone through it in Exodus but in the law he said for-actually brings judgment upon the third and fourth generations to those that hate Him. But now here he declares that he shows mercy to a thousand generations to those that follow Him. So, how important that we follow the covenants of the Lord. Now in verse twelve. Wherefore it shall come to pass, if you will hearken to these judgments, and keep, and do them, that the LORD shall keep unto thee the covenant of mercy which he swore to your fathers: And he will love thee, and bless thee, and multiply thee ( Deuteronomy 7:12-13 ): Verse 12 So they are a special people. They are need to-they need to be aware of the special privileges even as you, today, are a special people unto God; separate, holy, chosen. And God didn't choose you because you're so good-looking or because you were so loveable, but here is the sovereign grace of God in choosing. He chose you because He chose you, because He wanted to choose you and He has a right to choose whomever He wants. Oh, how I thank God for choosing me. What a thrill, what a blessing that God has chosen me. Now some people get upset for the fact that God chooses but you really shouldn't. God has every right to choose who He wants to associate with even as you have the right to choose who you want to associate with. Why should I deny God the rights that I want for myself? There are some people I don't choose to associate with at all. Not that I'm snobbish or anything else but their lifestyles are so diverse from mine; there's nothing that we could share in common. I really choose not to have any fellowship, close fellowship, with people who smoke cigars. I can't stand the smell. Now I have that right to choose not to get in a car and be polluted. And God has a right to choose who he wants to associate with. That doesn't bother me at all. It thrills me to think that He chose me, that He chose to associate with me. That is what really excites me. You say, "But that isn't fair if God chooses not to associate with some people". I don't know if it's fair or not but that's the right that God has and He has exercised that right. And who are you to challenge the fairness of God? You say but, "He may not have chosen me". "Oh, how do you know?" "Well, I'm not a Christian." "Well, why aren't you a Christian?" "I don't know. I've never seen a need to be one." "Well, do you want to be a Christian?" "No." "Then maybe He didn't choose you. But don't blame Him. You haven't chosen Him either, have you?" Now, let me assure you this. He has never rejected anyone either but He certainly leaves the choice up to you. And He says, "Choose you this day whom you will serve"( Joshua 24:15 ) and he said, "Whosoever comes unto me I will no wise cast out"( John 6:37 ). So if you don't know if He's chosen you or not, just accept Jesus Christ and you'll find He did. And then you won't argue with it anymore because He chose you, and after all why should you argue with that? You say, "But I don't want to accept him". Well then, that's your problem. He probably didn't choose you, and you're in bad shape. But here God elected by His own sovereign will to choose these people not because they were so great, not because they were so faithful or anything else, just He exercised His power of choice. His love for their fathers, the faithfulness of Abraham, that He made the promise to Abraham that through him, through his seed would the Messiah come. "All the nations of the earth be blessed"( Genesis 18:18 ). And so they are actually reaping the benefits of the faith of their father Abraham. do them and so God will keep you and he will love you and bless you and multiply you: he'll bless the fruit of your womb, the fruit of the land, your corn, your wine, your oil, the increase of your cows and the flocks and your sheep, the land which he sware to give to your fathers. And you'll be blessed of all the people: and there shall not be a male or female barren among you, or among your cattle. And the LORD will take away from thee all sickness, and will put none of the evil diseases of Egypt, which thou knowest, upon thee; but will lay them upon all them that hate thee ( Deuteronomy 7:12-15 ). Verses 13-22 Now, again this is the covenant that God is making. It's a conditional covenant; if you will obey, if you will do, if you will keep. Now it is interesting as you go back into the commandments of the Lord, much of what you read in Exodus and Leviticus is health codes. God tells them the kind of food they ought to eat. No junk food. Now it isn't really right for you to just put all kinds of junk into your body and then ask God to keep you strong and healthy. And so God gave to them laws that dealt with their diet, laws that dealt with sanitation and then he says, "Now, if you will keep these laws, if you will do them, obey them, then none of the diseases that came upon the Egyptians will come upon you". Why? Because you're following the good health practices that God has laid out. I think that it is wrong to deliberately dissipate our bodies and then ask God to keep us in good health. I think that he has given us good sense to use these promises and none of these diseases were conditional promises upon their doing and keeping, obeying, the commandment and the law of God. Thou shalt consume all the people which the LORD shall deliver to you; you're not to have pity upon them: neither shall you serve their gods; for that will be a snare to you. If you shall say in your heart, The nations are more than we are; how can we dispossess them? Thou shalt not be afraid of them: but remember the LORD thy God did to Pharaoh, and all of Egypt; Moreover God will send the hornets in front of you to drive out the inhabitants. He'll not destroy them all at once, lest the wild beasts increase upon the field [and all] ( Deuteronomy 7:16-18 , Deuteronomy 7:20 , Deuteronomy 7:22 ). The LORD will deliver to you, and destroy them with a mighty destruction [and so forth] ( Deuteronomy 7:23 ) Verses 23-26 Moses continues with the warnings. Now these are important because if they fail at this point to enter in, then who knows what would have happened. It's so important that they not become frightened and that they not lose faith and hesitate again. It's important that they go in and conquer the land. So Moses is doing all that he can to build him and bolster their faith and their confidence in God. "

Commentary on Deuteronomy 7

Whosoever Will · the Seven Threads Commentary

Deuteronomy 7:1

The Shema is the foundational covenant confession of Israel: recited morning and evening by observant Jews for three thousand years, called by Jesus the first and greatest commandment, cited by Paul as the ground of Gentile inclusion (Romans 3:29-30). It sits at the center of Deuteronomy 6 and at the center of the covenant's entire theology of response. Two parts: the declaration (verse 4) and the command (verse 5). YHWH Echad: the LORD is one. Echad is compound unity, not absolute singularity: the same word used for one cluster of grapes and for the one flesh of marriage. The unity of God contains the Trinitarian distinctions. Then ve-ahavta, and you shall love. The Qal perfect with vav consecutive functioning as a command. You shall love YHWH your God with all your levav (heart: the center of the inner life, the seat of genuine decision), all your nefesh (soul, the whole living self, the animating being), and all your me'od (might, very-ness, total capacity and resources). The three dimensions together cover the whole person. The command leaves nothing out. Thread 4 is in the command itself. Love commanded presupposes love possible. Programmed compliance is not love. If the greatest commandment in the entire Torah requires genuine love, and genuine love requires genuine freedom, the freedom to give or withhold, then genuine human freedom is not a peripheral doctrine but a theological necessity embedded in the most important verse in the Torah. Jesus will say in Matthew 22:37-40 that the whole law and the prophets hang on this command and its companion from Leviticus 19:18. The entire covenant is suspended on two genuine imperatives addressed to genuine moral agents. Thread 7 is Deuteronomy 7's extension of the principle: the God who chose Israel chose Israel not because they were the greatest but because of his love, and that love reaches beyond Israel to all the families of the earth.
Hear O Israel the LORD our God is one LORD, and thou shalt love. The Shema is not a creed to be recited but a command to be obeyed; love commanded presupposes love possible; the whole covenant turns on the dignity of the genuine response.
שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ יְהוָה אֶחָד (Shema Yisrael YHWH Elohenu YHWH Echad): Hear O Israel the LORD our God the LORD is one: Shema (hear, listen, obey, the hearing that is also doing; the imperative of shama, the foundational covenant-response word); Echad (one, compound unity, not yachid which is absolute singularity; echad is used for one cluster of grapes, one day composed of evening and morning; the unity of God is a unity that contains the Trinitarian plurality) · וְאָהַבְתָּ אֵת יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ בְּכָל לְבָבְךָ וּבְכָל נַפְשְׁךָ וּבְכָל מְאֹדֶךָ (ve-ahavta et YHWH Elohekha be-khol levavkha u-ve-khol nafshekha u-ve-khol me'odekha): and thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart and with all thy soul and with all thy might: ve-ahavta (Qal perfect with vav consecutive functioning as command: you shall love; love commanded presupposes love possible; programmed compliance is not love); be-khol levavkha (with all your heart, levav, the center of the inner life, intellect, will, affections together); u-ve-khol nafshekha (with all your soul, nefesh, the animating self, the whole living person); u-ve-khol me'odekha (with all your might, me'od, literally your very-ness, your intensity, your total capacity; the three cover the whole person leaving nothing out)
threads t2 · t4 · t7 · see Matthew 22:37-40 · Romans 3:29-30 · Mark 12:29-30

Deuteronomy 7:2

The Shema is the foundational covenant confession of Israel: recited morning and evening by observant Jews for three thousand years, called by Jesus the first and greatest commandment, cited by Paul as the ground of Gentile inclusion (Romans 3:29-30). It sits at the center of Deuteronomy 6 and at the center of the covenant's entire theology of response. Two parts: the declaration (verse 4) and the command (verse 5). YHWH Echad: the LORD is one. Echad is compound unity, not absolute singularity: the same word used for one cluster of grapes and for the one flesh of marriage. The unity of God contains the Trinitarian distinctions. Then ve-ahavta, and you shall love. The Qal perfect with vav consecutive functioning as a command. You shall love YHWH your God with all your levav (heart: the center of the inner life, the seat of genuine decision), all your nefesh (soul, the whole living self, the animating being), and all your me'od (might, very-ness, total capacity and resources). The three dimensions together cover the whole person. The command leaves nothing out. Thread 4 is in the command itself. Love commanded presupposes love possible. Programmed compliance is not love. If the greatest commandment in the entire Torah requires genuine love, and genuine love requires genuine freedom, the freedom to give or withhold, then genuine human freedom is not a peripheral doctrine but a theological necessity embedded in the most important verse in the Torah. Jesus will say in Matthew 22:37-40 that the whole law and the prophets hang on this command and its companion from Leviticus 19:18. The entire covenant is suspended on two genuine imperatives addressed to genuine moral agents. Thread 7 is Deuteronomy 7's extension of the principle: the God who chose Israel chose Israel not because they were the greatest but because of his love, and that love reaches beyond Israel to all the families of the earth.
Hear O Israel the LORD our God is one LORD, and thou shalt love. The Shema is not a creed to be recited but a command to be obeyed; love commanded presupposes love possible; the whole covenant turns on the dignity of the genuine response.
שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ יְהוָה אֶחָד (Shema Yisrael YHWH Elohenu YHWH Echad): Hear O Israel the LORD our God the LORD is one: Shema (hear, listen, obey, the hearing that is also doing; the imperative of shama, the foundational covenant-response word); Echad (one, compound unity, not yachid which is absolute singularity; echad is used for one cluster of grapes, one day composed of evening and morning; the unity of God is a unity that contains the Trinitarian plurality) · וְאָהַבְתָּ אֵת יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ בְּכָל לְבָבְךָ וּבְכָל נַפְשְׁךָ וּבְכָל מְאֹדֶךָ (ve-ahavta et YHWH Elohekha be-khol levavkha u-ve-khol nafshekha u-ve-khol me'odekha): and thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart and with all thy soul and with all thy might: ve-ahavta (Qal perfect with vav consecutive functioning as command: you shall love; love commanded presupposes love possible; programmed compliance is not love); be-khol levavkha (with all your heart, levav, the center of the inner life, intellect, will, affections together); u-ve-khol nafshekha (with all your soul, nefesh, the animating self, the whole living person); u-ve-khol me'odekha (with all your might, me'od, literally your very-ness, your intensity, your total capacity; the three cover the whole person leaving nothing out)
threads t2 · t4 · t7 · see Matthew 22:37-40 · Romans 3:29-30 · Mark 12:29-30

