The Shema and the Whole-Life Response to the Incomparable God

Deu 6:6-9 But for the love of God to be of the right kind, the commandments of God must be laid to heart, and be the constant subject of thought and conversation. “ Upon thine heart: ” i. e. , the commandments of God were to be an affair of the heart, and not merely of the memory (cf. Deu 11:18). They were to be enforced upon the children, talked of at home and by the way, in the evening on lying down and in the morning on rising up, i.

e. , everywhere and at all times; they were to be bound upon the hand for a sign, and worn as bands (frontlets) between the eyes (see at Exo 13:16). As these words are figurative, and denote an undeviating observance of the divine commands, so also the commandment which follows, viz. , to write the words upon the door-posts of the house, and also upon the gates, are to be understood spiritually; and the literal fulfilment of such a command could only be a praiseworthy custom or well-pleasing to God when resorted to as the means of keeping the commandments of God constantly before the eye.

The precept itself, however, presupposes the existence of this custom, which is not only met with in the Mahometan countries of the East at the present day (cf. A . Russell, Naturgesch. v. Aleppo, i. p. 36; Lane, Sitten u. Gebr. i. pp. 6, 13, ii. p. 71), but was also a common custom in ancient Egypt (cf. Wilkinson, Manners and Customs, vol. ii. p. 102).

Deu 6:6-9 But for the love of God to be of the right kind, the commandments of God must be laid to heart, and be the constant subject of thought and conversation. “ Upon thine heart: ” i. e. , the commandments of God were to be an affair of the heart, and not merely of the memory (cf. Deu 11:18). They were to be enforced upon the children, talked of at home and by the way, in the evening on lying down and in the morning on rising up, i.

e. , everywhere and at all times; they were to be bound upon the hand for a sign, and worn as bands (frontlets) between the eyes (see at Exo 13:16). As these words are figurative, and denote an undeviating observance of the divine commands, so also the commandment which follows, viz. , to write the words upon the door-posts of the house, and also upon the gates, are to be understood spiritually; and the literal fulfilment of such a command could only be a praiseworthy custom or well-pleasing to God when resorted to as the means of keeping the commandments of God constantly before the eye.

The precept itself, however, presupposes the existence of this custom, which is not only met with in the Mahometan countries of the East at the present day (cf. A . Russell, Naturgesch. v. Aleppo, i. p. 36; Lane, Sitten u. Gebr. i. pp. 6, 13, ii. p. 71), but was also a common custom in ancient Egypt (cf. Wilkinson, Manners and Customs, vol. ii. p. 102).

Deu 6:6-9 But for the love of God to be of the right kind, the commandments of God must be laid to heart, and be the constant subject of thought and conversation. “ Upon thine heart: ” i. e. , the commandments of God were to be an affair of the heart, and not merely of the memory (cf. Deu 11:18). They were to be enforced upon the children, talked of at home and by the way, in the evening on lying down and in the morning on rising up, i.

e. , everywhere and at all times; they were to be bound upon the hand for a sign, and worn as bands (frontlets) between the eyes (see at Exo 13:16). As these words are figurative, and denote an undeviating observance of the divine commands, so also the commandment which follows, viz. , to write the words upon the door-posts of the house, and also upon the gates, are to be understood spiritually; and the literal fulfilment of such a command could only be a praiseworthy custom or well-pleasing to God when resorted to as the means of keeping the commandments of God constantly before the eye.

The precept itself, however, presupposes the existence of this custom, which is not only met with in the Mahometan countries of the East at the present day (cf. A . Russell, Naturgesch. v. Aleppo, i. p. 36; Lane, Sitten u. Gebr. i. pp. 6, 13, ii. p. 71), but was also a common custom in ancient Egypt (cf. Wilkinson, Manners and Customs, vol. ii. p. 102).

