Shema

The Shema is the declaration “Hear, O Israel, Yahweh our God is one Yahweh” (Deuteronomy 6:4). The name Shema comes from the first Hebrew word of the verse, shema, “hear.” Deuteronomy 6:4–9 contains all of this essential biblical truth. While several translations of verse 4 are grammatically correct, the words of Jesus in Mark 12:29 match the above translation best. Religious Jews pray the Shema three times a day as a devotion. No Sabbath worship occurs in the synagogue without it.

The Shema contains both a basic truth about God and a duty that follows from it. Its teaching is urgent. The Shema calls people to respond with their whole lives to this important message and to what it requires.

In teaching about the nature of God, the Hebrew word echad ("one") can describe a unity made up of more than one part. The well-known medieval Jewish theologian Maimonides taught that God is yachid (one in an absolute sense). But the Old Testament does not use this word to describe God. The word echad first occurs in Genesis 2:24, where a man and woman are made one (echad) in marriage. This is how Jesus could quote Deuteronomy 6:4 without denying his own deity.

See also Book of Deuteronomy.