Loving God in the Shema

Seminary Commons

Loving God appears as a command in a series of imperatives. Is love commanded? How is the love command related with other commands in the passage? Deuteronomy 6:4–9 is a well-known pericope among both Jews and Christians. The Jews are more acquainted with the text to the point that they have named it the Shema, which is the short form of Shema Yisrael, and it was a major component of Hebrew society and later Jewish culture—and even until today. The pericope is part of the passages that the Jews read in the weekly Torah reading and is the major part of the Jewish daily and weekly prayer including (Deut 6:4–9, 11:13–21, and Num 15:37–41). The ideal daily use of the Shema by any Hebrew or Jew was reciting it in the evening and morning according to the “speak” command in v. 7. Among the Christians, the passage has received significant attention probably because of Jesus’ mention of it in His answer for what is the greatest commandment (Matt 22:37; Mark 12:29–30).