Deuteronomy 7:3

The Shema is the foundational covenant confession of Israel: recited morning and evening by observant Jews for three thousand years, called by Jesus the first and greatest commandment, cited by Paul as the ground of Gentile inclusion (Romans 3:29-30). It sits at the center of Deuteronomy 6 and at the center of the covenant's entire theology of response. Two parts: the declaration (verse 4) and the command (verse 5). YHWH Echad: the LORD is one. Echad is compound unity, not absolute singularity: the same word used for one cluster of grapes and for the one flesh of marriage. The unity of God contains the Trinitarian distinctions. Then ve-ahavta, and you shall love. The Qal perfect with vav consecutive functioning as a command. You shall love YHWH your God with all your levav (heart: the center of the inner life, the seat of genuine decision), all your nefesh (soul, the whole living self, the animating being), and all your me'od (might, very-ness, total capacity and resources). The three dimensions together cover the whole person. The command leaves nothing out. Thread 4 is in the command itself. Love commanded presupposes love possible. Programmed compliance is not love. If the greatest commandment in the entire Torah requires genuine love, and genuine love requires genuine freedom, the freedom to give or withhold, then genuine human freedom is not a peripheral doctrine but a theological necessity embedded in the most important verse in the Torah. Jesus will say in Matthew 22:37-40 that the whole law and the prophets hang on this command and its companion from Leviticus 19:18. The entire covenant is suspended on two genuine imperatives addressed to genuine moral agents. Thread 7 is Deuteronomy 7's extension of the principle: the God who chose Israel chose Israel not because they were the greatest but because of his love, and that love reaches beyond Israel to all the families of the earth.
Hear O Israel the LORD our God is one LORD, and thou shalt love. The Shema is not a creed to be recited but a command to be obeyed; love commanded presupposes love possible; the whole covenant turns on the dignity of the genuine response.
שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ יְהוָה אֶחָד (Shema Yisrael YHWH Elohenu YHWH Echad): Hear O Israel the LORD our God the LORD is one: Shema (hear, listen, obey, the hearing that is also doing; the imperative of shama, the foundational covenant-response word); Echad (one, compound unity, not yachid which is absolute singularity; echad is used for one cluster of grapes, one day composed of evening and morning; the unity of God is a unity that contains the Trinitarian plurality) · וְאָהַבְתָּ אֵת יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ בְּכָל לְבָבְךָ וּבְכָל נַפְשְׁךָ וּבְכָל מְאֹדֶךָ (ve-ahavta et YHWH Elohekha be-khol levavkha u-ve-khol nafshekha u-ve-khol me'odekha): and thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart and with all thy soul and with all thy might: ve-ahavta (Qal perfect with vav consecutive functioning as command: you shall love; love commanded presupposes love possible; programmed compliance is not love); be-khol levavkha (with all your heart, levav, the center of the inner life, intellect, will, affections together); u-ve-khol nafshekha (with all your soul, nefesh, the animating self, the whole living person); u-ve-khol me'odekha (with all your might, me'od, literally your very-ness, your intensity, your total capacity; the three cover the whole person leaving nothing out)
threads t2 · t4 · t7 · see Matthew 22:37-40 · Romans 3:29-30 · Mark 12:29-30

Deuteronomy 7:4

The Shema is the foundational covenant confession of Israel: recited morning and evening by observant Jews for three thousand years, called by Jesus the first and greatest commandment, cited by Paul as the ground of Gentile inclusion (Romans 3:29-30). It sits at the center of Deuteronomy 6 and at the center of the covenant's entire theology of response. Two parts: the declaration (verse 4) and the command (verse 5). YHWH Echad: the LORD is one. Echad is compound unity, not absolute singularity: the same word used for one cluster of grapes and for the one flesh of marriage. The unity of God contains the Trinitarian distinctions. Then ve-ahavta, and you shall love. The Qal perfect with vav consecutive functioning as a command. You shall love YHWH your God with all your levav (heart: the center of the inner life, the seat of genuine decision), all your nefesh (soul, the whole living self, the animating being), and all your me'od (might, very-ness, total capacity and resources). The three dimensions together cover the whole person. The command leaves nothing out. Thread 4 is in the command itself. Love commanded presupposes love possible. Programmed compliance is not love. If the greatest commandment in the entire Torah requires genuine love, and genuine love requires genuine freedom, the freedom to give or withhold, then genuine human freedom is not a peripheral doctrine but a theological necessity embedded in the most important verse in the Torah. Jesus will say in Matthew 22:37-40 that the whole law and the prophets hang on this command and its companion from Leviticus 19:18. The entire covenant is suspended on two genuine imperatives addressed to genuine moral agents. Thread 7 is Deuteronomy 7's extension of the principle: the God who chose Israel chose Israel not because they were the greatest but because of his love, and that love reaches beyond Israel to all the families of the earth.
Hear O Israel the LORD our God is one LORD, and thou shalt love. The Shema is not a creed to be recited but a command to be obeyed; love commanded presupposes love possible; the whole covenant turns on the dignity of the genuine response.
שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ יְהוָה אֶחָד (Shema Yisrael YHWH Elohenu YHWH Echad): Hear O Israel the LORD our God the LORD is one: Shema (hear, listen, obey, the hearing that is also doing; the imperative of shama, the foundational covenant-response word); Echad (one, compound unity, not yachid which is absolute singularity; echad is used for one cluster of grapes, one day composed of evening and morning; the unity of God is a unity that contains the Trinitarian plurality) · וְאָהַבְתָּ אֵת יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ בְּכָל לְבָבְךָ וּבְכָל נַפְשְׁךָ וּבְכָל מְאֹדֶךָ (ve-ahavta et YHWH Elohekha be-khol levavkha u-ve-khol nafshekha u-ve-khol me'odekha): and thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart and with all thy soul and with all thy might: ve-ahavta (Qal perfect with vav consecutive functioning as command: you shall love; love commanded presupposes love possible; programmed compliance is not love); be-khol levavkha (with all your heart, levav, the center of the inner life, intellect, will, affections together); u-ve-khol nafshekha (with all your soul, nefesh, the animating self, the whole living person); u-ve-khol me'odekha (with all your might, me'od, literally your very-ness, your intensity, your total capacity; the three cover the whole person leaving nothing out)
threads t2 · t4 · t7 · see Matthew 22:37-40 · Romans 3:29-30 · Mark 12:29-30

Deuteronomy 7:5

The Shema is the foundational covenant confession of Israel: recited morning and evening by observant Jews for three thousand years, called by Jesus the first and greatest commandment, cited by Paul as the ground of Gentile inclusion (Romans 3:29-30). It sits at the center of Deuteronomy 6 and at the center of the covenant's entire theology of response. Two parts: the declaration (verse 4) and the command (verse 5). YHWH Echad: the LORD is one. Echad is compound unity, not absolute singularity: the same word used for one cluster of grapes and for the one flesh of marriage. The unity of God contains the Trinitarian distinctions. Then ve-ahavta, and you shall love. The Qal perfect with vav consecutive functioning as a command. You shall love YHWH your God with all your levav (heart: the center of the inner life, the seat of genuine decision), all your nefesh (soul, the whole living self, the animating being), and all your me'od (might, very-ness, total capacity and resources). The three dimensions together cover the whole person. The command leaves nothing out. Thread 4 is in the command itself. Love commanded presupposes love possible. Programmed compliance is not love. If the greatest commandment in the entire Torah requires genuine love, and genuine love requires genuine freedom, the freedom to give or withhold, then genuine human freedom is not a peripheral doctrine but a theological necessity embedded in the most important verse in the Torah. Jesus will say in Matthew 22:37-40 that the whole law and the prophets hang on this command and its companion from Leviticus 19:18. The entire covenant is suspended on two genuine imperatives addressed to genuine moral agents. Thread 7 is Deuteronomy 7's extension of the principle: the God who chose Israel chose Israel not because they were the greatest but because of his love, and that love reaches beyond Israel to all the families of the earth.
Hear O Israel the LORD our God is one LORD, and thou shalt love. The Shema is not a creed to be recited but a command to be obeyed; love commanded presupposes love possible; the whole covenant turns on the dignity of the genuine response.
שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ יְהוָה אֶחָד (Shema Yisrael YHWH Elohenu YHWH Echad): Hear O Israel the LORD our God the LORD is one: Shema (hear, listen, obey, the hearing that is also doing; the imperative of shama, the foundational covenant-response word); Echad (one, compound unity, not yachid which is absolute singularity; echad is used for one cluster of grapes, one day composed of evening and morning; the unity of God is a unity that contains the Trinitarian plurality) · וְאָהַבְתָּ אֵת יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ בְּכָל לְבָבְךָ וּבְכָל נַפְשְׁךָ וּבְכָל מְאֹדֶךָ (ve-ahavta et YHWH Elohekha be-khol levavkha u-ve-khol nafshekha u-ve-khol me'odekha): and thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart and with all thy soul and with all thy might: ve-ahavta (Qal perfect with vav consecutive functioning as command: you shall love; love commanded presupposes love possible; programmed compliance is not love); be-khol levavkha (with all your heart, levav, the center of the inner life, intellect, will, affections together); u-ve-khol nafshekha (with all your soul, nefesh, the animating self, the whole living person); u-ve-khol me'odekha (with all your might, me'od, literally your very-ness, your intensity, your total capacity; the three cover the whole person leaving nothing out)
threads t2 · t4 · t7 · see Matthew 22:37-40 · Romans 3:29-30 · Mark 12:29-30

