# Deuteronomy 6.4 **Book:** [Deuteronomy](/codex/deuteronomy/) · NASB95 ## Verse > Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one! (Deuteronomy 6:4, NASB95) ## Immediate context (±2 verses) **NASB95** ([NASB95](/codex/nasb95/)) > 2. so that you and your son and your grandson might fear the LORD your God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged. 3. O Israel, you should listen and be careful to do it, that it may be well with you and that you may multiply greatly, just as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey. > > **4. Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one!** > > 5. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6. These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. (Deuteronomy 6:2-6, NASB95) ## Setting - **Speaker:** Moses, in his final addresses to Israel (Deuteronomy is structured as Moses's three farewell sermons before crossing into Canaan). - **Audience:** the second-generation Israelites at the brink of entering the Promised Land. - **Location:** the plains of Moab, east of the Jordan opposite Jericho. - **Time period:** end of the 40-year wilderness wandering, c. 1406 BC (early-date) or 1230s BC (late-date). ## Theological reading The verse is the **single most important theological declaration in the Hebrew Bible**, known as the **Shema** (from the opening word *Shema*, "Hear"). It is the foundational confession of Jewish monotheism, recited daily in Jewish liturgy, central to Jewish identity, and confessed by Jesus as the greatest commandment alongside its companion in v. 5 (Mark 12:29). **The Hebrew text:** > *שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ יְהוָה אֶחָד* > *Shema Yisrael, YHWH eloheinu, YHWH echad* The four-word core is *YHWH eloheinu YHWH echad*, literally "YHWH our-God YHWH one." The grammar permits multiple translations: 1. **"The LORD our God, the LORD is one"** (NASB95, ESV, traditional), emphasizes monotheism (one God exists). 2. **"The LORD is our God, the LORD alone"** (NRSV alternative), emphasizes covenantal exclusivity (we worship YHWH only). 3. **"The LORD our God is one LORD"** (KJV), older reading. 4. **"The LORD is our God, the LORD is one"** (NLT, NIV). All major translations preserve the core monotheistic claim. Some scholars argue the verse is more about *exclusive worship* ("YHWH alone is our God") than about *strict numerical monotheism* ("only one God exists"); both senses are present in the broader Deuteronomy theology. ## The *echad* / *yachid* distinction The Hebrew word for "one" in the Shema is **אֶחָד (*echad*, [H0259 - echad](/codex/h0259-echad/))**, **not יָחִיד (*yachid*, "only / solitary / unique")**. This lexical choice is theologically significant. - *Echad*, *one*, *united*, *together*, *first*, **compatible with internal complexity / unity-in-plurality**. Used of "one flesh" in Genesis 2:24 (man + woman = *one* flesh); "one day" in Genesis 1:5 (evening + morning = *one* day); "one cluster of grapes" in Numbers 13:23 (many grapes, one cluster). - *Yachid*, *only*, *solitary*, *unique*, *single*, **excludes internal plurality**. Used of Isaac as Abraham's "*only* son" (Genesis 22:2); of Jephthah's daughter as his "*only* daughter" (Judges 11:34). If Moses had wanted to assert "YHWH is *strictly solitary*, no internal complexity possible," the natural Hebrew word would have been *yachid*. The choice of *echad*, the unity-permitting word, is Christian-traditional grounds for the claim that **the Shema does not exclude trinitarian-monotheism**. The argument is modest, not absolute: *echad* is also used of strict numerical "one" in many contexts (Genesis 2:11 "one of the rivers"). The Shema does not by itself *prove* the Trinity. But it is *not incompatible* with the Trinity, and it pointedly avoids the term that would have been incompatible. See [H0259 - echad](/codex/h0259-echad/) for the full lexical case. ## Jesus and the Shema Jesus quotes the Shema in Mark 12:29, the only NT-recorded explicit citation by Jesus. When asked "what is the foremost commandment?" Jesus answers: > The foremost is, 'HEAR, O ISRAEL! THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE LORD; AND YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH.' (Mark 12:29-30) Jesus's affirmation of the Shema is decisive: **strict monotheism is the foundational confession of Christian faith**. Trinitarian theology is not a *replacement* for the Shema's monotheism but an *unfolding* of *what the one God is like*. The early church understood itself as the heir of Israel's monotheism, not as introducing a new pantheon. This is the Christian counter to the Jewish / Muslim / JW objection: "Christianity violates the Shema." Christian theology *affirms* the Shema while interpreting *YHWH echad* through the canonical witness of Father / Son / Spirit. One God in three persons preserves the *one* of the Shema while explaining the NT data. ## Patristic / scholarly note The patristic tradition uniformly affirms the Shema while developing Trinitarian doctrine. Tertullian (*Against Praxeas* 13, c. AD 213) argues at length that one God (the Shema) and three persons (the Father / Son / Spirit) are not contradictory. Athanasius (*Discourses Against the Arians* I.6) and the