Deu 6:6-9 But for the love of God to be of the right kind, the commandments of God must be laid to heart, and be the constant subject of thought and conversation. “ Upon thine heart: ” i. e. , the commandments of God were to be an affair of the heart, and not merely of the memory (cf. Deu 11:18). They were to be enforced upon the children, talked of at home and by the way, in the evening on lying down and in the morning on rising up, i.

e. , everywhere and at all times; they were to be bound upon the hand for a sign, and worn as bands (frontlets) between the eyes (see at Exo 13:16). As these words are figurative, and denote an undeviating observance of the divine commands, so also the commandment which follows, viz. , to write the words upon the door-posts of the house, and also upon the gates, are to be understood spiritually; and the literal fulfilment of such a command could only be a praiseworthy custom or well-pleasing to God when resorted to as the means of keeping the commandments of God constantly before the eye.

The precept itself, however, presupposes the existence of this custom, which is not only met with in the Mahometan countries of the East at the present day (cf. A . Russell, Naturgesch. v. Aleppo, i. p. 36; Lane, Sitten u. Gebr. i. pp. 6, 13, ii. p. 71), but was also a common custom in ancient Egypt (cf. Wilkinson, Manners and Customs, vol. ii. p. 102).

Deu 6:10-11 To the positive statement of the command there is attached, in the next place, the negative side, or a warning against the danger to which prosperity and an abundance of earthly goods so certainly exposed, viz. , of forgetting the Lord and His manifestations of mercy. The Israelites were all the more exposed to this danger, as their entrance into Canaan brought them into the possession of all the things conducive to well-being, in which the land abounded, without being under the necessity of procuring these things by the labour of their own hands; - into the possession, namely, of great and beautiful towns which they had not built, of houses full of all kinds of good things which they had not filled, of wells ready made which they had not dug, of vineyards and olive-plantations which they had not planted.

- The nouns ערים, etc. are formally dependent upon לך לתת, and serve as a detailed description of the land into which the Lord was about to lead His people.

Deu 6:10-11 To the positive statement of the command there is attached, in the next place, the negative side, or a warning against the danger to which prosperity and an abundance of earthly goods so certainly exposed, viz. , of forgetting the Lord and His manifestations of mercy. The Israelites were all the more exposed to this danger, as their entrance into Canaan brought them into the possession of all the things conducive to well-being, in which the land abounded, without being under the necessity of procuring these things by the labour of their own hands; - into the possession, namely, of great and beautiful towns which they had not built, of houses full of all kinds of good things which they had not filled, of wells ready made which they had not dug, of vineyards and olive-plantations which they had not planted.

- The nouns ערים, etc. are formally dependent upon לך לתת, and serve as a detailed description of the land into which the Lord was about to lead His people.

Deu 6:12-13 “ House of bondage ,” as in Exo 13:3. “ Not forgetting ” is described from a positive point of view, as fearing God, serving Him , and swearing by His name . Fear is placed first, as the fundamental characteristic of the Israelitish worship of God; it was no slavish fear, but simply the holy awe of a sinner before the holy God, which includes love rather than excludes it.

“Fearing” is a matter of the heart; “serving,” a matter of working and striving; and “swearing in His name,” the practical manifestation of the worship of God in word and conversation. It refers not merely to a solemn oath before a judicial court, but rather to asseverations on oath in the ordinary intercourse of life, by which the religious attitude of a man involuntarily reveals itself.

Deu 6:12-13 “ House of bondage ,” as in Exo 13:3. “ Not forgetting ” is described from a positive point of view, as fearing God, serving Him , and swearing by His name . Fear is placed first, as the fundamental characteristic of the Israelitish worship of God; it was no slavish fear, but simply the holy awe of a sinner before the holy God, which includes love rather than excludes it.

“Fearing” is a matter of the heart; “serving,” a matter of working and striving; and “swearing in His name,” the practical manifestation of the worship of God in word and conversation. It refers not merely to a solemn oath before a judicial court, but rather to asseverations on oath in the ordinary intercourse of life, by which the religious attitude of a man involuntarily reveals itself.

