Bible Study Deuteronomy 6
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Deuteronomy 6 · WEB

The Shema: Love the LORD Your God

Listen — WEB narration 0:00 / 0:00 Narration: World English Bible (David Williams), public domain — AudioTreasure.

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Now this is the commandment, the statutes, and the ordinances which the LORD your God commanded to teach you, that you might do them in the land where you go over to possess it;
2that you might fear the LORD your God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments which I command you, you, and your son, and your son's son, all the days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged.
3Hear therefore, Israel, and observe to do it, that it may be well with you, and that you may multiply exceedingly, as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey.
4Hear, Israel: the LORD is our God. The LORD is one.
5You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.
6These words, which I command you today, shall be on your heart;
7and you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up.
8You shall bind them for a sign on your hand, and they shall be as symbols between your eyes.
9You shall write them on the door posts of your house and on your gates.
10It shall be, when the LORD your God brings you into the land which he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you, great and goodly cities which you didn't build,
11and houses full of all good things which you didn't fill, and cisterns dug out which you didn't dig, vineyards and olive trees which you didn't plant, and you shall eat and be full—
12then beware lest you forget the LORD, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
13You shall fear the LORD your God; and you shall serve him, and shall swear by his name.
14You shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the peoples who are around you;
15for the LORD your God in the middle of you is a jealous God; lest the anger of the LORD your God be kindled against you, and he destroy you from off the face of the earth.
16You shall not tempt the LORD your God as you tempted him in Massah.
17You shall diligently keep the commandments of the LORD your God, and his testimonies, and his statutes which he has commanded you.
18You shall do that which is right and good in the sight of the LORD, that it may be well with you, and that you may go in and possess the good land which the LORD swore to your fathers,
19to thrust out all your enemies from before you, as the LORD has spoken.
20When your son asks you in time to come, saying, "What do these testimonies, the statutes, and the ordinances mean, which the LORD our God has commanded you?"
21Then you shall tell your son, "We were Pharaoh's bondservants in Egypt; and the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand.
22The LORD showed great and awesome signs and wonders on Egypt, on Pharaoh, and on all his household, before our eyes.
23He brought us out from there, that he might bring us in, to give us the land which he swore to our fathers.
24The LORD commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as it is today.
25It shall be righteousness for us if we observe to do all this commandment before the LORD our God, as he has commanded us."
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Summary

Chapter 6 contains the Shema — arguably the most important passage in all of Scripture for Jewish faith — declaring that the LORD is one and commanding total love for God with heart, soul, and might. Moses instructs Israel to embed this truth in daily life: teach it to children, recite it constantly, bind it on body and doorpost. He warns of the great danger of prosperity: forgetting God when life is comfortable. He also provides a catechism — an answer to give when children ask about the meaning of Israel's laws.

Themes

  • The oneness of God (monotheism) and total exclusive love as the response
  • Intentional, daily spiritual formation in the home and on the road
  • The danger of prosperity and comfort as a path to forgetting God
  • Faith passed from generation to generation through storytelling and practice
  • Obedience as a response to redemption — "for our good always"

Key verses

  • Deut 6:12 — “Then beware lest you forget the LORD, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.”
  • Deut 6:4-5 — “Hear, Israel: the LORD is our God. The LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.”
  • Deut 6:7 — “You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up.”

Context & background

The Shema (Hebrew for "Hear") — verses 4-5 — became the central confession of Jewish faith, recited twice daily in traditional Jewish practice to this day. Jesus called it the greatest commandment (Matthew 22:37-38). The command to bind words on hands and between eyes led to the Jewish practice of wearing phylacteries (tefillin) — small leather boxes containing Scripture passages. Writing on doorposts led to the mezuzah, still placed on Jewish doorframes today. The "land flowing with milk and honey" refers to the agricultural richness of Canaan — modern Israel and Palestine — whose fertile valleys and pastures supported abundant herds and beekeeping.

Cross-references

  • Mark 12:29-30 — Jesus recites the Shema as foundational to all ethics
  • Matthew 22:37-38 — Jesus calls Deut 6:5 the greatest commandment
  • Matthew 4:7 — Jesus quotes Deut 6:16 ("do not tempt the LORD") during his temptation
  • Proverbs 3:3 — "Bind them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart"
  • Romans 10:9-10 — Heart-confession as the essence of saving faith, echoing Shema themes

Check your reading

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  1. Observe

    What practices does Moses command to keep God's words constantly before Israel (vv. 7-9)?

  2. Observe

    What did Jesus call the Shema (Deut 6:4-5) in Matt 22:37-38?

  3. Interpret

    Why does Moses warn specifically about forgetting God after entering prosperity?

  4. Interpret

    What does loving God with "heart, soul, and might" mean?

  5. Apply

    What "doorposts" of your daily routine could intentionally hold reminders of God's truth?

  6. Apply

    Do you have a personal story of God's faithfulness you could share when asked?

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