Bible Strands
Deuteronomy 6:4
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is One.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Moses addresses the assembled nation of Israel on the plains of Moab, restating the covenant just before they cross into Canaan. The verse sits between a call to obedience (v. 3) and a command to love (v. 5), functioning as the doctrinal hinge between the two.
The words — אֶחָד ('echad) is the predicate: "one," the word for numerical unity. YHWH is repeated twice, bracketing "our God," so the name itself frames the claim.
The thread — Jesus quotes it verbatim as the greatest commandment (Mark 12:29). Isaiah 44:6 and 1 Timothy 2:5 echo the same exclusive-oneness claim in different registers.
Why it lands — The verb is "hear," not "believe" or "understand": it is a command to attend, not a proposition to evaluate. Everything that follows in Deuteronomy 6 (love, teach, bind, inscribe) hangs on whether that hearing happened.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord:
Cross-references
- Mark 12:29 Jesus replied, “This is the most important: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One.
- Isaiah 44:6 Thus says the LORD, the King and Redeemer of Israel, the LORD of Hosts: “I am the first and I am the last, and there is no God but Me.
- 1 Timothy 2:5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
- Isaiah 45:5 I am the LORD, and there is no other; there is no God but Me. I will equip you for battle, though you have not known Me,
- John 17:3 Now this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent.
- John 10:30 I and the Father are one.”
- Isaiah 44:8 Do not tremble or fear. Have I not told you and declared it long ago? You are My witnesses! Is there any God but Me? There is no other Rock; I know not one.”
- Isaiah 42:8 I am the LORD; that is My name! I will not yield My glory to another or My praise to idols.
- Deuteronomy 4:35 You were shown these things so that you would know that the LORD is God; there is no other besides Him.
- Jeremiah 10:10 But the LORD is the true God; He is the living God and eternal King. The earth quakes at His wrath, and the nations cannot endure His indignation.