Deuteronomy 7:6

The Shema is the foundational covenant confession of Israel: recited morning and evening by observant Jews for three thousand years, called by Jesus the first and greatest commandment, cited by Paul as the ground of Gentile inclusion (Romans 3:29-30). It sits at the center of Deuteronomy 6 and at the center of the covenant's entire theology of response. Two parts: the declaration (verse 4) and the command (verse 5). YHWH Echad: the LORD is one. Echad is compound unity, not absolute singularity: the same word used for one cluster of grapes and for the one flesh of marriage. The unity of God contains the Trinitarian distinctions. Then ve-ahavta, and you shall love. The Qal perfect with vav consecutive functioning as a command. You shall love YHWH your God with all your levav (heart: the center of the inner life, the seat of genuine decision), all your nefesh (soul, the whole living self, the animating being), and all your me'od (might, very-ness, total capacity and resources). The three dimensions together cover the whole person. The command leaves nothing out. Thread 4 is in the command itself. Love commanded presupposes love possible. Programmed compliance is not love. If the greatest commandment in the entire Torah requires genuine love, and genuine love requires genuine freedom, the freedom to give or withhold, then genuine human freedom is not a peripheral doctrine but a theological necessity embedded in the most important verse in the Torah. Jesus will say in Matthew 22:37-40 that the whole law and the prophets hang on this command and its companion from Leviticus 19:18. The entire covenant is suspended on two genuine imperatives addressed to genuine moral agents. Thread 7 is Deuteronomy 7's extension of the principle: the God who chose Israel chose Israel not because they were the greatest but because of his love, and that love reaches beyond Israel to all the families of the earth.
Hear O Israel the LORD our God is one LORD, and thou shalt love. The Shema is not a creed to be recited but a command to be obeyed; love commanded presupposes love possible; the whole covenant turns on the dignity of the genuine response.
שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ יְהוָה אֶחָד (Shema Yisrael YHWH Elohenu YHWH Echad): Hear O Israel the LORD our God the LORD is one: Shema (hear, listen, obey, the hearing that is also doing; the imperative of shama, the foundational covenant-response word); Echad (one, compound unity, not yachid which is absolute singularity; echad is used for one cluster of grapes, one day composed of evening and morning; the unity of God is a unity that contains the Trinitarian plurality) · וְאָהַבְתָּ אֵת יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ בְּכָל לְבָבְךָ וּבְכָל נַפְשְׁךָ וּבְכָל מְאֹדֶךָ (ve-ahavta et YHWH Elohekha be-khol levavkha u-ve-khol nafshekha u-ve-khol me'odekha): and thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart and with all thy soul and with all thy might: ve-ahavta (Qal perfect with vav consecutive functioning as command: you shall love; love commanded presupposes love possible; programmed compliance is not love); be-khol levavkha (with all your heart, levav, the center of the inner life, intellect, will, affections together); u-ve-khol nafshekha (with all your soul, nefesh, the animating self, the whole living person); u-ve-khol me'odekha (with all your might, me'od, literally your very-ness, your intensity, your total capacity; the three cover the whole person leaving nothing out)
threads t2 · t4 · t7 · see Matthew 22:37-40 · Romans 3:29-30 · Mark 12:29-30

Deuteronomy 7:7

The Shema is the foundational covenant confession of Israel: recited morning and evening by observant Jews for three thousand years, called by Jesus the first and greatest commandment, cited by Paul as the ground of Gentile inclusion (Romans 3:29-30). It sits at the center of Deuteronomy 6 and at the center of the covenant's entire theology of response. Two parts: the declaration (verse 4) and the command (verse 5). YHWH Echad: the LORD is one. Echad is compound unity, not absolute singularity: the same word used for one cluster of grapes and for the one flesh of marriage. The unity of God contains the Trinitarian distinctions. Then ve-ahavta, and you shall love. The Qal perfect with vav consecutive functioning as a command. You shall love YHWH your God with all your levav (heart: the center of the inner life, the seat of genuine decision), all your nefesh (soul, the whole living self, the animating being), and all your me'od (might, very-ness, total capacity and resources). The three dimensions together cover the whole person. The command leaves nothing out. Thread 4 is in the command itself. Love commanded presupposes love possible. Programmed compliance is not love. If the greatest commandment in the entire Torah requires genuine love, and genuine love requires genuine freedom, the freedom to give or withhold, then genuine human freedom is not a peripheral doctrine but a theological necessity embedded in the most important verse in the Torah. Jesus will say in Matthew 22:37-40 that the whole law and the prophets hang on this command and its companion from Leviticus 19:18. The entire covenant is suspended on two genuine imperatives addressed to genuine moral agents. Thread 7 is Deuteronomy 7's extension of the principle: the God who chose Israel chose Israel not because they were the greatest but because of his love, and that love reaches beyond Israel to all the families of the earth.
Hear O Israel the LORD our God is one LORD, and thou shalt love. The Shema is not a creed to be recited but a command to be obeyed; love commanded presupposes love possible; the whole covenant turns on the dignity of the genuine response.
שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ יְהוָה אֶחָד (Shema Yisrael YHWH Elohenu YHWH Echad): Hear O Israel the LORD our God the LORD is one: Shema (hear, listen, obey, the hearing that is also doing; the imperative of shama, the foundational covenant-response word); Echad (one, compound unity, not yachid which is absolute singularity; echad is used for one cluster of grapes, one day composed of evening and morning; the unity of God is a unity that contains the Trinitarian plurality) · וְאָהַבְתָּ אֵת יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ בְּכָל לְבָבְךָ וּבְכָל נַפְשְׁךָ וּבְכָל מְאֹדֶךָ (ve-ahavta et YHWH Elohekha be-khol levavkha u-ve-khol nafshekha u-ve-khol me'odekha): and thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart and with all thy soul and with all thy might: ve-ahavta (Qal perfect with vav consecutive functioning as command: you shall love; love commanded presupposes love possible; programmed compliance is not love); be-khol levavkha (with all your heart, levav, the center of the inner life, intellect, will, affections together); u-ve-khol nafshekha (with all your soul, nefesh, the animating self, the whole living person); u-ve-khol me'odekha (with all your might, me'od, literally your very-ness, your intensity, your total capacity; the three cover the whole person leaving nothing out)
threads t2 · t4 · t7 · see Matthew 22:37-40 · Romans 3:29-30 · Mark 12:29-30

Deuteronomy 7:8

The Shema is the foundational covenant confession of Israel: recited morning and evening by observant Jews for three thousand years, called by Jesus the first and greatest commandment, cited by Paul as the ground of Gentile inclusion (Romans 3:29-30). It sits at the center of Deuteronomy 6 and at the center of the covenant's entire theology of response. Two parts: the declaration (verse 4) and the command (verse 5). YHWH Echad: the LORD is one. Echad is compound unity, not absolute singularity: the same word used for one cluster of grapes and for the one flesh of marriage. The unity of God contains the Trinitarian distinctions. Then ve-ahavta, and you shall love. The Qal perfect with vav consecutive functioning as a command. You shall love YHWH your God with all your levav (heart: the center of the inner life, the seat of genuine decision), all your nefesh (soul, the whole living self, the animating being), and all your me'od (might, very-ness, total capacity and resources). The three dimensions together cover the whole person. The command leaves nothing out. Thread 4 is in the command itself. Love commanded presupposes love possible. Programmed compliance is not love. If the greatest commandment in the entire Torah requires genuine love, and genuine love requires genuine freedom, the freedom to give or withhold, then genuine human freedom is not a peripheral doctrine but a theological necessity embedded in the most important verse in the Torah. Jesus will say in Matthew 22:37-40 that the whole law and the prophets hang on this command and its companion from Leviticus 19:18. The entire covenant is suspended on two genuine imperatives addressed to genuine moral agents. Thread 7 is Deuteronomy 7's extension of the principle: the God who chose Israel chose Israel not because they were the greatest but because of his love, and that love reaches beyond Israel to all the families of the earth.
Hear O Israel the LORD our God is one LORD, and thou shalt love. The Shema is not a creed to be recited but a command to be obeyed; love commanded presupposes love possible; the whole covenant turns on the dignity of the genuine response.
שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ יְהוָה אֶחָד (Shema Yisrael YHWH Elohenu YHWH Echad): Hear O Israel the LORD our God the LORD is one: Shema (hear, listen, obey, the hearing that is also doing; the imperative of shama, the foundational covenant-response word); Echad (one, compound unity, not yachid which is absolute singularity; echad is used for one cluster of grapes, one day composed of evening and morning; the unity of God is a unity that contains the Trinitarian plurality) · וְאָהַבְתָּ אֵת יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ בְּכָל לְבָבְךָ וּבְכָל נַפְשְׁךָ וּבְכָל מְאֹדֶךָ (ve-ahavta et YHWH Elohekha be-khol levavkha u-ve-khol nafshekha u-ve-khol me'odekha): and thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart and with all thy soul and with all thy might: ve-ahavta (Qal perfect with vav consecutive functioning as command: you shall love; love commanded presupposes love possible; programmed compliance is not love); be-khol levavkha (with all your heart, levav, the center of the inner life, intellect, will, affections together); u-ve-khol nafshekha (with all your soul, nefesh, the animating self, the whole living person); u-ve-khol me'odekha (with all your might, me'od, literally your very-ness, your intensity, your total capacity; the three cover the whole person leaving nothing out)
threads t2 · t4 · t7 · see Matthew 22:37-40 · Romans 3:29-30 · Mark 12:29-30

Deuteronomy 7:9

The Shema is the foundational covenant confession of Israel: recited morning and evening by observant Jews for three thousand years, called by Jesus the first and greatest commandment, cited by Paul as the ground of Gentile inclusion (Romans 3:29-30). It sits at the center of Deuteronomy 6 and at the center of the covenant's entire theology of response. Two parts: the declaration (verse 4) and the command (verse 5). YHWH Echad: the LORD is one. Echad is compound unity, not absolute singularity: the same word used for one cluster of grapes and for the one flesh of marriage. The unity of God contains the Trinitarian distinctions. Then ve-ahavta, and you shall love. The Qal perfect with vav consecutive functioning as a command. You shall love YHWH your God with all your levav (heart: the center of the inner life, the seat of genuine decision), all your nefesh (soul, the whole living self, the animating being), and all your me'od (might, very-ness, total capacity and resources). The three dimensions together cover the whole person. The command leaves nothing out. Thread 4 is in the command itself. Love commanded presupposes love possible. Programmed compliance is not love. If the greatest commandment in the entire Torah requires genuine love, and genuine love requires genuine freedom, the freedom to give or withhold, then genuine human freedom is not a peripheral doctrine but a theological necessity embedded in the most important verse in the Torah. Jesus will say in Matthew 22:37-40 that the whole law and the prophets hang on this command and its companion from Leviticus 19:18. The entire covenant is suspended on two genuine imperatives addressed to genuine moral agents. Thread 7 is Deuteronomy 7's extension of the principle: the God who chose Israel chose Israel not because they were the greatest but because of his love, and that love reaches beyond Israel to all the families of the earth.
Hear O Israel the LORD our God is one LORD, and thou shalt love. The Shema is not a creed to be recited but a command to be obeyed; love commanded presupposes love possible; the whole covenant turns on the dignity of the genuine response.
שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ יְהוָה אֶחָד (Shema Yisrael YHWH Elohenu YHWH Echad): Hear O Israel the LORD our God the LORD is one: Shema (hear, listen, obey, the hearing that is also doing; the imperative of shama, the foundational covenant-response word); Echad (one, compound unity, not yachid which is absolute singularity; echad is used for one cluster of grapes, one day composed of evening and morning; the unity of God is a unity that contains the Trinitarian plurality) · וְאָהַבְתָּ אֵת יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ בְּכָל לְבָבְךָ וּבְכָל נַפְשְׁךָ וּבְכָל מְאֹדֶךָ (ve-ahavta et YHWH Elohekha be-khol levavkha u-ve-khol nafshekha u-ve-khol me'odekha): and thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart and with all thy soul and with all thy might: ve-ahavta (Qal perfect with vav consecutive functioning as command: you shall love; love commanded presupposes love possible; programmed compliance is not love); be-khol levavkha (with all your heart, levav, the center of the inner life, intellect, will, affections together); u-ve-khol nafshekha (with all your soul, nefesh, the animating self, the whole living person); u-ve-khol me'odekha (with all your might, me'od, literally your very-ness, your intensity, your total capacity; the three cover the whole person leaving nothing out)
threads t2 · t4 · t7 · see Matthew 22:37-40 · Romans 3:29-30 · Mark 12:29-30

