The core of Deuteronomy is a law code contained in chapters 12-26. This law code is introduced by two speeches of Moses. The first introductory speech (1:1-4:40) reviews Israel's history from the time God spoke to them at Mount Sinai (called Horeb in Deuteronomy) to the present. Moses highlighted two features of their history. First, the wilderness generation had been unfaithful time and again. They had constantly complained, mumbled, and grumbled. Second, the Lord had demonstrated his faithfulness by giving them all they had needed, including victory over their enemies. Moses was warning the Israelites, "Do not be unfaithful, as was that first generation, or you will not reach your goal."
The second introductory speech (4:44-11:32) is a rehearsal and elaboration of the decalogue from Exodus 20, with a few changes. This generation needed to hear the commandments afresh. If they did not hear and obey them, they would be as doomed as the generation before them.
Immediately preceding the decalogue in its Deuteronomic version Moses delivers the following charge.
1 Moses called all Israel and said to them, "Hear, Israel, the laws and rules I speak in your hearing today! Learn them and make sure you do them. 2 YHWH our Elohim made a covenant with us on Horeb. 3 It was not with our fathers that YHWH made this covenant but with us, those of us living here today." (5:1-3)
Notice the sense of earnestness in Moses' preaching style. This is characteristic of his addresses in Deuteronomy. There is no mistaking that he wants to impress upon the people the crucial importance of the covenant. It is not ancient history, nor did it apply just to their forebears. The covenant applies directly to them. Moses speaks in such a way that the covenant obligations fall on each generation, not just on the generation that heard the original words at Horeb.
After stating the Ten Commandments, Moses goes on to encapsulate the essence of this Torah in one of the most notable passages in the Hebrew Bible, Deuteronomy 6:4-5. The Jewish community calls it the shema, from this passage's first word. Along with Deuteronomy 11:13-21 and Numbers 15:37-41 it is Judaism's prime prayer, recited daily by observant Jews. Jesus identifies it as the Great Commandment (Mark 12:29-30).
4 "Hear, Israel: YHWH is our Elohim, only YHWH. 5 You shall love YHWH your Elohim with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength. 6 These words which I command you today--take them to heart. 7 Repeat them to your children. Say them when you are sitting in your house, when you are walking on the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as a sign on your hand. Let them be headbands above your eyes. 9 Write them on the door frames of your houses." (6:4-9)
The first few words of our text offer several possible translations, all equally allowable given the rules of the Hebrew language, yet each having a different twist.
YHWH is our God, YHWH alone
YHWH our God--YHWH--is one
YHWH is our God; YHWH is one
Is the Hebrew statement affirming the oneness of God--a profession of monotheism in the face of the pantheon of gods from Canaan, Egypt, and Mesopotamia? Or is it primarily affirming that Israel's God is YHWH and that they may have no other?
It is difficult to be sure what those first words really mean. An affirmation of monotheism seems too abstractly philosophical for those times, although it is conceivable that the statement was intended to deny the many Baal and Asherah gods that the Canaanites recognized.
Yet Moses and the Deuteronomist were probably not interested in affirming the unitary nature of God so much as impressing upon Israel that there is only one God for them. His name is Yahweh. He had been faithful to them in the past, and they must be loyal to him now. There may be other so-called gods among the other nations; Yahweh is the only God that deserves and demands Israel's love. The command to love Yahweh is central to the book of Deuteronomy.
The injunction to tie these words on forehead and forearm would keep the covenant always in front of each Israelite as a guide for everyday living. This was put into practice early in the history of Judaism by binding small cases containing Torah texts (called tefillin or phylacteries; see the Dead Sea Scrolls phylactery text) onto the forehead and left arm. Torah was also placed into another other holder, called a mezuzah, and attached to the door frame of homes and public buildings.
 |
Tefillin
Teffilin are scripture cases that are tied to the arm and forehead with leather straps. They keep the Torah always before the eyes of the devout. Here a rabbi helps attach one to the arm of this young man at his bar mitzvah.
Photo by Barry Bandstra |
