Deuteronomy 6:5
in Deuteronomy 6And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
and thou shalt love Jehovah thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
KJV
And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
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This verse in Deuteronomy 6
Commentary
19 notes on this verseAnd therefore it is written, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God. Now he who loves also believes, and in believing each man begins to love. Abraham believed, and so began to love, and he believed not in part, but entirely. For otherwise he would not have perfect charity, for it is written, Charity believeth all things. If it believe not all things, charity does not seem to be perfect. Perfect charity then has all faith.
This site's exposition
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is One
on Deuteronomy 6:4-5
Jewish practice has recited these verses twice daily since antiquity and names them by their first Hebrew word, Shema. Asked which commandment is first, Jesus quotes verses 4 and 5 at Mark 12:29-30.
This site's exposition
with all your strength
The command answers verse 4, since the one LORD is to be loved with the whole of a person. Matthew Henry reads the three terms as calling for a love that is sincere, inward and in truth, and strong in its fervour.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers5 voices
A commentator
Desert FathersThe Desert Fathers, Sayings of the Early Christian Monks · Written before 500.
proposed
Somebody asked Antony, 'What shall I do in order to please God?' He replied, 'Do what I tell you, which is this: wherever you go, keep God in mind; whatever you do, follow the example of holy Scripture; wherever you are, stay there and do …
A commentator
Desert FathersThe Desert Fathers, Sayings of the Early Christian Monks · Written before 500.
proposed
Gregory said, 'God asks three things of anyone who is baptized: to keep the true faith with all his soul and all his might; to control his tongue; to be chaste in his body.'
Therefore the supreme and true wisdom is in that first commandment: "You shall love the Lord your God with your whole heart and with your whole soul." From this it follows that wisdom is love of God, which is "poured forth in our hearts," not otherwise than "by the Holy Spirit who is given to us." But "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom," and "there is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear."
Now it is plain that the number four has relation to the body, from the four well known elements of which it consists, and the four qualities of dry, humid, warm, cold. Hence too it is administered by four seasons, spring, summer, autumn, winter. All this is very well known. For of the number four relating to the body we have treated elsewhere somewhat subtilly, but obscurely: which must be avoided in this discourse, which we would have accommodated to the unlearned. But that the number three has relation to the mind may be understood from this, that we are commanded to love God after a threefold manner, with the whole heart, with the whole soul, with the whole mind: of each of which severally we must treat, not in the Psalms, but in the Gospels: for the present, for proof of the relation of the number three to the mind, I think what has been said enough.
A commentator
Augustine of HippoConcerning Man's Perfection in Righteousness · Written before 430.
proposed
Then in all this plenitude of charity will be fulfilled the commandment, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind." For while there remains any remnant of the lust of the flesh, to be kept in check by the rein of continence, God is by no means loved with all one's soul. For the flesh does not lust without the soul; although it is the flesh which is said to lust, because the soul lusts carnally. In that perfect state the just man shall live absolutely without any sin, since there will be in his members no law warring against the law of his mind, but wholly will he love God, with all his heart, with all his soul, and with all his mind which is the first and chief commandment.
11 more voices on this verse
The Church Fathers5 voices
A commentator
Ambrose of MilanThe Six Days of Creation, Book 3, Chapter 17, Section 70 · Written before 397.
proposed
He says, 'Let the earth bring forth green herb,' and immediately the whole earth, at the rising of the germ, is filled with all kinds of plants. And to man it is said: 'Love the Lord your God' (Deut., VI, 5), and the love of God is not infused into the hearts of all. The hearts of men are more deaf than the hardest rocks. The earth produces fruits for us undeservedly, while obeying its creator; we deny the debt of gratitude, while not honoring the creator.
A commentator
Philoxenus of Mabbug13 Ascetic Discourses, Discourse 7 -- Second Discourse on the Fear of God · Written before 523.
proposed
That the people should love God was the greatest of the commandments, and therefore Moses urged them to fear Him. The commandment, "[Thou shalt] love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind", belonged to …
As the law teaches, "You shall love the Lord your God with your whole heart and your whole soul." But the person who puts his entire hope in the Lord also praises with his whole heart. He does not put his trust in the transient …
If one does not love God with all his heart and with all his soul, how can he care wholesomely and guilelessly for the love of his brothers, since he is not fulfilling the love of the One on whose account he has a care for the love of his brothers? The person in this condition, who has not given his whole soul to God and has not participated in his love, the craftsman of evil finds disarmed and easily overpowers. .
A commentator
Ambrose of MilanOn the Duties of the Clergy, Book 1, Section 262 · Written before 397.
proposed
And the law says: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God, thou shalt love thy neighbour." It is a noble thing to do one's kindnesses and duties towards the whole of the human race. But it is ever most seemly that thou shouldst give to God the most precious thing thou hast, that is, thy mind, for thou hast nothing better than that. When thou hast paid thy debt to thy Creator, then thou mayest labour for men, to show them kindness, and to give help; then thou mayest assist the needy with money, or by some duty, or some service that lies in the way of thy ministry; by money to support him; by paying a debt, so as to free him that is bound; by undertaking a duty, so as to take charge of a trust, which he fears to lose, who has put it by in trust.
The Medieval Church1 voice
A commentator
Bernard of ClairvauxSermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 20 · Written before 1153.
proposed
See for yourself if those three commands are not prescribed in the law when God says: "You shall love the Lord your God with your whole heart, your whole soul and your whole strength." It seems to me, if no more suitable meaning for this …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And thou shalt love the Lord thy God,.... Which is the first and chief commandment in the law, the sum and substance of the first table of it; and includes in it, or at least has connected with it, knowledge of God, esteem of him, delight in him, faith and trust in him, fear and worship of him, and obedience to him, which when right springs from it.