Deuteronomy 7:10

The Shema is the foundational covenant confession of Israel: recited morning and evening by observant Jews for three thousand years, called by Jesus the first and greatest commandment, cited by Paul as the ground of Gentile inclusion (Romans 3:29-30). It sits at the center of Deuteronomy 6 and at the center of the covenant's entire theology of response. Two parts: the declaration (verse 4) and the command (verse 5). YHWH Echad: the LORD is one. Echad is compound unity, not absolute singularity: the same word used for one cluster of grapes and for the one flesh of marriage. The unity of God contains the Trinitarian distinctions. Then ve-ahavta, and you shall love. The Qal perfect with vav consecutive functioning as a command. You shall love YHWH your God with all your levav (heart: the center of the inner life, the seat of genuine decision), all your nefesh (soul, the whole living self, the animating being), and all your me'od (might, very-ness, total capacity and resources). The three dimensions together cover the whole person. The command leaves nothing out. Thread 4 is in the command itself. Love commanded presupposes love possible. Programmed compliance is not love. If the greatest commandment in the entire Torah requires genuine love, and genuine love requires genuine freedom, the freedom to give or withhold, then genuine human freedom is not a peripheral doctrine but a theological necessity embedded in the most important verse in the Torah. Jesus will say in Matthew 22:37-40 that the whole law and the prophets hang on this command and its companion from Leviticus 19:18. The entire covenant is suspended on two genuine imperatives addressed to genuine moral agents. Thread 7 is Deuteronomy 7's extension of the principle: the God who chose Israel chose Israel not because they were the greatest but because of his love, and that love reaches beyond Israel to all the families of the earth.
Hear O Israel the LORD our God is one LORD, and thou shalt love. The Shema is not a creed to be recited but a command to be obeyed; love commanded presupposes love possible; the whole covenant turns on the dignity of the genuine response.
שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ יְהוָה אֶחָד (Shema Yisrael YHWH Elohenu YHWH Echad): Hear O Israel the LORD our God the LORD is one: Shema (hear, listen, obey, the hearing that is also doing; the imperative of shama, the foundational covenant-response word); Echad (one, compound unity, not yachid which is absolute singularity; echad is used for one cluster of grapes, one day composed of evening and morning; the unity of God is a unity that contains the Trinitarian plurality) · וְאָהַבְתָּ אֵת יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ בְּכָל לְבָבְךָ וּבְכָל נַפְשְׁךָ וּבְכָל מְאֹדֶךָ (ve-ahavta et YHWH Elohekha be-khol levavkha u-ve-khol nafshekha u-ve-khol me'odekha): and thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart and with all thy soul and with all thy might: ve-ahavta (Qal perfect with vav consecutive functioning as command: you shall love; love commanded presupposes love possible; programmed compliance is not love); be-khol levavkha (with all your heart, levav, the center of the inner life, intellect, will, affections together); u-ve-khol nafshekha (with all your soul, nefesh, the animating self, the whole living person); u-ve-khol me'odekha (with all your might, me'od, literally your very-ness, your intensity, your total capacity; the three cover the whole person leaving nothing out)
threads t2 · t4 · t7 · see Matthew 22:37-40 · Romans 3:29-30 · Mark 12:29-30

Deuteronomy 7:11

The Shema is the foundational covenant confession of Israel: recited morning and evening by observant Jews for three thousand years, called by Jesus the first and greatest commandment, cited by Paul as the ground of Gentile inclusion (Romans 3:29-30). It sits at the center of Deuteronomy 6 and at the center of the covenant's entire theology of response. Two parts: the declaration (verse 4) and the command (verse 5). YHWH Echad: the LORD is one. Echad is compound unity, not absolute singularity: the same word used for one cluster of grapes and for the one flesh of marriage. The unity of God contains the Trinitarian distinctions. Then ve-ahavta, and you shall love. The Qal perfect with vav consecutive functioning as a command. You shall love YHWH your God with all your levav (heart: the center of the inner life, the seat of genuine decision), all your nefesh (soul, the whole living self, the animating being), and all your me'od (might, very-ness, total capacity and resources). The three dimensions together cover the whole person. The command leaves nothing out. Thread 4 is in the command itself. Love commanded presupposes love possible. Programmed compliance is not love. If the greatest commandment in the entire Torah requires genuine love, and genuine love requires genuine freedom, the freedom to give or withhold, then genuine human freedom is not a peripheral doctrine but a theological necessity embedded in the most important verse in the Torah. Jesus will say in Matthew 22:37-40 that the whole law and the prophets hang on this command and its companion from Leviticus 19:18. The entire covenant is suspended on two genuine imperatives addressed to genuine moral agents. Thread 7 is Deuteronomy 7's extension of the principle: the God who chose Israel chose Israel not because they were the greatest but because of his love, and that love reaches beyond Israel to all the families of the earth.
Hear O Israel the LORD our God is one LORD, and thou shalt love. The Shema is not a creed to be recited but a command to be obeyed; love commanded presupposes love possible; the whole covenant turns on the dignity of the genuine response.
שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ יְהוָה אֶחָד (Shema Yisrael YHWH Elohenu YHWH Echad): Hear O Israel the LORD our God the LORD is one: Shema (hear, listen, obey, the hearing that is also doing; the imperative of shama, the foundational covenant-response word); Echad (one, compound unity, not yachid which is absolute singularity; echad is used for one cluster of grapes, one day composed of evening and morning; the unity of God is a unity that contains the Trinitarian plurality) · וְאָהַבְתָּ אֵת יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ בְּכָל לְבָבְךָ וּבְכָל נַפְשְׁךָ וּבְכָל מְאֹדֶךָ (ve-ahavta et YHWH Elohekha be-khol levavkha u-ve-khol nafshekha u-ve-khol me'odekha): and thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart and with all thy soul and with all thy might: ve-ahavta (Qal perfect with vav consecutive functioning as command: you shall love; love commanded presupposes love possible; programmed compliance is not love); be-khol levavkha (with all your heart, levav, the center of the inner life, intellect, will, affections together); u-ve-khol nafshekha (with all your soul, nefesh, the animating self, the whole living person); u-ve-khol me'odekha (with all your might, me'od, literally your very-ness, your intensity, your total capacity; the three cover the whole person leaving nothing out)
threads t2 · t4 · t7 · see Matthew 22:37-40 · Romans 3:29-30 · Mark 12:29-30

Deuteronomy 7:12

The Shema is the foundational covenant confession of Israel: recited morning and evening by observant Jews for three thousand years, called by Jesus the first and greatest commandment, cited by Paul as the ground of Gentile inclusion (Romans 3:29-30). It sits at the center of Deuteronomy 6 and at the center of the covenant's entire theology of response. Two parts: the declaration (verse 4) and the command (verse 5). YHWH Echad: the LORD is one. Echad is compound unity, not absolute singularity: the same word used for one cluster of grapes and for the one flesh of marriage. The unity of God contains the Trinitarian distinctions. Then ve-ahavta, and you shall love. The Qal perfect with vav consecutive functioning as a command. You shall love YHWH your God with all your levav (heart: the center of the inner life, the seat of genuine decision), all your nefesh (soul, the whole living self, the animating being), and all your me'od (might, very-ness, total capacity and resources). The three dimensions together cover the whole person. The command leaves nothing out. Thread 4 is in the command itself. Love commanded presupposes love possible. Programmed compliance is not love. If the greatest commandment in the entire Torah requires genuine love, and genuine love requires genuine freedom, the freedom to give or withhold, then genuine human freedom is not a peripheral doctrine but a theological necessity embedded in the most important verse in the Torah. Jesus will say in Matthew 22:37-40 that the whole law and the prophets hang on this command and its companion from Leviticus 19:18. The entire covenant is suspended on two genuine imperatives addressed to genuine moral agents. Thread 7 is Deuteronomy 7's extension of the principle: the God who chose Israel chose Israel not because they were the greatest but because of his love, and that love reaches beyond Israel to all the families of the earth.
Hear O Israel the LORD our God is one LORD, and thou shalt love. The Shema is not a creed to be recited but a command to be obeyed; love commanded presupposes love possible; the whole covenant turns on the dignity of the genuine response.
שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ יְהוָה אֶחָד (Shema Yisrael YHWH Elohenu YHWH Echad): Hear O Israel the LORD our God the LORD is one: Shema (hear, listen, obey, the hearing that is also doing; the imperative of shama, the foundational covenant-response word); Echad (one, compound unity, not yachid which is absolute singularity; echad is used for one cluster of grapes, one day composed of evening and morning; the unity of God is a unity that contains the Trinitarian plurality) · וְאָהַבְתָּ אֵת יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ בְּכָל לְבָבְךָ וּבְכָל נַפְשְׁךָ וּבְכָל מְאֹדֶךָ (ve-ahavta et YHWH Elohekha be-khol levavkha u-ve-khol nafshekha u-ve-khol me'odekha): and thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart and with all thy soul and with all thy might: ve-ahavta (Qal perfect with vav consecutive functioning as command: you shall love; love commanded presupposes love possible; programmed compliance is not love); be-khol levavkha (with all your heart, levav, the center of the inner life, intellect, will, affections together); u-ve-khol nafshekha (with all your soul, nefesh, the animating self, the whole living person); u-ve-khol me'odekha (with all your might, me'od, literally your very-ness, your intensity, your total capacity; the three cover the whole person leaving nothing out)
threads t2 · t4 · t7 · see Matthew 22:37-40 · Romans 3:29-30 · Mark 12:29-30

