Deuteronomy 6:6
in Deuteronomy 6These words I am commanding you today are to be upon your hearts.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be upon thy heart;
KJV
And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:
⋯
This verse in Deuteronomy 6
Commentary
4 notes on this verseAnd these words, which I command thee this day,.... To hearken to, observe, and take notice of, that God is one, and is to be loved in the strongest manner that possibly can be: shall be in thine heart; on the table of the heart, as the Targum of Jonathan; see 2Co 3:3, be cordially received, have a place in the affections of the heart, and be retained in mind and memory.
This site's exposition
These words I am commanding you today
on Deuteronomy 6:6-7
The words go into the hearer before the child, since verse 6 puts them "upon your hearts" and verse 7 sends them on. Diligent teaching is set in four moments, from "when you sit at home" to "when you get up," covering a household's whole day.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Though the words alone without the things will do us no good, yet we are in danger of losing the things if we neglect the words, by which ordinarily divine light and power are conveyed to the heart.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Shall be in thine heart - For where else can love be? If it be not in the heart, it exists not. And if these words be not in the heart - if they are not esteemed, prized, and received as a high and most glorious privilege, what hope is there that this love shall ever reign there?
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
9 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְהָי֞וּ | vehayu | and they will be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| הַדְּבָרִ֣ים | hadevarim | the words | H1697 → | 1440 times |
| הָאֵ֗לֶּה | haeleh | <the> these | H428 → | 746 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֨ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| אָנֹכִ֧י | ʾanokhi | I | H595 → | 359 times |
| מְצַוְּךָ֛ | metzavekha | [am] commanding you | H6680 → | 494 times |
| הַיּ֖וֹם | haiyom | this day | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| לְבָבֶֽךָ׃ | levavekha | heart your | H3824 → | 252 times |
וְהָי֞וּand they will be
vehayuH1961 →3559 times
הַדְּבָרִ֣יםthe words
hadevarimH1697 →1440 times
הָאֵ֗לֶּה<the> these
haelehH428 →746 times
אֲשֶׁ֨רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
אָנֹכִ֧יI
ʾanokhiH595 →359 times
מְצַוְּךָ֛[am] commanding you
metzavekhaH6680 →494 times
הַיּ֖וֹםthis day
haiyomH3117 →2304 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
לְבָבֶֽךָ׃heart your
levavekhaH3824 →252 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
Jeremiah 31:33“But this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD. I will put My law in their minds and inscribe it on their hearts. And…
it leads to
- 2 Corinthians 3:3
It is clear that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Hebrews 10:16
“This is the covenant I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord. I will put My laws in their hearts and inscribe them on their minds.”
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Hebrews 8:10
For this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord. I will put My laws in their minds and inscribe them on their hearts. And…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Ezekiel 11:19–20
And I will give them singleness of heart and put a new spirit within them; I will remove their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh,
- Jeremiah 24:7
I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am the LORD. They will be My people, and I will be their God, for they will return to Me with all their…
- 2 Corinthians 3:3
Through
Colossians 3:16Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to…
it leads to
- Psalms 119:11
I have hidden Your word in my heart that I might not sin against You.
- Ephesians 5:19
Speak to one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your hearts to the Lord,
- John 15:7
If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
- Psalms 119:11
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies15
About Deuteronomy
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.