Giving It All To God
Giving It All to God
4 שְׁמַ֖עa יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֵ֖ינוּ יְהוָ֥ה׀ אֶחָֽד׃
4 שְׁמַ֖עa יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֵ֖ינוּ יְהוָ֥ה׀ אֶחָֽד׃
5 וְאָ֣הַבְתָּ֔ אֵ֖ת יְהוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֑יךָ בְּכָל־לְבָבְךָ֥ וּבְכָל־נַפְשְׁךָ֖ וּבְכָל־מְאֹדֶֽךָ׃
4 fHear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: 5 And gthou shalt love the LORD thy God hwith all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy hmight.
Deuteronomy 6:4–5, commonly called the Shema after its first word (shema‘ [TH8085, ZH9048]), constitutes the very heart of the Old Testament and Jewish faith. It is Israel’s doctrinal confession in its most essential form. From a covenant perspective, it is the cardinal principle of which all else is interpretive. When Jesus was asked what is the most important commandment, he replied, “ ‘You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment” (Matt 22:37–38). The absence of rebuttal from his critics suggests that what Jesus said was commonly accepted.
The command to love (that is, in covenant terms, to obey) is predicated on the declaration of who Yahweh is. Moses said, “Yahweh is our God,” that is, the God of no other people and the only God for Israel. The phrase “the LORD alone” (see note on 6:4) affirms this conviction that only Yahweh is Israel’s God.
The fullness of such love is seen in its comprehensive expression—the whole heart, the whole soul, the full strength (Wolff 1974:53). “Heart” (lebab [TH3824, ZH4222]; cf. leb [TH3820, ZH4213]) in Old Testament physiology refers to the mind or will, the center of the intellect. “Soul” (nepesh [TH5315, ZH5883]) describes the person himself or herself, the essential being, especially the desires or longings. “Strength” (me’od [TH3966, ZH4394], lit., “muchness”) is not an element of one’s being, but of human activity, what one does. Thus, the command is to be obedient to God with fullness of being and totality of effort. The New Testament variations on this formula (cf. Matt 22:37–39; Mark 12:29–30; Luke 10:27) agree on the fundamental truths being propounded; the differences in wording may be explained by explanatory glosses in the Septuagint (Bock 1996:1025), made necessary in a more Hellenistic environment.
37 Jesus said unto him, rThou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like unto it, sThou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 40 On these two commandments hang tall the law and the prophets.
29 bHe maketh the storm a ccalm,
So that the waves thereof are still.
The Mind
inner man, mind, will, heart
3 For I say, mthrough the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, nnot to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think †soberly, oaccording as God hath dealt to every man pthe measure of faith.
19 Behold, I give unto you power cto tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you. 20 Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, dthat the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because eyour names are written in heaven.
16 mFor who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he †may instruct him? But nwe have the mind of Christ.
The Soul
נֶ֫פֶשׁ
23 And uthe very God of peace wsanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole xspirit and xsoul and body ybe preserved zblameless aunto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, uHe that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and vgreater works than these shall he do; because wI go unto my Father. 13 xAnd whatsoever ye shall ask yin my name, that will I do, that zthe Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.
16 gThe Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are hthe children of God:
Our Might
force, might