Deuteronomy 7:13

The Shema is the foundational covenant confession of Israel: recited morning and evening by observant Jews for three thousand years, called by Jesus the first and greatest commandment, cited by Paul as the ground of Gentile inclusion (Romans 3:29-30). It sits at the center of Deuteronomy 6 and at the center of the covenant's entire theology of response. Two parts: the declaration (verse 4) and the command (verse 5). YHWH Echad: the LORD is one. Echad is compound unity, not absolute singularity: the same word used for one cluster of grapes and for the one flesh of marriage. The unity of God contains the Trinitarian distinctions. Then ve-ahavta, and you shall love. The Qal perfect with vav consecutive functioning as a command. You shall love YHWH your God with all your levav (heart: the center of the inner life, the seat of genuine decision), all your nefesh (soul, the whole living self, the animating being), and all your me'od (might, very-ness, total capacity and resources). The three dimensions together cover the whole person. The command leaves nothing out. Thread 4 is in the command itself. Love commanded presupposes love possible. Programmed compliance is not love. If the greatest commandment in the entire Torah requires genuine love, and genuine love requires genuine freedom, the freedom to give or withhold, then genuine human freedom is not a peripheral doctrine but a theological necessity embedded in the most important verse in the Torah. Jesus will say in Matthew 22:37-40 that the whole law and the prophets hang on this command and its companion from Leviticus 19:18. The entire covenant is suspended on two genuine imperatives addressed to genuine moral agents. Thread 7 is Deuteronomy 7's extension of the principle: the God who chose Israel chose Israel not because they were the greatest but because of his love, and that love reaches beyond Israel to all the families of the earth.
Hear O Israel the LORD our God is one LORD, and thou shalt love. The Shema is not a creed to be recited but a command to be obeyed; love commanded presupposes love possible; the whole covenant turns on the dignity of the genuine response.
שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ יְהוָה אֶחָד (Shema Yisrael YHWH Elohenu YHWH Echad): Hear O Israel the LORD our God the LORD is one: Shema (hear, listen, obey, the hearing that is also doing; the imperative of shama, the foundational covenant-response word); Echad (one, compound unity, not yachid which is absolute singularity; echad is used for one cluster of grapes, one day composed of evening and morning; the unity of God is a unity that contains the Trinitarian plurality) · וְאָהַבְתָּ אֵת יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ בְּכָל לְבָבְךָ וּבְכָל נַפְשְׁךָ וּבְכָל מְאֹדֶךָ (ve-ahavta et YHWH Elohekha be-khol levavkha u-ve-khol nafshekha u-ve-khol me'odekha): and thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart and with all thy soul and with all thy might: ve-ahavta (Qal perfect with vav consecutive functioning as command: you shall love; love commanded presupposes love possible; programmed compliance is not love); be-khol levavkha (with all your heart, levav, the center of the inner life, intellect, will, affections together); u-ve-khol nafshekha (with all your soul, nefesh, the animating self, the whole living person); u-ve-khol me'odekha (with all your might, me'od, literally your very-ness, your intensity, your total capacity; the three cover the whole person leaving nothing out)
threads t2 · t4 · t7 · see Matthew 22:37-40 · Romans 3:29-30 · Mark 12:29-30

Deuteronomy 7:14

The Shema is the foundational covenant confession of Israel: recited morning and evening by observant Jews for three thousand years, called by Jesus the first and greatest commandment, cited by Paul as the ground of Gentile inclusion (Romans 3:29-30). It sits at the center of Deuteronomy 6 and at the center of the covenant's entire theology of response. Two parts: the declaration (verse 4) and the command (verse 5). YHWH Echad: the LORD is one. Echad is compound unity, not absolute singularity: the same word used for one cluster of grapes and for the one flesh of marriage. The unity of God contains the Trinitarian distinctions. Then ve-ahavta, and you shall love. The Qal perfect with vav consecutive functioning as a command. You shall love YHWH your God with all your levav (heart: the center of the inner life, the seat of genuine decision), all your nefesh (soul, the whole living self, the animating being), and all your me'od (might, very-ness, total capacity and resources). The three dimensions together cover the whole person. The command leaves nothing out. Thread 4 is in the command itself. Love commanded presupposes love possible. Programmed compliance is not love. If the greatest commandment in the entire Torah requires genuine love, and genuine love requires genuine freedom, the freedom to give or withhold, then genuine human freedom is not a peripheral doctrine but a theological necessity embedded in the most important verse in the Torah. Jesus will say in Matthew 22:37-40 that the whole law and the prophets hang on this command and its companion from Leviticus 19:18. The entire covenant is suspended on two genuine imperatives addressed to genuine moral agents. Thread 7 is Deuteronomy 7's extension of the principle: the God who chose Israel chose Israel not because they were the greatest but because of his love, and that love reaches beyond Israel to all the families of the earth.
Hear O Israel the LORD our God is one LORD, and thou shalt love. The Shema is not a creed to be recited but a command to be obeyed; love commanded presupposes love possible; the whole covenant turns on the dignity of the genuine response.
שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ יְהוָה אֶחָד (Shema Yisrael YHWH Elohenu YHWH Echad): Hear O Israel the LORD our God the LORD is one: Shema (hear, listen, obey, the hearing that is also doing; the imperative of shama, the foundational covenant-response word); Echad (one, compound unity, not yachid which is absolute singularity; echad is used for one cluster of grapes, one day composed of evening and morning; the unity of God is a unity that contains the Trinitarian plurality) · וְאָהַבְתָּ אֵת יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ בְּכָל לְבָבְךָ וּבְכָל נַפְשְׁךָ וּבְכָל מְאֹדֶךָ (ve-ahavta et YHWH Elohekha be-khol levavkha u-ve-khol nafshekha u-ve-khol me'odekha): and thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart and with all thy soul and with all thy might: ve-ahavta (Qal perfect with vav consecutive functioning as command: you shall love; love commanded presupposes love possible; programmed compliance is not love); be-khol levavkha (with all your heart, levav, the center of the inner life, intellect, will, affections together); u-ve-khol nafshekha (with all your soul, nefesh, the animating self, the whole living person); u-ve-khol me'odekha (with all your might, me'od, literally your very-ness, your intensity, your total capacity; the three cover the whole person leaving nothing out)
threads t2 · t4 · t7 · see Matthew 22:37-40 · Romans 3:29-30 · Mark 12:29-30

Deuteronomy 7:15

The Shema is the foundational covenant confession of Israel: recited morning and evening by observant Jews for three thousand years, called by Jesus the first and greatest commandment, cited by Paul as the ground of Gentile inclusion (Romans 3:29-30). It sits at the center of Deuteronomy 6 and at the center of the covenant's entire theology of response. Two parts: the declaration (verse 4) and the command (verse 5). YHWH Echad: the LORD is one. Echad is compound unity, not absolute singularity: the same word used for one cluster of grapes and for the one flesh of marriage. The unity of God contains the Trinitarian distinctions. Then ve-ahavta, and you shall love. The Qal perfect with vav consecutive functioning as a command. You shall love YHWH your God with all your levav (heart: the center of the inner life, the seat of genuine decision), all your nefesh (soul, the whole living self, the animating being), and all your me'od (might, very-ness, total capacity and resources). The three dimensions together cover the whole person. The command leaves nothing out. Thread 4 is in the command itself. Love commanded presupposes love possible. Programmed compliance is not love. If the greatest commandment in the entire Torah requires genuine love, and genuine love requires genuine freedom, the freedom to give or withhold, then genuine human freedom is not a peripheral doctrine but a theological necessity embedded in the most important verse in the Torah. Jesus will say in Matthew 22:37-40 that the whole law and the prophets hang on this command and its companion from Leviticus 19:18. The entire covenant is suspended on two genuine imperatives addressed to genuine moral agents. Thread 7 is Deuteronomy 7's extension of the principle: the God who chose Israel chose Israel not because they were the greatest but because of his love, and that love reaches beyond Israel to all the families of the earth.
Hear O Israel the LORD our God is one LORD, and thou shalt love. The Shema is not a creed to be recited but a command to be obeyed; love commanded presupposes love possible; the whole covenant turns on the dignity of the genuine response.
שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ יְהוָה אֶחָד (Shema Yisrael YHWH Elohenu YHWH Echad): Hear O Israel the LORD our God the LORD is one: Shema (hear, listen, obey, the hearing that is also doing; the imperative of shama, the foundational covenant-response word); Echad (one, compound unity, not yachid which is absolute singularity; echad is used for one cluster of grapes, one day composed of evening and morning; the unity of God is a unity that contains the Trinitarian plurality) · וְאָהַבְתָּ אֵת יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ בְּכָל לְבָבְךָ וּבְכָל נַפְשְׁךָ וּבְכָל מְאֹדֶךָ (ve-ahavta et YHWH Elohekha be-khol levavkha u-ve-khol nafshekha u-ve-khol me'odekha): and thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart and with all thy soul and with all thy might: ve-ahavta (Qal perfect with vav consecutive functioning as command: you shall love; love commanded presupposes love possible; programmed compliance is not love); be-khol levavkha (with all your heart, levav, the center of the inner life, intellect, will, affections together); u-ve-khol nafshekha (with all your soul, nefesh, the animating self, the whole living person); u-ve-khol me'odekha (with all your might, me'od, literally your very-ness, your intensity, your total capacity; the three cover the whole person leaving nothing out)
threads t2 · t4 · t7 · see Matthew 22:37-40 · Romans 3:29-30 · Mark 12:29-30

Deuteronomy 7:16

The Shema is the foundational covenant confession of Israel: recited morning and evening by observant Jews for three thousand years, called by Jesus the first and greatest commandment, cited by Paul as the ground of Gentile inclusion (Romans 3:29-30). It sits at the center of Deuteronomy 6 and at the center of the covenant's entire theology of response. Two parts: the declaration (verse 4) and the command (verse 5). YHWH Echad: the LORD is one. Echad is compound unity, not absolute singularity: the same word used for one cluster of grapes and for the one flesh of marriage. The unity of God contains the Trinitarian distinctions. Then ve-ahavta, and you shall love. The Qal perfect with vav consecutive functioning as a command. You shall love YHWH your God with all your levav (heart: the center of the inner life, the seat of genuine decision), all your nefesh (soul, the whole living self, the animating being), and all your me'od (might, very-ness, total capacity and resources). The three dimensions together cover the whole person. The command leaves nothing out. Thread 4 is in the command itself. Love commanded presupposes love possible. Programmed compliance is not love. If the greatest commandment in the entire Torah requires genuine love, and genuine love requires genuine freedom, the freedom to give or withhold, then genuine human freedom is not a peripheral doctrine but a theological necessity embedded in the most important verse in the Torah. Jesus will say in Matthew 22:37-40 that the whole law and the prophets hang on this command and its companion from Leviticus 19:18. The entire covenant is suspended on two genuine imperatives addressed to genuine moral agents. Thread 7 is Deuteronomy 7's extension of the principle: the God who chose Israel chose Israel not because they were the greatest but because of his love, and that love reaches beyond Israel to all the families of the earth.
Hear O Israel the LORD our God is one LORD, and thou shalt love. The Shema is not a creed to be recited but a command to be obeyed; love commanded presupposes love possible; the whole covenant turns on the dignity of the genuine response.
שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ יְהוָה אֶחָד (Shema Yisrael YHWH Elohenu YHWH Echad): Hear O Israel the LORD our God the LORD is one: Shema (hear, listen, obey, the hearing that is also doing; the imperative of shama, the foundational covenant-response word); Echad (one, compound unity, not yachid which is absolute singularity; echad is used for one cluster of grapes, one day composed of evening and morning; the unity of God is a unity that contains the Trinitarian plurality) · וְאָהַבְתָּ אֵת יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ בְּכָל לְבָבְךָ וּבְכָל נַפְשְׁךָ וּבְכָל מְאֹדֶךָ (ve-ahavta et YHWH Elohekha be-khol levavkha u-ve-khol nafshekha u-ve-khol me'odekha): and thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart and with all thy soul and with all thy might: ve-ahavta (Qal perfect with vav consecutive functioning as command: you shall love; love commanded presupposes love possible; programmed compliance is not love); be-khol levavkha (with all your heart, levav, the center of the inner life, intellect, will, affections together); u-ve-khol nafshekha (with all your soul, nefesh, the animating self, the whole living person); u-ve-khol me'odekha (with all your might, me'od, literally your very-ness, your intensity, your total capacity; the three cover the whole person leaving nothing out)
threads t2 · t4 · t7 · see Matthew 22:37-40 · Romans 3:29-30 · Mark 12:29-30

