Christian teaching

1. Where does the verb go?

Deuteronomy 6:4 literally says, “Yahweh our God, Yahweh one” or without the divine name, “The LORD our God, the LORD one.” There are a number of ways to translate this. You have to supply the verb “is.” But this is done differently.

• Some put the verb between the two phrases, like the KJV – “The LORD our God is one LORD”

• Some put it in the first phrase, like the NRSV – “The LORD is our God, the LORD alone.”

• Some put it in both phrases, like the NASB – “The LORD is our God, the LORD is one!”

• Some put it in the last phrase, like the ESV – “The LORD our God, the LORD is one.”

I would argue for the last option. Here are the reasons:

1. With regard to the first phrase – in the other 22 instances in Deuteronomy where “our God” is used with “Yahweh,” “God” is never the predicate to “Yahweh. (This is also true when the much more numerous -“your God” is placed with “Yahweh”). This would be the only instance in Deuteronomy of this.

2. In the Greek version of the Old Testament (LXX), the verb is with the second phrase. This is also true in the Nash Papyrus, Targum Neofiti and the Peshitta.

3. In the New Testament the verb is always with the second phrase. This is so in the discussion on Deuteronomy 6:4 between Jesus and the scribe in Mark 12:29, 32. And it is also so in various allusions to the Shema where the phrase “God is one” is used (for “the LORD is one”) – James 2:19, Galatians 3:20, Romans 3:20.

4. Zechariah 14:9 places the verb (a future tense) with the second phrase – “Yahweh will be one . . ..”

2. What does “Yahweh is one” mean?

“One” should be taken in the sense of ‘one and only.’ The sense of the phrase, “Yahweh is one” is – ‘Yahweh is [our] one [God]’ or ‘Yahweh is [our] only [God].’

Several things point to this meaning:

1. The focus of Deuteronomy is not on the nature of God (how God is internally structured) or even on monotheism (there are no other gods), but rather on Yahweh’s exclusive claim on Israel as their only true God.

Deuteronomy 6:4 is really another way of saying the first commandment, “You shall have no other gods before me.” You are to have only Yahweh as your God; Yahweh is to be the one,  and the only one.

2. This is the sense of Zechariah 14:9 – “On that day the Lord will be one and his name one.” This is a reference back to Deuteronomy 6:4. As the first part of the verse says, “the Lord will be king over all the earth.” It speaks to a time when only Yahweh will be acknowledged as God.

3. In the New Testament, the phrases – “there is one God” and “there is no God but one” are explications of the phrase – “The LORD is one” or as it shows up in the New Testament, “God is one.”

• I Corinthians 8:4-6 – “Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that ‘an idol has no real existence,’ and that ‘there is no God but one.’ For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many ‘gods’ and many ‘lords’ – yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist . . ..” The phrases “there is no God, but one” and “there is one God” allude to the Shema and mean there is only one true God.

• Ephesians 4:4-6 – “There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” The phrase “(There is . . .) one God and Father of all” is an allusion to the Shema and means that there is only one true God.

• I Timothy 2:5 – “For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus . . ..” The phrase “there is one God” is an allusion to the Shema and means that there is only one true God.

4. In Jesus’ discussion with the scribe on the Shema, “God is one” means there is only one true God. After Jesus quotes the Shema, the scribe summarizes it as follows – “You have truly said that he is one, and there is no other besides him” – Mark 12:32. “God is one” means “there is no other besides him.” And Jesus approves of this. So the sense is that the Lord is our only God.

[Note also the references to the “only God” in the New Testament, which are almost certainly allusions to the Shema – John 5:44; 1 Timothy 1:17; Jude 1:25.]

To put it all together Deuteronomy 6:4 can be rendered, “Yahweh our God, Yahweh is our only God.”

3. The Shema in Judaism

I am referring to the Shema and only referencing Deuteronomy 6:4-5. This is based on what is quoted by Jesus in Mark 12. (Although this doesn’t mean that he was giving the whole Shema in this discussion).

Apparently the Shema was originally Deuteronomy 6:4-9. Later, after the time of Jesus, Deuteronomy 11:13-21 and Numbers 15:37-41 became a part of the Shema. Also, the phrase “Blessed be the Name of His glorious kingdom for ever and ever” was added after saying Deuteronomy 6:4.

William Higgins