“Shama”

Shama means “to hearken; pay attention in order to be instructed; to listen up with a ready mind.” One example of Shama is found in Deuteronomy 4:1: “Now therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I teach you…” Another example is Genesis 27:8: “Now therefore, my son, obey my voice according to that which I command you.” In this second case, Shama is translated “obey.” One final example is found in Deuteronomy 5:1: “And Moses called all Israel, and said unto them, Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your ears this day…” In this verse, Shama is translated as “hear.”

The Hebrew word in the phrase that is most subject to controversy is echad. This word is not always translated to represent the concept of “oneness.” Notice how it is translated inGenesis 1:5: “…and the evening and the morning were the first day.” Here, echad is translated as “first.” Genesis 2:24 is an ideal example of where echad is translated to mean “one”:

“Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.” Take careful note. In this case, the man and the woman are two separate and distinct individuals, even though they are bound by the marriage covenant, and the “one flesh” is referring to the sex act within marriage. Though they are at times “one flesh,” they do not constitute the same person or hypostasis. Hence, in Deuteronomy 6:4, the use of “one” for echad would similarly imply that the Godhead consisted of distinct Beings—not constituting the same person or hypostasis.

“Echad”

In Genesis 34:22, echad is translated “one people,” consisting of numerous distinct individuals. Finally, in Isaiah 51:2, echad is translated in the following way: “Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bare you: for I called him alone, and blessed him, and increased him.” Here, echad was translated as “alone.” The context in this verse was that of uniqueness.

But in order to further understand Deuteronomy 6:4, we must also examine the context of the verse. In Deuteronomy 5:1-33, the restatement of the Ten Commandments is the sole context. Deut 5:29 states, “O that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear Me, and keep all My commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children for ever!” Deut 5:33 continues, “You shall walk in all the ways which the Lord your God has commanded you, that you may live, and that it may be well with you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which you shall possess.”

The context of chapter 5, which sets up the Shama, is the all-important issue of obedience to God, through the Ten Commandments, listed there again by Moses. Now, in chapter 6, we should closely examine the three preceding verses and the three following verses.

First, we consider Deuteronomy 6:1-3: “Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgements, which the Lord your God commanded to teach you, that you might do them in the land where you go to possess it: that you might fear the Lord your God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments, which I command you, you, and your son, and your son’s son, all the days of your life; and that your days may be prolonged.

Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it; that it may be well with you, and that you may increase mightily, as the Lord God of your fathers has promised you, in the land that flows with milk and honey.”

Next, we examine Deuteronomy 6:5-7, the verses following the Shama: “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. And these words, which I command you this day, shall be in your heart: and you shall teach them diligently unto your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up.”