Deuteronomy 7:17

The Shema is the foundational covenant confession of Israel: recited morning and evening by observant Jews for three thousand years, called by Jesus the first and greatest commandment, cited by Paul as the ground of Gentile inclusion (Romans 3:29-30). It sits at the center of Deuteronomy 6 and at the center of the covenant's entire theology of response. Two parts: the declaration (verse 4) and the command (verse 5). YHWH Echad: the LORD is one. Echad is compound unity, not absolute singularity: the same word used for one cluster of grapes and for the one flesh of marriage. The unity of God contains the Trinitarian distinctions. Then ve-ahavta, and you shall love. The Qal perfect with vav consecutive functioning as a command. You shall love YHWH your God with all your levav (heart: the center of the inner life, the seat of genuine decision), all your nefesh (soul, the whole living self, the animating being), and all your me'od (might, very-ness, total capacity and resources). The three dimensions together cover the whole person. The command leaves nothing out. Thread 4 is in the command itself. Love commanded presupposes love possible. Programmed compliance is not love. If the greatest commandment in the entire Torah requires genuine love, and genuine love requires genuine freedom, the freedom to give or withhold, then genuine human freedom is not a peripheral doctrine but a theological necessity embedded in the most important verse in the Torah. Jesus will say in Matthew 22:37-40 that the whole law and the prophets hang on this command and its companion from Leviticus 19:18. The entire covenant is suspended on two genuine imperatives addressed to genuine moral agents. Thread 7 is Deuteronomy 7's extension of the principle: the God who chose Israel chose Israel not because they were the greatest but because of his love, and that love reaches beyond Israel to all the families of the earth.
Hear O Israel the LORD our God is one LORD, and thou shalt love. The Shema is not a creed to be recited but a command to be obeyed; love commanded presupposes love possible; the whole covenant turns on the dignity of the genuine response.
שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ יְהוָה אֶחָד (Shema Yisrael YHWH Elohenu YHWH Echad): Hear O Israel the LORD our God the LORD is one: Shema (hear, listen, obey, the hearing that is also doing; the imperative of shama, the foundational covenant-response word); Echad (one, compound unity, not yachid which is absolute singularity; echad is used for one cluster of grapes, one day composed of evening and morning; the unity of God is a unity that contains the Trinitarian plurality) · וְאָהַבְתָּ אֵת יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ בְּכָל לְבָבְךָ וּבְכָל נַפְשְׁךָ וּבְכָל מְאֹדֶךָ (ve-ahavta et YHWH Elohekha be-khol levavkha u-ve-khol nafshekha u-ve-khol me'odekha): and thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart and with all thy soul and with all thy might: ve-ahavta (Qal perfect with vav consecutive functioning as command: you shall love; love commanded presupposes love possible; programmed compliance is not love); be-khol levavkha (with all your heart, levav, the center of the inner life, intellect, will, affections together); u-ve-khol nafshekha (with all your soul, nefesh, the animating self, the whole living person); u-ve-khol me'odekha (with all your might, me'od, literally your very-ness, your intensity, your total capacity; the three cover the whole person leaving nothing out)
threads t2 · t4 · t7 · see Matthew 22:37-40 · Romans 3:29-30 · Mark 12:29-30

Deuteronomy 7:18

The Shema is the foundational covenant confession of Israel: recited morning and evening by observant Jews for three thousand years, called by Jesus the first and greatest commandment, cited by Paul as the ground of Gentile inclusion (Romans 3:29-30). It sits at the center of Deuteronomy 6 and at the center of the covenant's entire theology of response. Two parts: the declaration (verse 4) and the command (verse 5). YHWH Echad: the LORD is one. Echad is compound unity, not absolute singularity: the same word used for one cluster of grapes and for the one flesh of marriage. The unity of God contains the Trinitarian distinctions. Then ve-ahavta, and you shall love. The Qal perfect with vav consecutive functioning as a command. You shall love YHWH your God with all your levav (heart: the center of the inner life, the seat of genuine decision), all your nefesh (soul, the whole living self, the animating being), and all your me'od (might, very-ness, total capacity and resources). The three dimensions together cover the whole person. The command leaves nothing out. Thread 4 is in the command itself. Love commanded presupposes love possible. Programmed compliance is not love. If the greatest commandment in the entire Torah requires genuine love, and genuine love requires genuine freedom, the freedom to give or withhold, then genuine human freedom is not a peripheral doctrine but a theological necessity embedded in the most important verse in the Torah. Jesus will say in Matthew 22:37-40 that the whole law and the prophets hang on this command and its companion from Leviticus 19:18. The entire covenant is suspended on two genuine imperatives addressed to genuine moral agents. Thread 7 is Deuteronomy 7's extension of the principle: the God who chose Israel chose Israel not because they were the greatest but because of his love, and that love reaches beyond Israel to all the families of the earth.
Hear O Israel the LORD our God is one LORD, and thou shalt love. The Shema is not a creed to be recited but a command to be obeyed; love commanded presupposes love possible; the whole covenant turns on the dignity of the genuine response.
שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ יְהוָה אֶחָד (Shema Yisrael YHWH Elohenu YHWH Echad): Hear O Israel the LORD our God the LORD is one: Shema (hear, listen, obey, the hearing that is also doing; the imperative of shama, the foundational covenant-response word); Echad (one, compound unity, not yachid which is absolute singularity; echad is used for one cluster of grapes, one day composed of evening and morning; the unity of God is a unity that contains the Trinitarian plurality) · וְאָהַבְתָּ אֵת יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ בְּכָל לְבָבְךָ וּבְכָל נַפְשְׁךָ וּבְכָל מְאֹדֶךָ (ve-ahavta et YHWH Elohekha be-khol levavkha u-ve-khol nafshekha u-ve-khol me'odekha): and thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart and with all thy soul and with all thy might: ve-ahavta (Qal perfect with vav consecutive functioning as command: you shall love; love commanded presupposes love possible; programmed compliance is not love); be-khol levavkha (with all your heart, levav, the center of the inner life, intellect, will, affections together); u-ve-khol nafshekha (with all your soul, nefesh, the animating self, the whole living person); u-ve-khol me'odekha (with all your might, me'od, literally your very-ness, your intensity, your total capacity; the three cover the whole person leaving nothing out)
threads t2 · t4 · t7 · see Matthew 22:37-40 · Romans 3:29-30 · Mark 12:29-30

Deuteronomy 7:19

The Shema is the foundational covenant confession of Israel: recited morning and evening by observant Jews for three thousand years, called by Jesus the first and greatest commandment, cited by Paul as the ground of Gentile inclusion (Romans 3:29-30). It sits at the center of Deuteronomy 6 and at the center of the covenant's entire theology of response. Two parts: the declaration (verse 4) and the command (verse 5). YHWH Echad: the LORD is one. Echad is compound unity, not absolute singularity: the same word used for one cluster of grapes and for the one flesh of marriage. The unity of God contains the Trinitarian distinctions. Then ve-ahavta, and you shall love. The Qal perfect with vav consecutive functioning as a command. You shall love YHWH your God with all your levav (heart: the center of the inner life, the seat of genuine decision), all your nefesh (soul, the whole living self, the animating being), and all your me'od (might, very-ness, total capacity and resources). The three dimensions together cover the whole person. The command leaves nothing out. Thread 4 is in the command itself. Love commanded presupposes love possible. Programmed compliance is not love. If the greatest commandment in the entire Torah requires genuine love, and genuine love requires genuine freedom, the freedom to give or withhold, then genuine human freedom is not a peripheral doctrine but a theological necessity embedded in the most important verse in the Torah. Jesus will say in Matthew 22:37-40 that the whole law and the prophets hang on this command and its companion from Leviticus 19:18. The entire covenant is suspended on two genuine imperatives addressed to genuine moral agents. Thread 7 is Deuteronomy 7's extension of the principle: the God who chose Israel chose Israel not because they were the greatest but because of his love, and that love reaches beyond Israel to all the families of the earth.
Hear O Israel the LORD our God is one LORD, and thou shalt love. The Shema is not a creed to be recited but a command to be obeyed; love commanded presupposes love possible; the whole covenant turns on the dignity of the genuine response.
שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ יְהוָה אֶחָד (Shema Yisrael YHWH Elohenu YHWH Echad): Hear O Israel the LORD our God the LORD is one: Shema (hear, listen, obey, the hearing that is also doing; the imperative of shama, the foundational covenant-response word); Echad (one, compound unity, not yachid which is absolute singularity; echad is used for one cluster of grapes, one day composed of evening and morning; the unity of God is a unity that contains the Trinitarian plurality) · וְאָהַבְתָּ אֵת יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ בְּכָל לְבָבְךָ וּבְכָל נַפְשְׁךָ וּבְכָל מְאֹדֶךָ (ve-ahavta et YHWH Elohekha be-khol levavkha u-ve-khol nafshekha u-ve-khol me'odekha): and thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart and with all thy soul and with all thy might: ve-ahavta (Qal perfect with vav consecutive functioning as command: you shall love; love commanded presupposes love possible; programmed compliance is not love); be-khol levavkha (with all your heart, levav, the center of the inner life, intellect, will, affections together); u-ve-khol nafshekha (with all your soul, nefesh, the animating self, the whole living person); u-ve-khol me'odekha (with all your might, me'od, literally your very-ness, your intensity, your total capacity; the three cover the whole person leaving nothing out)
threads t2 · t4 · t7 · see Matthew 22:37-40 · Romans 3:29-30 · Mark 12:29-30

