INTRODUCTION
Deuteronomy contains at its core a cross between an ancient Near Eastern treaty. Within this structure, the laws and treaty stipulations – general (5:1-11:32) and specific (12:1-26:19) – are given pride of place. After the setting and introduction to the covenant (4:44-49), Moses begins his second sermon (5:1-28:69) with an interpretive restatement of the Decalogue (5:621), couched within an extended reflection on the initial law-giving at Horeb and Moses’s role as mediator (5:1-33).
In the passage at hand (6:1-15), he then transitions to the remainder of the general stipulations (6:1-11:32) with an introductory exhortation (6:1-3), a distillation of the covenant principles (6:4-5), and an extension of these principles to future generations the children and society (6:6-9), concluding with a warning against forgetfulness and idolatry as the Israelites soon enter the land of Canaan (6:10-15). In remembrance of and in response to Yahweh’s unique faithfulness, Israel must love Yahweh absolutely and exclusively by internalizing, embodying, and teaching covenant faithfulness as they inherit the blessings of the promised land.
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DEUTERONOMY: 6:1-3
In this passage, the commandments denote the moral law, the ceremonial law, and the judgments by which the judges decided. Moses taught the people all that, and that only, which God commanded him to teach. Moses begins this passage with an exhortation to keep the general stipulations of the covenant to be discussed in Deuteronomy 6-11. In response to Yahweh’s command. Moses teaches people the commands, decrees and laws so that they observe in the land that they are crossing the Jordan to possess.
This transmission of the covenant conditions from Yahweh to Moses to the Israelites was not only meant to teaching them the stipulations so that they would know and do the right things, but so that they would be the right kind of people, internalizing and embodying the stipulations as they entered the promised land of Canaan. The intended result of the commandments, statutes, and ordinances was holistic covenant faithfulness.
At the heart of the appropriate epistemic and ontic response to the covenant stipulations was the proper fear of Yahweh their God which was to result in a continual obedience for generations upon generations reflecting the importance of teaching covenant faithfulness to their children. As the injunctions to pay attention and be careful indicate, this obedience was also to be careful and deliberate. The promised results of such continual and careful covenant faithfulness are long life and many descendants in the bountiful promised land (6:1b, 3b), recalling Yahweh’s unique faithfulness to fulfill his promises of land and offspring to Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3.7
DEUTERONOMY 6:4-5
After the brief introduction to the general stipulations (6:1-3), Moses distills the Decalogue, itself an encapsulation of the entire covenant, into just sixteen Hebrew words, providing the expression of the essence of all God’s person and purposes (6:4-5).
Shema , named after the first Hebrew word in 6:4 (meaning to pay attention”), the “Great Shema” has long been regarded as central to Deuteronomy and to Israelite theology. However, because of its brevity, the translation of the Shema ( 6:4) into English has been the topic of considerable debate. Although the initial term “pay attention, Israel” are clear enough, translating the remaining four terms i.e. (“Yahweh, our God, Yahweh, one”) into English involves deciding on the placement of the copulative and the precise translation of ekhad as “one” or “alone.”
On balance, given the statement’s quasi-poetic brevity, it seems best to render 6:4: “Yahweh is our God, Yahweh is one.” This translation allows for a mediating position between Block’s arguments for rendering ekhad as “alone,” emphasizing God’s uniqueness, and Janzen’s arguments for God’s oneness as internal consistency and faithfulness to Israel. Compared to the gamut of Canaanite and other ancient Near Eastern deities, Yahweh was indeed unique, primarily because of his faithfulness to Israel from the patriarchs (6:3b, 10a), through the exodus (6:12), and into the immanent conquest of Canaan (6:1b, 3, 10-11).
That “Yahweh is one” it is a historical reflection in remembrance of Yahweh’s unique faithfulness to his covenant people.
Therefore, in response to this unique faithfulness, Israel must love Yahweh absolutely (6:5), as seen by the concentric use of lebab (“meaning heart,” the inner being, including emotion ), nephesh (“meaning soul,” the entire being, including desires), and me’od (“strength,” the physical being, including economic and social resources). This is the only proper response to the God who is truly ekhad (6:4), comprising the essential principle upon which the entire covenant rested.
DEUTERONOMY 6:6-9
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your with all your soul and with all your strength (6:5), but also all of life (6:6-9), including the family unit (6:7) and society (6:8-9). Moses commands the Israelites to keep “these words” (referring to the entire covenant through the Shema) on their hearts (6:6). This internalization of the covenant through constant reflection is then to be extended by teaching covenant faithfulness to future generations i.e. Children (6:7). Just as Moses is teaching the Israelites the covenant stipulations, they must teach these things to their children through constant repetition and discussion of the faithful covenant lifestyle within the household (6:7).