Cappadocians develop the *one essence, three persons* (*mia ousia, treis hypostaseis*) framework as the systematic-theological articulation of how the Shema and the NT data fit together. The Reformation Confessions (Westminster Confession 2.3; Heidelberg Catechism Q. 25; Belgic Confession 8) all affirm both the Shema's monotheism and the Trinitarian formula. Modern Christian-Jewish apologetic: Michael Brown (*Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus*, vol. 2, 2000); Walter Kaiser (*Recovering the Unity of the Bible*, 2009); Daniel Boyarin (*The Jewish Gospels*, 2012, Jewish scholar arguing pre-Christian Jewish-monotheistic context permitted plural-divine theology). ## Apologetic significance The Shema is the locus of: 1. **Jewish-Christian dialogue**, does Christianity violate the Shema by affirming Trinity? The Christian answer: no, because the Shema's *echad* (united-one) is compatible with Trinitarian-personhood; *yachid* would have excluded it but the Shema avoids that word. 2. **Christian-Muslim dialogue**, Islam claims Christianity is *shirk* (associating partners with God). The Christian response: the same framework, Trinity is one God, not three; it preserves monotheism. 3. **Christian-JW dialogue**, JWs cite the Shema to deny Trinity. The Christian response: the Shema's *echad* + the canonical witness of Christ's deity together require Trinitarian-monotheism. ## Key words - [H0259 - echad](/codex/h0259-echad/), *echad* (one), the lexical pivot of the verse - [H3068 - YHWH](/codex/h3068-yhwh/), the divine name (twice in the verse) - [H0430 - elohim](/codex/h0430-elohim/), *elohim* (God; *eloheinu* "our God"), paired with YHWH - [H3173 - yachid](/codex/h3173-yachid/), *yachid* (only / solitary), the contrasting term Moses *did not* use ## Connection to other passages - [Genesis 1.26](/codex/genesis-1-26/), "Let *Us* make man", the plural-deliberation that the Shema's *echad* is compatible with - Mark 12:29, Jesus citing the Shema - John 10:30, "I and the Father are *one* (*hen*)", the Greek-NT parallel - John 17:21-23, Trinitarian unity grounded in the divine being ## Quoted in **Arguments and defeaters:** - [Christian God is the Only True God](/codex/christian-god-is-the-only-true-god/) - [Elohim Is a Divine Council Objection Defeater](/codex/elohim-is-a-divine-council-objection-defeater/) - [Evil as Privation of Good](/codex/evil-as-privation-of-good/) - [Jesus Never Claimed to Be God Objection Defeater](/codex/jesus-never-claimed-to-be-god-objection-defeater/) - [Mosaic Law Binding for True Israelites Objection Defeater](/codex/mosaic-law-binding-for-true-israelites-objection-defeater/), via [Deuteronomy 6.4-5](/codex/deuteronomy-6-4-5/) - [Necessary Being is an Intelligent Mind](/codex/necessary-being-is-an-intelligent-mind/) - [OT Polytheism Objection Defeater](/codex/ot-polytheism-objection-defeater/) - [Religious Pluralism Objection Defeater](/codex/religious-pluralism-objection-defeater/) - [Trinity Invented at Nicaea Objection Defeater](/codex/trinity-invented-at-nicaea-objection-defeater/) - [Unitarian Oneness Binitarian Objection Defeater](/codex/unitarian-oneness-binitarian-objection-defeater/) - [Yahweh is a Son of Elyon Defeater](/codex/yahweh-is-a-son-of-elyon-defeater/) **Concepts:** - [Are There Other Gods](/codex/are-there-other-gods/) - [Christ is God](/codex/christ-is-god/) - [Christian Muslim Defender](/codex/christian-muslim-defender/) - [Christianity](/codex/christianity/) - [Divine Gender Polarity and Feminine Imagery](/codex/divine-gender-polarity-and-feminine-imagery/) - [Divine Simplicity](/codex/divine-simplicity/) - [Doctrine](/codex/doctrine/) - [Idolatry](/codex/idolatry/), via [Deuteronomy 6.4-5](/codex/deuteronomy-6-4-5/) - [Lesson 2.3, The Doctrine of God](/codex/lesson-2-3-the-doctrine-of-god/) - [Modalism](/codex/modalism/) - [Monotheism](/codex/monotheism/) - [Old Testament Witness to the Deity of Christ](/codex/old-testament-witness-to-the-deity-of-christ/) - [Oneness Pentecostalism](/codex/oneness-pentecostalism/) - [OT Polytheism Objection](/codex/ot-polytheism-objection/) - [Polytheism](/codex/polytheism/) - [Theism](/codex/theism/) - [Trinity](/codex/trinity/) - [Trinity Common Objections](/codex/trinity-common-objections/) - [Trinity vs Oneness vs Modalism vs Arianism](/codex/trinity-vs-oneness-vs-modalism-vs-arianism/) - [Two Powers in Heaven](/codex/two-powers-in-heaven/) **Lexicon:** - [G1520 - heis](/codex/g1520-heis/) - [G5218 - hypakoe](/codex/g5218-hypakoe/) - [H0259 - echad](/codex/h0259-echad/) - [H0430 - elohim](/codex/h0430-elohim/) - [H3068 - YHWH](/codex/h3068-yhwh/) - [H3173 - yachid](/codex/h3173-yachid/) - [H8085 - shama](/codex/h8085-shama/) **Guides:** - [02 Faith and Worldview](/codex/02-faith-and-worldview/) **Passages:** - [1 Corinthians 8.6](/codex/1-corinthians-8-6/) - [1 Timothy 2.5](/codex/1-timothy-2-5/) - [2 Corinthians 4.4](/codex/2-corinthians-4-4/) - [Isaiah 44.6](/codex/isaiah-44-6/) - [Isaiah 45.18](/codex/isaiah-45-18/) --- _Scripture quotations taken from the **New American Standard Bible®** (NASB), Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by **The Lockman Foundation**. Used by permission. All rights reserved. [www.lockman.org](https://www.lockman.org)_