Deuteronomy 7:20

The Shema is the foundational covenant confession of Israel: recited morning and evening by observant Jews for three thousand years, called by Jesus the first and greatest commandment, cited by Paul as the ground of Gentile inclusion (Romans 3:29-30). It sits at the center of Deuteronomy 6 and at the center of the covenant's entire theology of response. Two parts: the declaration (verse 4) and the command (verse 5). YHWH Echad: the LORD is one. Echad is compound unity, not absolute singularity: the same word used for one cluster of grapes and for the one flesh of marriage. The unity of God contains the Trinitarian distinctions. Then ve-ahavta, and you shall love. The Qal perfect with vav consecutive functioning as a command. You shall love YHWH your God with all your levav (heart: the center of the inner life, the seat of genuine decision), all your nefesh (soul, the whole living self, the animating being), and all your me'od (might, very-ness, total capacity and resources). The three dimensions together cover the whole person. The command leaves nothing out. Thread 4 is in the command itself. Love commanded presupposes love possible. Programmed compliance is not love. If the greatest commandment in the entire Torah requires genuine love, and genuine love requires genuine freedom, the freedom to give or withhold, then genuine human freedom is not a peripheral doctrine but a theological necessity embedded in the most important verse in the Torah. Jesus will say in Matthew 22:37-40 that the whole law and the prophets hang on this command and its companion from Leviticus 19:18. The entire covenant is suspended on two genuine imperatives addressed to genuine moral agents. Thread 7 is Deuteronomy 7's extension of the principle: the God who chose Israel chose Israel not because they were the greatest but because of his love, and that love reaches beyond Israel to all the families of the earth.
Hear O Israel the LORD our God is one LORD, and thou shalt love. The Shema is not a creed to be recited but a command to be obeyed; love commanded presupposes love possible; the whole covenant turns on the dignity of the genuine response.
שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ יְהוָה אֶחָד (Shema Yisrael YHWH Elohenu YHWH Echad): Hear O Israel the LORD our God the LORD is one: Shema (hear, listen, obey, the hearing that is also doing; the imperative of shama, the foundational covenant-response word); Echad (one, compound unity, not yachid which is absolute singularity; echad is used for one cluster of grapes, one day composed of evening and morning; the unity of God is a unity that contains the Trinitarian plurality) · וְאָהַבְתָּ אֵת יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ בְּכָל לְבָבְךָ וּבְכָל נַפְשְׁךָ וּבְכָל מְאֹדֶךָ (ve-ahavta et YHWH Elohekha be-khol levavkha u-ve-khol nafshekha u-ve-khol me'odekha): and thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart and with all thy soul and with all thy might: ve-ahavta (Qal perfect with vav consecutive functioning as command: you shall love; love commanded presupposes love possible; programmed compliance is not love); be-khol levavkha (with all your heart, levav, the center of the inner life, intellect, will, affections together); u-ve-khol nafshekha (with all your soul, nefesh, the animating self, the whole living person); u-ve-khol me'odekha (with all your might, me'od, literally your very-ness, your intensity, your total capacity; the three cover the whole person leaving nothing out)
threads t2 · t4 · t7 · see Matthew 22:37-40 · Romans 3:29-30 · Mark 12:29-30

Deuteronomy 7:21

The Shema is the foundational covenant confession of Israel: recited morning and evening by observant Jews for three thousand years, called by Jesus the first and greatest commandment, cited by Paul as the ground of Gentile inclusion (Romans 3:29-30). It sits at the center of Deuteronomy 6 and at the center of the covenant's entire theology of response. Two parts: the declaration (verse 4) and the command (verse 5). YHWH Echad: the LORD is one. Echad is compound unity, not absolute singularity: the same word used for one cluster of grapes and for the one flesh of marriage. The unity of God contains the Trinitarian distinctions. Then ve-ahavta, and you shall love. The Qal perfect with vav consecutive functioning as a command. You shall love YHWH your God with all your levav (heart: the center of the inner life, the seat of genuine decision), all your nefesh (soul, the whole living self, the animating being), and all your me'od (might, very-ness, total capacity and resources). The three dimensions together cover the whole person. The command leaves nothing out. Thread 4 is in the command itself. Love commanded presupposes love possible. Programmed compliance is not love. If the greatest commandment in the entire Torah requires genuine love, and genuine love requires genuine freedom, the freedom to give or withhold, then genuine human freedom is not a peripheral doctrine but a theological necessity embedded in the most important verse in the Torah. Jesus will say in Matthew 22:37-40 that the whole law and the prophets hang on this command and its companion from Leviticus 19:18. The entire covenant is suspended on two genuine imperatives addressed to genuine moral agents. Thread 7 is Deuteronomy 7's extension of the principle: the God who chose Israel chose Israel not because they were the greatest but because of his love, and that love reaches beyond Israel to all the families of the earth.
Hear O Israel the LORD our God is one LORD, and thou shalt love. The Shema is not a creed to be recited but a command to be obeyed; love commanded presupposes love possible; the whole covenant turns on the dignity of the genuine response.
שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ יְהוָה אֶחָד (Shema Yisrael YHWH Elohenu YHWH Echad): Hear O Israel the LORD our God the LORD is one: Shema (hear, listen, obey, the hearing that is also doing; the imperative of shama, the foundational covenant-response word); Echad (one, compound unity, not yachid which is absolute singularity; echad is used for one cluster of grapes, one day composed of evening and morning; the unity of God is a unity that contains the Trinitarian plurality) · וְאָהַבְתָּ אֵת יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ בְּכָל לְבָבְךָ וּבְכָל נַפְשְׁךָ וּבְכָל מְאֹדֶךָ (ve-ahavta et YHWH Elohekha be-khol levavkha u-ve-khol nafshekha u-ve-khol me'odekha): and thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart and with all thy soul and with all thy might: ve-ahavta (Qal perfect with vav consecutive functioning as command: you shall love; love commanded presupposes love possible; programmed compliance is not love); be-khol levavkha (with all your heart, levav, the center of the inner life, intellect, will, affections together); u-ve-khol nafshekha (with all your soul, nefesh, the animating self, the whole living person); u-ve-khol me'odekha (with all your might, me'od, literally your very-ness, your intensity, your total capacity; the three cover the whole person leaving nothing out)
threads t2 · t4 · t7 · see Matthew 22:37-40 · Romans 3:29-30 · Mark 12:29-30

Deuteronomy 7:22

The Shema is the foundational covenant confession of Israel: recited morning and evening by observant Jews for three thousand years, called by Jesus the first and greatest commandment, cited by Paul as the ground of Gentile inclusion (Romans 3:29-30). It sits at the center of Deuteronomy 6 and at the center of the covenant's entire theology of response. Two parts: the declaration (verse 4) and the command (verse 5). YHWH Echad: the LORD is one. Echad is compound unity, not absolute singularity: the same word used for one cluster of grapes and for the one flesh of marriage. The unity of God contains the Trinitarian distinctions. Then ve-ahavta, and you shall love. The Qal perfect with vav consecutive functioning as a command. You shall love YHWH your God with all your levav (heart: the center of the inner life, the seat of genuine decision), all your nefesh (soul, the whole living self, the animating being), and all your me'od (might, very-ness, total capacity and resources). The three dimensions together cover the whole person. The command leaves nothing out. Thread 4 is in the command itself. Love commanded presupposes love possible. Programmed compliance is not love. If the greatest commandment in the entire Torah requires genuine love, and genuine love requires genuine freedom, the freedom to give or withhold, then genuine human freedom is not a peripheral doctrine but a theological necessity embedded in the most important verse in the Torah. Jesus will say in Matthew 22:37-40 that the whole law and the prophets hang on this command and its companion from Leviticus 19:18. The entire covenant is suspended on two genuine imperatives addressed to genuine moral agents. Thread 7 is Deuteronomy 7's extension of the principle: the God who chose Israel chose Israel not because they were the greatest but because of his love, and that love reaches beyond Israel to all the families of the earth.
Hear O Israel the LORD our God is one LORD, and thou shalt love. The Shema is not a creed to be recited but a command to be obeyed; love commanded presupposes love possible; the whole covenant turns on the dignity of the genuine response.
שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ יְהוָה אֶחָד (Shema Yisrael YHWH Elohenu YHWH Echad): Hear O Israel the LORD our God the LORD is one: Shema (hear, listen, obey, the hearing that is also doing; the imperative of shama, the foundational covenant-response word); Echad (one, compound unity, not yachid which is absolute singularity; echad is used for one cluster of grapes, one day composed of evening and morning; the unity of God is a unity that contains the Trinitarian plurality) · וְאָהַבְתָּ אֵת יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ בְּכָל לְבָבְךָ וּבְכָל נַפְשְׁךָ וּבְכָל מְאֹדֶךָ (ve-ahavta et YHWH Elohekha be-khol levavkha u-ve-khol nafshekha u-ve-khol me'odekha): and thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart and with all thy soul and with all thy might: ve-ahavta (Qal perfect with vav consecutive functioning as command: you shall love; love commanded presupposes love possible; programmed compliance is not love); be-khol levavkha (with all your heart, levav, the center of the inner life, intellect, will, affections together); u-ve-khol nafshekha (with all your soul, nefesh, the animating self, the whole living person); u-ve-khol me'odekha (with all your might, me'od, literally your very-ness, your intensity, your total capacity; the three cover the whole person leaving nothing out)
threads t2 · t4 · t7 · see Matthew 22:37-40 · Romans 3:29-30 · Mark 12:29-30

Deuteronomy 7:23

The Shema is the foundational covenant confession of Israel: recited morning and evening by observant Jews for three thousand years, called by Jesus the first and greatest commandment, cited by Paul as the ground of Gentile inclusion (Romans 3:29-30). It sits at the center of Deuteronomy 6 and at the center of the covenant's entire theology of response. Two parts: the declaration (verse 4) and the command (verse 5). YHWH Echad: the LORD is one. Echad is compound unity, not absolute singularity: the same word used for one cluster of grapes and for the one flesh of marriage. The unity of God contains the Trinitarian distinctions. Then ve-ahavta, and you shall love. The Qal perfect with vav consecutive functioning as a command. You shall love YHWH your God with all your levav (heart: the center of the inner life, the seat of genuine decision), all your nefesh (soul, the whole living self, the animating being), and all your me'od (might, very-ness, total capacity and resources). The three dimensions together cover the whole person. The command leaves nothing out. Thread 4 is in the command itself. Love commanded presupposes love possible. Programmed compliance is not love. If the greatest commandment in the entire Torah requires genuine love, and genuine love requires genuine freedom, the freedom to give or withhold, then genuine human freedom is not a peripheral doctrine but a theological necessity embedded in the most important verse in the Torah. Jesus will say in Matthew 22:37-40 that the whole law and the prophets hang on this command and its companion from Leviticus 19:18. The entire covenant is suspended on two genuine imperatives addressed to genuine moral agents. Thread 7 is Deuteronomy 7's extension of the principle: the God who chose Israel chose Israel not because they were the greatest but because of his love, and that love reaches beyond Israel to all the families of the earth.
Hear O Israel the LORD our God is one LORD, and thou shalt love. The Shema is not a creed to be recited but a command to be obeyed; love commanded presupposes love possible; the whole covenant turns on the dignity of the genuine response.
שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ יְהוָה אֶחָד (Shema Yisrael YHWH Elohenu YHWH Echad): Hear O Israel the LORD our God the LORD is one: Shema (hear, listen, obey, the hearing that is also doing; the imperative of shama, the foundational covenant-response word); Echad (one, compound unity, not yachid which is absolute singularity; echad is used for one cluster of grapes, one day composed of evening and morning; the unity of God is a unity that contains the Trinitarian plurality) · וְאָהַבְתָּ אֵת יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ בְּכָל לְבָבְךָ וּבְכָל נַפְשְׁךָ וּבְכָל מְאֹדֶךָ (ve-ahavta et YHWH Elohekha be-khol levavkha u-ve-khol nafshekha u-ve-khol me'odekha): and thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart and with all thy soul and with all thy might: ve-ahavta (Qal perfect with vav consecutive functioning as command: you shall love; love commanded presupposes love possible; programmed compliance is not love); be-khol levavkha (with all your heart, levav, the center of the inner life, intellect, will, affections together); u-ve-khol nafshekha (with all your soul, nefesh, the animating self, the whole living person); u-ve-khol me'odekha (with all your might, me'od, literally your very-ness, your intensity, your total capacity; the three cover the whole person leaving nothing out)
threads t2 · t4 · t7 · see Matthew 22:37-40 · Romans 3:29-30 · Mark 12:29-30