Deu 6:14-16 The worship of Jehovah not only precludes all idolatry, which the Lord, as a jealous God, will not endure (see at Exo 20:5), but will punish with destruction from the earth (“the face of the ground,” as in Exo 32:12); but it also excludes tempting the Lord by an unbelieving murmuring against God, if He does not remove any kind of distress immediately, as the people had already sinned at Massah, i.e., at Rephidim (Exo 17:1-7).

Deu 6:14-16 The worship of Jehovah not only precludes all idolatry, which the Lord, as a jealous God, will not endure (see at Exo 20:5), but will punish with destruction from the earth (“the face of the ground,” as in Exo 32:12); but it also excludes tempting the Lord by an unbelieving murmuring against God, if He does not remove any kind of distress immediately, as the people had already sinned at Massah, i.e., at Rephidim (Exo 17:1-7).

Deu 6:14-16 The worship of Jehovah not only precludes all idolatry, which the Lord, as a jealous God, will not endure (see at Exo 20:5), but will punish with destruction from the earth (“the face of the ground,” as in Exo 32:12); but it also excludes tempting the Lord by an unbelieving murmuring against God, if He does not remove any kind of distress immediately, as the people had already sinned at Massah, i.e., at Rephidim (Exo 17:1-7).

Deu 6:17-19 They were rather to observe all His commandments diligently, and do what was right and good in His eyes. The infinitive וגו להדף contains the further development of וגו ייטב למען: “ so that He (Jehovah) thrust out all thine enemies before thee, as He hath spoken ” (viz. , Exo 23:27. , Deu 34:11). In Deu 6:20-25, the teaching to the children, which is only briefly hinted at in Deu 6:7, is more fully explained.

The Israelites were to instruct their children and descendants as to the nature, meaning, and object of the commandments of the Lord; and in reply to the inquiries of their sons, to teach them what the Lord had done for the redemption of Israel out of the bondage of Egypt, and how He had brought them into the promised land, and thus to awaken in the younger generation love to the Lord and to His commandments. The “ great and sore miracles ” (Deu 6:22) were the Egyptian plagues, like מפתּים, in Deu 4:34.

- “ To fear ,” etc. , i. e. , that we might fear the Lord. “ And righteousness will be to us, if we observe to do: ” i. e. , our righteousness will consist in the observance of the law; we shall be regarded and treated by God as righteous, if we are diligent in the observance of the law. “ Before Jehovah ” refers primarily, no doubt, to the expression, “to do all these commandments;” but, as we may see from Deu 24:13, this does not prevent the further reference to the “righteousness” also.

This righteousness before Jehovah, it is true, is not really the gospel “righteousness of faith;” but there is no opposition between the two, as the righteousness mentioned here is not founded upon the outward (pharisaic) righteousness of works, but upon an earnest striving after the fulfilment of the law, to love God with all the heart; and this love is altogether impossible without living faith.

Deu 6:17-19 They were rather to observe all His commandments diligently, and do what was right and good in His eyes. The infinitive וגו להדף contains the further development of וגו ייטב למען: “ so that He (Jehovah) thrust out all thine enemies before thee, as He hath spoken ” (viz. , Exo 23:27. , Deu 34:11). In Deu 6:20-25, the teaching to the children, which is only briefly hinted at in Deu 6:7, is more fully explained.

The Israelites were to instruct their children and descendants as to the nature, meaning, and object of the commandments of the Lord; and in reply to the inquiries of their sons, to teach them what the Lord had done for the redemption of Israel out of the bondage of Egypt, and how He had brought them into the promised land, and thus to awaken in the younger generation love to the Lord and to His commandments. The “ great and sore miracles ” (Deu 6:22) were the Egyptian plagues, like מפתּים, in Deu 4:34.

- “ To fear ,” etc. , i. e. , that we might fear the Lord. “ And righteousness will be to us, if we observe to do: ” i. e. , our righteousness will consist in the observance of the law; we shall be regarded and treated by God as righteous, if we are diligent in the observance of the law. “ Before Jehovah ” refers primarily, no doubt, to the expression, “to do all these commandments;” but, as we may see from Deu 24:13, this does not prevent the further reference to the “righteousness” also.

