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Tyndale Open Bible Dictionary

SHEMA*, The

The declaration “Hear, O Israel, Yahweh our God is one Yahweh” (Dt 6:4). Shema comes from the first Hebrew word of the verse, shema, “hear.” Verses 4-9 make up the whole of this foundational biblical truth. While several translations of verse 4 are grammatically correct, Jesus’ words in Mark 12:29 correspond most closely to the one given above. Religious Jews recite the Shema three times daily as part of their devotional life; no Sabbath worship is conducted in the synagogue without its proclamation.

Within the Shema is found both a fundamental doctrinal truth and a resultant obligation. There is an urgency connected to the teaching: the word shema demands that the hearer respond with his total being to the fact and demands of this essential revelation.

With regard to the teaching pertaining to the nature of God, the word “one” (echad) designates a compound unity rather than an absolute singular. While the eminent medieval Jewish theologian Maimonides insisted that God was yachid (an absolute singular), the OT does not use this word to define God’s nature. The compound singular word for “one” first occurs in Genesis 2:24 where a man and woman, though separate entities, are seen to be one (echad) in marriage. Understandably, Jesus could freely quote Deuteronomy 6:4 without infringing upon the truth of his own deity.