The central confession of biblical monotheism: "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one" (Deut. 6:4). The Shema is not merely a creedal statement but a summons to active, comprehensive, whole-life allegiance to the one God — followed immediately by the command to love Him with all heart, soul, and strength (Deut. 6:5). Jesus identified the Shema as the greatest commandment (Mark 12:29–30). The Shema declares God's exclusive claim on all of life: there is no corner of existence — family, business, politics, sexuality, culture — that falls outside the sovereignty of the one LORD.
Webster 1828 did not include "Shema" as a separate English entry. However, the verse it designates (Deut. 6:4) was universally recognized as the fountainhead of biblical monotheism. Theologians and commentators of that era regularly cited it as the bedrock affirmation that distinguishes biblical religion from all polytheism, dualism, and pantheism: there is one God, and He alone is LORD.
Modern pluralism treats the Shema's exclusivism as intolerant — the declaration that "the LORD is one" becomes offensive when all gods are presumed equal. Syncretism dilutes the Shema by adding qualifiers: "our God" becomes one expression among many equally valid expressions of divinity. Even within the church, practical polytheism (serving money, comfort, approval, self) violates the Shema while maintaining its verbal profession. Jesus' expansion of the Shema in Mark 12:30 — loving God with ALL heart, soul, mind, and strength — exposes any divided loyalty as a functional violation of the confession.
Deuteronomy 6:4–5 — "Hear, O Israel: The LORD 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."
Mark 12:29–30 — "Jesus answered, 'The most important is, "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart…"'"
1 Corinthians 8:6 — "Yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ."
Isaiah 45:5 — "I am the LORD, and there is no other; besides me there is no God."
H8085 — שָׁמַע (shama) — to hear, heed, obey; hearing in Hebrew always implies response and action, not mere auditory reception.
H259 — אֶחָד (echad) — one, united; the word for "one" in the Shema; allows for a complex unity (as in "one flesh" in Gen. 2:24), significant for Trinitarian theology.
H3068 — יְהוָה (YHWH) — the personal covenant name of God, the LORD; this name appears twice in the Shema, emphasizing His exclusive identity and covenant faithfulness.
Faithful Jews recite the Shema morning and evening — a daily reorientation of the whole self toward the one God who alone claims total allegiance.
The Shema is the antidote to compartmentalization: there is no "religious life" separate from "real life" — the LORD is God of every domain.
Paul's Christological expansion of the Shema (1 Cor. 8:6) places Jesus within the identity of the one LORD — a stunning early Christological claim.