This righteousness before Jehovah, it is true, is not really the gospel “righteousness of faith;” but there is no opposition between the two, as the righteousness mentioned here is not founded upon the outward (pharisaic) righteousness of works, but upon an earnest striving after the fulfilment of the law, to love God with all the heart; and this love is altogether impossible without living faith.

Deu 6:17-19 They were rather to observe all His commandments diligently, and do what was right and good in His eyes. The infinitive וגו להדף contains the further development of וגו ייטב למען: “ so that He (Jehovah) thrust out all thine enemies before thee, as He hath spoken ” (viz. , Exo 23:27. , Deu 34:11). In Deu 6:20-25, the teaching to the children, which is only briefly hinted at in Deu 6:7, is more fully explained.

The Israelites were to instruct their children and descendants as to the nature, meaning, and object of the commandments of the Lord; and in reply to the inquiries of their sons, to teach them what the Lord had done for the redemption of Israel out of the bondage of Egypt, and how He had brought them into the promised land, and thus to awaken in the younger generation love to the Lord and to His commandments. The “ great and sore miracles ” (Deu 6:22) were the Egyptian plagues, like מפתּים, in Deu 4:34.

- “ To fear ,” etc. , i. e. , that we might fear the Lord. “ And righteousness will be to us, if we observe to do: ” i. e. , our righteousness will consist in the observance of the law; we shall be regarded and treated by God as righteous, if we are diligent in the observance of the law. “ Before Jehovah ” refers primarily, no doubt, to the expression, “to do all these commandments;” but, as we may see from Deu 24:13, this does not prevent the further reference to the “righteousness” also.

This righteousness before Jehovah, it is true, is not really the gospel “righteousness of faith;” but there is no opposition between the two, as the righteousness mentioned here is not founded upon the outward (pharisaic) righteousness of works, but upon an earnest striving after the fulfilment of the law, to love God with all the heart; and this love is altogether impossible without living faith.

Deu 7:1-4 As the Israelites were warned against idolatry in Deu 6:14, so here are they exhorted to beware of the false tolerance of sparing the Canaanites and enduring their idolatry. - Deu 7:1, Deu 7:5. When the Lord drove out the tribes of Canaan before the Israelites, and gave them up to them and smote them, they were to put them under the ban (see at Lev 27:28), to make no treaty with them, and to contract no marriage with them.

נשׁל, to draw out, to cast away, e. g. , the sandals (Exo 3:5); here and Deu 7:22 it signifies to draw out, or drive out a nation from its country and possessions: it occurs in this sense in the Piel in 2Ki 16:6. On the Canaanitish tribes, see at Gen 10:15. and Deu 15:20-21. There are seven of them mentioned here, as in Jos 3:10 and Jos 24:11; on the other hand, there are only six in Deu 20:17, as in Exo 3:8, Exo 3:17; Exo 23:23, and Exo 33:2, the Girgashites being omitted.

The prohibition against making a covenant, as in Exo 23:32 and Exo 34:12, and that against marrying, as in Exo 34:16, where the danger of the Israelites being drawn away to idolatry is mentioned as a still further reason for these commands. יסיר כּי, “ for he (the Canaanite) will cause thy son to turn away from behind me ,” i. e. , tempt him away from following me, “ to serve other gods .

” Moses says “from following me ,” because he is speaking in the name of Jehovah. The consequences of idolatry, as in Deu 6:15; Deu 4:26, etc.

Deu 7:1-4 As the Israelites were warned against idolatry in Deu 6:14, so here are they exhorted to beware of the false tolerance of sparing the Canaanites and enduring their idolatry. - Deu 7:1, Deu 7:5. When the Lord drove out the tribes of Canaan before the Israelites, and gave them up to them and smote them, they were to put them under the ban (see at Lev 27:28), to make no treaty with them, and to contract no marriage with them.