Finally, this commitment to covenant faithfulness was to transcend the household and permeate the entire society (6:8-9). Although the instructions here to ( “bind,” “frontlets,” and “write” the covenant stipulations on the forearm, forehead, and doorframes, respectively) were taken literally in later Jewish tradition, they were probably meant to be interpreted metaphorically. In this case, 6:8 refers to the embodiment of the covenant principles in everyday life, identifying each individual Israelite as a faithful covenant member.
However, in 6:9 covenant faithfulness is then expanded to the household and the community as “these words” (6:6) are written “on the doorframes of your houses and gates” according to (6:9). In response to Yahweh’s unique faithfulness, the Israelites are to love him absolutely by internalizing (6:6), embodying (6:8-9), and teaching (6:7) covenant faithfulness.
DEUTERONOMY: 6:10-15
The proper love of Yahweh is also exclusive, for his uniqueness demands that he be worshipped alone. After distilling the covenant (6:4-5) and extending its essential claim to the family and society (6:6-9), Moses exhorts his audience to eschew all forms of forgetful idolatry. Instead, the Israelites are to love Yahweh exclusively as they inherit the blessings of the promised land, in remembrance of and in response to his unique faithfulness (6:10-15).
The historical context of this passage is especially important for the interpretation of 6:10-11. Moses reminds the Israelites of Yahweh’s unique faithfulness by linking the divine promises of land to the patriarchs with the fulfillment of those promises in the occupation of Canaan. The concrete description of the promised land in (6:10-11) was designed to remind the audience that it was a blessing and a gift from Yahweh in faithful fulfillment of his kingly duties. The warning in 6:12 to “be careful” reveals Moses’ anxiety that the sudden affluence the Israelites would experience in Canaan might lead them to forget their uniquely faithful God, who had redeemed them from the land of Egypt ,from the house of bondage and who led them from through the great and terrible wilderness (6:15).
Chapter, 6:13 contains an intensely covenantal threefold call to the exclusive love of Yahweh alone. As part of the proper response to Yahweh’s oneness (6:4), the Israelites are to fear only Yahweh, serve only Yahweh, and swear only by Yahweh’s name. Moses then intensifies the warning even further in 6:14-15 with a rephrasing of the first two commandments (Deuteronomy 5:7-10).
CONCLUSION
The main exposition of the general covenant stipulations (Deuteronomy 6-11), Moses begins with calling the Israelites to the proper internalized and embodied response to Yahweh’s commands, statues, and ordinances: covenant faithfulness as they enter the promised land (6:1-3). Then, he presents the distilled essence of the covenant principles in 6:4-5: the demand for the absolute love of Yahweh on the basis of his unique faithfulness.
This covenant is then extended to the family unit and society in 6:6-9 as the Israelites are commanded to internalize, embody, and teach covenant faithfulness to their children . Finally, in 6:10-15, in anticipation of the conquest of Canaan as a revelation of Yahweh’s unique faithfulness to the patriarchs and the nation, the people are sternly warned to abstain all forms of forgetful idolatry and instead to worship Yahweh alone.
Therefore, we can conclude as a whole that, Deuteronomy 6:1-15 was written to teach its original audience that, in remembrance of and in response to Yahweh’s unique faithfulness, they were to love Yahweh absolutely and exclusively by internalizing, embodying, and teaching covenant faithfulness as they inherited the blessings of the promised land.
REFERENCE
- Bible Backgrounds Commentary: Old Testament. Edited by John H. Walton. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2009
- Block, Daniel I. 'How many is God? An Investigation into the Meaning of Deuteronomy 6:45.' Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 47 (2004): 193-212.
- Carpenter, Eugene E. “Deuteronomy.” Pages 418-548 in Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. Edited by John H. Walton. Vol. 1 of Zondervan Illustrated
- Christensen, Duane L. Deuteronomy 1:1-21:9, revised. Word Biblical Commentary 6a. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2001.
- Hamilton, Victor P. Handbook on the Pentateuch: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. 2nd ed. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2005.
- Janzen, J. Gerald. 'On the Most Important Word in the Shema (Deuteronomy 6:4-5).' Vetus Testamentum 37 (1987): 280-300.
- McConville, J.G. Deuteronomy. Apollos Old Testament Commentary 5. Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 2002.
- Merrill, Eugene H. Deuteronomy. New American Commentary 4. Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 1994.
- Rad, Gerhard von. Deuteronomy: A Commentary. Translated by D. Barton. Philadelphia: Westminster, 1966.
- Walton, John H., Victor H. Matthews, and Mark W. Chavalas. The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament. Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 2000.
- Wenham, Gordon J. A Guide to the Pentateuch. Vol. 1 of Exploring the Old Testament. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2002.
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