BIBLE CHAPTER STUDY
Deuteronomy 6 — The Shema and Love of God
Deuteronomy 6 gathers the core covenant duties: fearing the LORD, keeping His commands, loving Him wholly, and teaching His words to the next generation.
Scripture
1Now this is the commandment, the statutes, and the ordinances, which Jehovah your God commanded to teach you, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go over to possess it;
2that thou mightest fear Jehovah thy God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command thee, thou, and thy son, and thy son's son, all the days of thy life; and that thy days may be prolonged.
3Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it; that it may be well with thee, and that ye may increase mightily, as Jehovah, the God of thy fathers, hath promised unto thee, in a land flowing with milk and honey.
4Hear, O Israel: Jehovah our God is one Jehovah:
5and thou shalt love Jehovah thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
6And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be upon thy heart;
7and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thy house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
8And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thy hand, and they shall be for frontlets between thine eyes.
9And thou shalt write them upon the door-posts of thy house, and upon thy gates.
10And it shall be, when Jehovah thy God shall bring thee into the land which he sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give thee, great and goodly cities, which thou buildest not,
11and houses full of all good things, which thou filledst not, and cisterns hewn out, which thou hewedst not, vineyards and olive-trees, which thou plantedst not, and thou shalt eat and be full;
12then beware lest thou forget Jehovah, who brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
13Thou shalt fear Jehovah thy God; and him shalt thou serve, and shalt swear by his name.
14Ye shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the peoples that are round about you;
15for Jehovah thy God in the midst of thee is a jealous God; lest the anger of Jehovah thy God be kindled against thee, and he destroy thee from off the face of the earth.
16Ye shall not tempt Jehovah your God, as ye tempted him in Massah.
17Ye shall diligently keep the commandments of Jehovah your God, and his testimonies, and his statutes, which he hath commanded thee.
18And thou shalt do that which is right and good in the sight of Jehovah; that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest go in and possess the good land which Jehovah sware unto thy fathers,
19to thrust out all thine enemies from before thee, as Jehovah hath spoken.
20When thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, What mean the testimonies, and the statutes, and the ordinances, which Jehovah our God hath commanded you?
21then thou shalt say unto thy son, We were Pharaoh's bondmen in Egypt: and Jehovah brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand;
22and Jehovah showed signs and wonders, great and sore, upon Egypt, upon Pharaoh, and upon all his house, before our eyes;
23and he brought us out from thence, that he might bring us in, to give us the land which he sware unto our fathers.
24And Jehovah commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear Jehovah our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as at this day.
25And it shall be righteousness unto us, if we observe to do all this commandment before Jehovah our God, as he hath commanded us.
What this passage means
The chapter opens by gathering Israel's obligations under three headings — commandment, statutes, and ordinances — given so the people may practice them in the land they are about to enter (v. 1). The stated purpose is twofold: to fear Jehovah and to keep His statutes across generations, and to enjoy prolonged days (v. 2). This frames obedience not as ritual formality but as the proper human response to the God who is bringing Israel into a land flowing with milk and honey (v. 3).
Verses 4–5 form the central confession known as the Shema. The affirmation that 'Jehovah our God is one Jehovah' is paired with the call to love Him with all heart, soul, and might. The oneness of God grounds the totality of the demanded love: because He alone is God, the entire person belongs to Him. Verses 6–9 then move from confession to transmission: the words are to be on the heart, taught diligently to children, spoken in every daily setting, bound as a sign on the hand and between the eyes, and written on doorposts and gates.
The second half warns against forgetfulness once Israel settles into a land of houses they did not build, cisterns they did not hew, and vineyards they did not plant (vv. 10–11). The danger is prosperity-induced forgetting of the LORD who delivered them from Egypt (v. 12). The chapter closes with a catechetical pattern: when a future son asks the meaning of the testimonies, the answer rehearses the exodus, the mighty acts against Egypt, and the purpose of the statutes — that Israel may fear the LORD for good and that the obedience may be counted righteousness before Him (vv. 20–25).
Context
The curated chapter note identifies this as 'Shema and love of God.' Within the chapter itself, two settings frame the teaching. First, Israel is addressed as a people on the verge of entering the promised land (vv. 1, 3, 10–11). Second, the domestic setting is highlighted: the words are to be taught to children and spoken when one sits in the house, walks by the way, lies down, and rises up (vv. 6–7), and the question-and-answer pattern anticipates a future generation asking about the meaning of the testimonies (vv. 20–25).
The chapter builds a movement from exclusive loyalty to the LORD (vv. 4–5, 13–15), to continual transmission of His words (vv. 6–9), to vigilance against forgetting Him in prosperity (vv. 10–12), to covenant faithfulness marked by fearing God, keeping commandments, and walking in righteousness (vv. 13–19, 24–25). The verses also recall past failure at Massah (v. 16) and past deliverance from Egypt (vv. 21–23) as the moral backdrop for present obedience.
Key words in the original
- H4687 Used in v. 1 for 'commandment,' H4687 (miṣwāh) names the binding directive of a superior, here the directive Moses hands Israel to be practiced in the land they will enter.
- H2706 In v. 1 H2706 (ḥuqqîm, 'statutes') refers to enacted ordinances with the force of appointment — the prescribed limits within which Israel's life is to be ordered in the land.
- H3372 Verse 2 uses H3372 (yārēʾ, 'fear') for the fearing of Jehovah — not mere fright but reverent regard that moves the hearer to keep all His statutes across generations.
Related verses
- Mark 12:30 Jesus quotes the love commandment from Deuteronomy 6:5 and joins 'mind' to the heart, soul, and might already named in the chapter.
- Mark 12:29 Mark records Jesus answering with the opening of the Shema: 'Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God, the Lord is one,' echoing v. 4 directly.
- Deuteronomy 30:6 Deuteronomy 30:6 promises that the LORD will circumcise the heart so Israel may love Him with all heart and soul — the very love enjoined in v. 5.
Common questions
What is the Shema in Deuteronomy 6:4?
Deuteronomy 6:4 reads: 'Hear, O Israel: Jehovah our God is one Jehovah.' It is a confession of the oneness of God, paired with the command in v. 5 to love Him with all heart, soul, and might. The text itself presents the confession as the foundation for that total love.
How does the chapter connect obedience with fearing God and loving God?
Verses 1–2 frame the statutes as given so Israel may fear Jehovah and keep His commands. Verses 4–5 then locate that fear within exclusive love for the one LORD. Verses 13 and 17–18 reinforce the same link: fearing God, serving Him, swearing by His name, diligently keeping His testimonies, and doing what is right in His sight are presented as one indivisible response.
Why does the chapter warn against forgetting the LORD after entering the land?
Verses 10–12 picture Israel inhabiting cities it did not build, houses it did not fill, cisterns it did not hew, and vineyards it did not plant, and then eating and being full. In that situation, the text warns, the people must take care not to forget Jehovah who brought them out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. The warning turns the prosperity itself into the occasion for remembering the deliverer.