נשׁל, to draw out, to cast away, e. g. , the sandals (Exo 3:5); here and Deu 7:22 it signifies to draw out, or drive out a nation from its country and possessions: it occurs in this sense in the Piel in 2Ki 16:6. On the Canaanitish tribes, see at Gen 10:15. and Deu 15:20-21. There are seven of them mentioned here, as in Jos 3:10 and Jos 24:11; on the other hand, there are only six in Deu 20:17, as in Exo 3:8, Exo 3:17; Exo 23:23, and Exo 33:2, the Girgashites being omitted.

The prohibition against making a covenant, as in Exo 23:32 and Exo 34:12, and that against marrying, as in Exo 34:16, where the danger of the Israelites being drawn away to idolatry is mentioned as a still further reason for these commands. יסיר כּי, “ for he (the Canaanite) will cause thy son to turn away from behind me ,” i. e. , tempt him away from following me, “ to serve other gods .

” Moses says “from following me ,” because he is speaking in the name of Jehovah. The consequences of idolatry, as in Deu 6:15; Deu 4:26, etc.

Deu 7:1-4 As the Israelites were warned against idolatry in Deu 6:14, so here are they exhorted to beware of the false tolerance of sparing the Canaanites and enduring their idolatry. - Deu 7:1, Deu 7:5. When the Lord drove out the tribes of Canaan before the Israelites, and gave them up to them and smote them, they were to put them under the ban (see at Lev 27:28), to make no treaty with them, and to contract no marriage with them.

נשׁל, to draw out, to cast away, e. g. , the sandals (Exo 3:5); here and Deu 7:22 it signifies to draw out, or drive out a nation from its country and possessions: it occurs in this sense in the Piel in 2Ki 16:6. On the Canaanitish tribes, see at Gen 10:15. and Deu 15:20-21. There are seven of them mentioned here, as in Jos 3:10 and Jos 24:11; on the other hand, there are only six in Deu 20:17, as in Exo 3:8, Exo 3:17; Exo 23:23, and Exo 33:2, the Girgashites being omitted.

The prohibition against making a covenant, as in Exo 23:32 and Exo 34:12, and that against marrying, as in Exo 34:16, where the danger of the Israelites being drawn away to idolatry is mentioned as a still further reason for these commands. יסיר כּי, “ for he (the Canaanite) will cause thy son to turn away from behind me ,” i. e. , tempt him away from following me, “ to serve other gods .

” Moses says “from following me ,” because he is speaking in the name of Jehovah. The consequences of idolatry, as in Deu 6:15; Deu 4:26, etc.

Deu 7:1-4 As the Israelites were warned against idolatry in Deu 6:14, so here are they exhorted to beware of the false tolerance of sparing the Canaanites and enduring their idolatry. - Deu 7:1, Deu 7:5. When the Lord drove out the tribes of Canaan before the Israelites, and gave them up to them and smote them, they were to put them under the ban (see at Lev 27:28), to make no treaty with them, and to contract no marriage with them.

נשׁל, to draw out, to cast away, e. g. , the sandals (Exo 3:5); here and Deu 7:22 it signifies to draw out, or drive out a nation from its country and possessions: it occurs in this sense in the Piel in 2Ki 16:6. On the Canaanitish tribes, see at Gen 10:15. and Deu 15:20-21. There are seven of them mentioned here, as in Jos 3:10 and Jos 24:11; on the other hand, there are only six in Deu 20:17, as in Exo 3:8, Exo 3:17; Exo 23:23, and Exo 33:2, the Girgashites being omitted.

The prohibition against making a covenant, as in Exo 23:32 and Exo 34:12, and that against marrying, as in Exo 34:16, where the danger of the Israelites being drawn away to idolatry is mentioned as a still further reason for these commands. יסיר כּי, “ for he (the Canaanite) will cause thy son to turn away from behind me ,” i. e. , tempt him away from following me, “ to serve other gods .

” Moses says “from following me ,” because he is speaking in the name of Jehovah. The consequences of idolatry, as in Deu 6:15; Deu 4:26, etc.