Deuteronomy 7:24

The Shema is the foundational covenant confession of Israel: recited morning and evening by observant Jews for three thousand years, called by Jesus the first and greatest commandment, cited by Paul as the ground of Gentile inclusion (Romans 3:29-30). It sits at the center of Deuteronomy 6 and at the center of the covenant's entire theology of response. Two parts: the declaration (verse 4) and the command (verse 5). YHWH Echad: the LORD is one. Echad is compound unity, not absolute singularity: the same word used for one cluster of grapes and for the one flesh of marriage. The unity of God contains the Trinitarian distinctions. Then ve-ahavta, and you shall love. The Qal perfect with vav consecutive functioning as a command. You shall love YHWH your God with all your levav (heart: the center of the inner life, the seat of genuine decision), all your nefesh (soul, the whole living self, the animating being), and all your me'od (might, very-ness, total capacity and resources). The three dimensions together cover the whole person. The command leaves nothing out. Thread 4 is in the command itself. Love commanded presupposes love possible. Programmed compliance is not love. If the greatest commandment in the entire Torah requires genuine love, and genuine love requires genuine freedom, the freedom to give or withhold, then genuine human freedom is not a peripheral doctrine but a theological necessity embedded in the most important verse in the Torah. Jesus will say in Matthew 22:37-40 that the whole law and the prophets hang on this command and its companion from Leviticus 19:18. The entire covenant is suspended on two genuine imperatives addressed to genuine moral agents. Thread 7 is Deuteronomy 7's extension of the principle: the God who chose Israel chose Israel not because they were the greatest but because of his love, and that love reaches beyond Israel to all the families of the earth.
Hear O Israel the LORD our God is one LORD, and thou shalt love. The Shema is not a creed to be recited but a command to be obeyed; love commanded presupposes love possible; the whole covenant turns on the dignity of the genuine response.
שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ יְהוָה אֶחָד (Shema Yisrael YHWH Elohenu YHWH Echad): Hear O Israel the LORD our God the LORD is one: Shema (hear, listen, obey, the hearing that is also doing; the imperative of shama, the foundational covenant-response word); Echad (one, compound unity, not yachid which is absolute singularity; echad is used for one cluster of grapes, one day composed of evening and morning; the unity of God is a unity that contains the Trinitarian plurality) · וְאָהַבְתָּ אֵת יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ בְּכָל לְבָבְךָ וּבְכָל נַפְשְׁךָ וּבְכָל מְאֹדֶךָ (ve-ahavta et YHWH Elohekha be-khol levavkha u-ve-khol nafshekha u-ve-khol me'odekha): and thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart and with all thy soul and with all thy might: ve-ahavta (Qal perfect with vav consecutive functioning as command: you shall love; love commanded presupposes love possible; programmed compliance is not love); be-khol levavkha (with all your heart, levav, the center of the inner life, intellect, will, affections together); u-ve-khol nafshekha (with all your soul, nefesh, the animating self, the whole living person); u-ve-khol me'odekha (with all your might, me'od, literally your very-ness, your intensity, your total capacity; the three cover the whole person leaving nothing out)
threads t2 · t4 · t7 · see Matthew 22:37-40 · Romans 3:29-30 · Mark 12:29-30

Deuteronomy 7:25

The Shema is the foundational covenant confession of Israel: recited morning and evening by observant Jews for three thousand years, called by Jesus the first and greatest commandment, cited by Paul as the ground of Gentile inclusion (Romans 3:29-30). It sits at the center of Deuteronomy 6 and at the center of the covenant's entire theology of response. Two parts: the declaration (verse 4) and the command (verse 5). YHWH Echad: the LORD is one. Echad is compound unity, not absolute singularity: the same word used for one cluster of grapes and for the one flesh of marriage. The unity of God contains the Trinitarian distinctions. Then ve-ahavta, and you shall love. The Qal perfect with vav consecutive functioning as a command. You shall love YHWH your God with all your levav (heart: the center of the inner life, the seat of genuine decision), all your nefesh (soul, the whole living self, the animating being), and all your me'od (might, very-ness, total capacity and resources). The three dimensions together cover the whole person. The command leaves nothing out. Thread 4 is in the command itself. Love commanded presupposes love possible. Programmed compliance is not love. If the greatest commandment in the entire Torah requires genuine love, and genuine love requires genuine freedom, the freedom to give or withhold, then genuine human freedom is not a peripheral doctrine but a theological necessity embedded in the most important verse in the Torah. Jesus will say in Matthew 22:37-40 that the whole law and the prophets hang on this command and its companion from Leviticus 19:18. The entire covenant is suspended on two genuine imperatives addressed to genuine moral agents. Thread 7 is Deuteronomy 7's extension of the principle: the God who chose Israel chose Israel not because they were the greatest but because of his love, and that love reaches beyond Israel to all the families of the earth.
Hear O Israel the LORD our God is one LORD, and thou shalt love. The Shema is not a creed to be recited but a command to be obeyed; love commanded presupposes love possible; the whole covenant turns on the dignity of the genuine response.
שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ יְהוָה אֶחָד (Shema Yisrael YHWH Elohenu YHWH Echad): Hear O Israel the LORD our God the LORD is one: Shema (hear, listen, obey, the hearing that is also doing; the imperative of shama, the foundational covenant-response word); Echad (one, compound unity, not yachid which is absolute singularity; echad is used for one cluster of grapes, one day composed of evening and morning; the unity of God is a unity that contains the Trinitarian plurality) · וְאָהַבְתָּ אֵת יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ בְּכָל לְבָבְךָ וּבְכָל נַפְשְׁךָ וּבְכָל מְאֹדֶךָ (ve-ahavta et YHWH Elohekha be-khol levavkha u-ve-khol nafshekha u-ve-khol me'odekha): and thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart and with all thy soul and with all thy might: ve-ahavta (Qal perfect with vav consecutive functioning as command: you shall love; love commanded presupposes love possible; programmed compliance is not love); be-khol levavkha (with all your heart, levav, the center of the inner life, intellect, will, affections together); u-ve-khol nafshekha (with all your soul, nefesh, the animating self, the whole living person); u-ve-khol me'odekha (with all your might, me'od, literally your very-ness, your intensity, your total capacity; the three cover the whole person leaving nothing out)
threads t2 · t4 · t7 · see Matthew 22:37-40 · Romans 3:29-30 · Mark 12:29-30

Deuteronomy 7:26

The Shema is the foundational covenant confession of Israel: recited morning and evening by observant Jews for three thousand years, called by Jesus the first and greatest commandment, cited by Paul as the ground of Gentile inclusion (Romans 3:29-30). It sits at the center of Deuteronomy 6 and at the center of the covenant's entire theology of response. Two parts: the declaration (verse 4) and the command (verse 5). YHWH Echad: the LORD is one. Echad is compound unity, not absolute singularity: the same word used for one cluster of grapes and for the one flesh of marriage. The unity of God contains the Trinitarian distinctions. Then ve-ahavta, and you shall love. The Qal perfect with vav consecutive functioning as a command. You shall love YHWH your God with all your levav (heart: the center of the inner life, the seat of genuine decision), all your nefesh (soul, the whole living self, the animating being), and all your me'od (might, very-ness, total capacity and resources). The three dimensions together cover the whole person. The command leaves nothing out. Thread 4 is in the command itself. Love commanded presupposes love possible. Programmed compliance is not love. If the greatest commandment in the entire Torah requires genuine love, and genuine love requires genuine freedom, the freedom to give or withhold, then genuine human freedom is not a peripheral doctrine but a theological necessity embedded in the most important verse in the Torah. Jesus will say in Matthew 22:37-40 that the whole law and the prophets hang on this command and its companion from Leviticus 19:18. The entire covenant is suspended on two genuine imperatives addressed to genuine moral agents. Thread 7 is Deuteronomy 7's extension of the principle: the God who chose Israel chose Israel not because they were the greatest but because of his love, and that love reaches beyond Israel to all the families of the earth.
Hear O Israel the LORD our God is one LORD, and thou shalt love. The Shema is not a creed to be recited but a command to be obeyed; love commanded presupposes love possible; the whole covenant turns on the dignity of the genuine response.
שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ יְהוָה אֶחָד (Shema Yisrael YHWH Elohenu YHWH Echad): Hear O Israel the LORD our God the LORD is one: Shema (hear, listen, obey, the hearing that is also doing; the imperative of shama, the foundational covenant-response word); Echad (one, compound unity, not yachid which is absolute singularity; echad is used for one cluster of grapes, one day composed of evening and morning; the unity of God is a unity that contains the Trinitarian plurality) · וְאָהַבְתָּ אֵת יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ בְּכָל לְבָבְךָ וּבְכָל נַפְשְׁךָ וּבְכָל מְאֹדֶךָ (ve-ahavta et YHWH Elohekha be-khol levavkha u-ve-khol nafshekha u-ve-khol me'odekha): and thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart and with all thy soul and with all thy might: ve-ahavta (Qal perfect with vav consecutive functioning as command: you shall love; love commanded presupposes love possible; programmed compliance is not love); be-khol levavkha (with all your heart, levav, the center of the inner life, intellect, will, affections together); u-ve-khol nafshekha (with all your soul, nefesh, the animating self, the whole living person); u-ve-khol me'odekha (with all your might, me'od, literally your very-ness, your intensity, your total capacity; the three cover the whole person leaving nothing out)
threads t2 · t4 · t7 · see Matthew 22:37-40 · Romans 3:29-30 · Mark 12:29-30
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