But more blessed are we if we duly consider and improve, 1. What we are here taught to believe concerning God: that Jehovah our God is one Jehovah. (1.) That the God whom we serve is Jehovah, a Being infinitely and eternally perfect, self-existent, and self-sufficient.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Since there is but One God, and that God is Israel’s God, so Israel must love God unreservedly and entirely. The “heart” is mentioned as the seat of the understanding; the “soul” as the center of will and personality; the “might” as representing the outgoings and energies of all the vital powers. The New Testament itself requires no more than this total self-surrender of man’s being to his maker Mat 22:
Thou shalt love the Lord, etc. - Here we see the truth of that word of the apostle, 1Ti 1:5: Now the End of the Commandment is Love out of a pure heart, etc. See the whole of the doctrine contained in this verse explained on Mat 22:36-40 (note).
Modern Voices1 voice
Critically, love for God is at the core of a relationship with Him. The goal was never mere compliance. The goal was covenant faithfulness expressed through love for God and love for others.
How the passage was read
On Deuteronomy 6:4-9On Deuteronomy 6:4-9
The confession Israel still prays twice a day
Verses 4 and 5 are the Shema (Hebrew for “Hear,” the passage's first word): “Hear, O Israel: the LORD our God, the LORD is one.” It is the closest thing Judaism has to a creed, prayed morning and evening by observant Jews to this day; the Mishnah, the first code of Jewish oral law (about AD 200), opens its very first page with the question of when the evening Shema is recited (Berakhot 1:1). When a lawyer asks Jesus which commandment is greatest, His answer begins with this text (Matthew 22:37).
The commands to bind these words “on your hand” and “between your eyes” and to write them “on your doorposts” are kept physically. Tefillin (called phylacteries in the Gospels) are two small leather boxes containing Scripture passages, bound with straps to the arm and forehead during weekday morning prayer. A mezuzah is a small case fixed to the doorpost of a Jewish home holding this passage on parchment. Jesus never criticizes either practice; His woe falls on tefillin made extra wide to be seen (Matthew 23:5), ostentation in a good thing, not the thing itself.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Sources: Mishnah Berakhot 1:1 (the Shema's recitation, the Mishnah's opening subject) · Mishnah Menachot 4:1 (tefillin of arm and head, each valid without the other)
The words behind it
10 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְאָ֣הַבְתָּ֔ | veahavta | and you will love | H157 → | 211 times |
| אֵ֖ת | ʾet | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| יְהוָ֣ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֱלֹהֶ֑יךָ | ʾeloheikha | God your | H430 → | 2601 times |
| בְּכָל־ | bekhol | with all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| לְבָבְךָ֥ | levavekha | heart your | H3824 → | 252 times |
| וּבְכָל־ | uvekhol- | and with all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| נַפְשְׁךָ֖ | nafshekha | being your | H5315 → | 754 times |
| וּבְכָל־ | uvekhol- | and with all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| מְאֹדֶֽךָ׃ | meodekha | strength your | H3966 → | 300 times |
וְאָ֣הַבְתָּ֔and you will love
veahavtaH157 →211 times
אֵ֖ת<obj.>
ʾetH853 →10935 times
יְהוָ֣הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֱלֹהֶ֑יךָGod your
ʾeloheikhaH430 →2601 times
בְּכָל־with all
bekholH3605 →5413 times
לְבָבְךָ֥heart your
levavekhaH3824 →252 times
וּבְכָל־and with all
uvekhol-H3605 →5413 times
נַפְשְׁךָ֖being your
nafshekhaH5315 →754 times
וּבְכָל־and with all
uvekhol-H3605 →5413 times
מְאֹדֶֽךָ׃strength your
meodekhaH3966 →300 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Matthew 22:37Jesus declared, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’
it leads to
- Luke 10:27
He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ and ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Deuteronomy 30:6
The LORD your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, and you will love Him with all your heart and with all your soul, so that you may live.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Mark 12:29–30
Jesus replied, “This is the most important: ‘Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One.
- Deuteronomy 10:12
And now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God by walking in all His ways, to love Him, to serve the LORD your…
- Mark 12:33
and to love Him with all your heart and with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself, which is more important than all burnt offerings and…
- Luke 10:27
Through
Luke 10:27He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ and ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
it leads to
- Mark 12:30–31
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’
- Matthew 22:37–40
Jesus declared, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’
- Romans 13:9
The commandments “Do not commit adultery,” “Do not murder,” “Do not steal,” “Do not covet,” and any other commandments, are summed up in this one decree: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
- Mark 12:30–31
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies15
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About Deuteronomy
This page draws on 19 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Alfred Edersheim, Sketches of Jewish Social Life; Ambrose of Milan, Letter 76, Section 5; Ambrose of Milan, The Six Days of Creation; Ambrose of Milan, The Six Days of Creation, Book 3, Chapter 17, Section 70; Ambrose of Milan, On the Duties of the Clergy, Book 1, Section 262; Augustine of Hippo, Commentary (church-history corpus); Augustine of Hippo, Expositions on the Psalms, Psalm 6; Augustine of Hippo, Concerning Man's Perfection in Righteousness; Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 20; Cassiodorus, EXPOSITION OF THE PSALMS 85:12; Desert Fathers, The Desert Fathers, Sayings of the Early Christian Monks; Gregory of Nyssa, Commentary (church-history corpus); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Philoxenus of Mabbug, 13 Ascetic Discourses, Discourse 7 -- Second Discourse on the Fear of God and Rabbi Jason Sobel, Recovering God's Design pt. 1 (Ask the Rabbi series).