The Fallible · Synthetic · Study Bible
The Greatest Commandment
Deuteronomy 6:1–19 — The Greatest Commandment. Each verse below carries the full apparatus: the Berean Standard Bible, the vocalized original (tap any word), and a parsed breakdown of every term transcribed from the interlinear. Synthesized commentary, canonical threads, and the reading of Christ gather at the end, over the whole unit.
1These are the commandments and statutes and ordinances that the LORD your God has instructed me to teach you to follow in the land that you are about to enter and possess,
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
wə·zōṯ ham·miṣ·wāh ha·ḥuq·qîm wə·ham·miš·pā·ṭîm ’ă·šer Yah·weh ’ĕ·lō·hê·ḵem ṣiw·wāh lə·lam·mêḏ ’eṯ·ḵem la·‘ă·śō·wṯ bā·’ā·reṣ ’ă·šer ’at·tem ‘ō·ḇə·rîm šām·māh lə·riš·tāh
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-this [is] the-commandment (singular), the-statutes and-the-ordinances, that YHWH your-God commanded to-teach you, to-do [them] in-the-land that you [are] crossing-over there to-possess-it.
Where the English smooths the original
המּצוה, that which is commanded, i.e., the substance of all that Jehovah had commanded, synonymous therefore with the Thorah ( Deuteronomy 4:44 ). The words, "the statutes and the rights," are explanatory of and in apposition to "the commandment."
These are the commandments. In the Hebrew it is, This is the commandment , i . e . the sum and substance of the Divine enactment; equivalent to "the Law" ( Deuteronomy 4:44 ). "The statutes and judgments" (rights) are in apposition to "the commandment," and explain it.Note the Pulpit's own correction of the English — the verse opens singular.
Moses taught the people all that, and that only, which God commanded him to teach. Thus Christ's ministers are to teach his churches all he has commanded, neither more nor less, Mt 28:20.
2so that you and your children and grandchildren may fear the LORD your God all the days of your lives by keeping all His statutes and commandments that I give you, and so that your days may be prolonged.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
lə·ma·‘an ū·ḇin·ḵā ū·ḇen- bin·ḵā tî·rā ’eṯ- Yah·weh ’ĕ·lō·he·ḵā kōl yə·mê ḥay·ye·ḵā liš·mōr ’eṯ- kāl- ḥuq·qō·ṯāw ū·miṣ·wō·ṯāw ’ă·šer ’ā·nō·ḵî mə·ṣaw·we·ḵā ’at·tāh ū·lə·ma·‘an yā·me·ḵā ya·’ă·ri·ḵun
Literal — word-for-word from the original
So-that you-may-fear YHWH your-God, [you] and-your-son and-your-son’s-son, all the-days of-your-life, and-so-that to-keep all his-statutes and-his-commandments that I [am] commanding-you — you — and-so-that your-days may-be-prolonged.
Where the English smooths the original
The reason for communicating the law was to awaken the fear of God (cf. Deuteronomy 4:10 ; Deuteronomy 5:26 ), and, in fact, such fear of Jehovah as would show itself at all times in the observance of every commandment.
That thou mightest fear the Lord, which he hereby implies to be the first principle of true obedience.
It is highly desirable that not we only, but our children, and our children's children, may fear the Lord. Religion and righteousness advance and secure the prosperity of any people.
3Hear, O Israel, and be careful to observe them, so that you may prosper and multiply greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has promised you.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
wə·šā·ma‘·tā yiś·rā·’êl wə·šā·mar·tā la·‘ă·śō·wṯ ’ă·šer yî·ṭaḇ lə·ḵā wa·’ă·šer tir·būn mə·’ōḏ ’e·reṣ zā·ḇaṯ ḥā·lāḇ ū·ḏə·ḇāš ka·’ă·šer Yah·weh ’ĕ·lō·hê ’ă·ḇō·ṯe·ḵā dib·ber lāḵ
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-you-shall-hear, O-Israel, and-you-shall-keep to-do [them], so-that it-may-go-well for-you and-so-that you-may-multiply greatly — in-a-land flowing [with] milk and-honey — just-as YHWH the-God of-your-fathers spoke to-you.
Where the English smooths the original
The position of Israel in the land, and their continuance therein, depended entirely on their fulfilment of the purpose for which they were brought there—the observance of the Law of Jehovah, as it applied to their peculiar situation.
a promise of increase of numbers was frequently made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; as that their seed should be as the stars of heaven, and as the dust of the earth, and the sand on the sea shore, innumerable
‘Only where rich wells or running water produce sufficient pasture for the whole year, is it possible always to get fresh milk; and therefore the desert-dweller dreams of such regions in which water and in consequence milk always flows.’Cambridge quotes Musil on the desert origin of the “milk and honey” image.
4Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is One.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
šə·maʿ yiś·rā·’êl Yah·weh ’ĕ·lō·hê·nū Yah·weh ʾɛ·ḥå̄ḏ
Literal — word-for-word from the original
Hear, O-Israel: YHWH [is] our-God, YHWH [is] one.
Where the English smooths the original
These words form the beginning of what is termed the "Shema" ("Hear") in the Jewish Services, and belong to the daily morning and evening office. They may be called "the creed of the Jews."
These two verses are styled by our Lord “the first and great commandment” in the Law.Ellicott also voices the later Trinitarian gloss (“We worship one God in Trinity”); that is church confession read back, not the verse’s own claim — weigh it as such.
It is past dispute that there is one God, and that there is no other but he, Mark 12:32 . Let us, therefore, neither have, nor desire to have any other.
it is precisely the same basis on which rests the purer and more spiritual form of it which Christianity exhibitsFrom JFB's single comment on the whole pericope (vv. 1–9); the sentence's subject is the Shema's confession of the unity and love of God (vv. 4–5), which JFB says Christianity does not replace but rests upon.
The three-fold mention of the Divine names, and the plural number of the word translated God, seem plainly to intimate a Trinity of persons, even in this express declaration of the unity of the Godhead.Henry's Trinitarian reading of the threefold name is a confessional inference, offered here verbatim — to be tested, not asserted as the verse's plain sense.
5And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
wə·’ā·haḇ·tā ’êṯ Yah·weh ’ĕ·lō·he·ḵā bə·ḵāl lə·ḇā·ḇə·ḵā ū·ḇə·ḵāl nap̄·šə·ḵā ū·ḇə·ḵāl mə·’ō·ḏe·ḵā
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-you-shall-love YHWH your-God with-all your-heart and-with-all your-soul and-with-all your-might.
Where the English smooths the original
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 Matthew 22:37 .
It is not only the external action, but the internal affection of the mind that God requires; an affection which influences all our actions, in secret as well as in public.
Bashi says upon the expression “all thy heart”—“with both natures” (the good and evil nature). “With all thy soul” he expounds thus: “Even though He take it (thy life) from thee.”“Bashi” is the source's spelling of Rashi; the gloss is reported, not endorsed.
6These words I am commanding you today are to be upon your hearts.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
hā·’êl·leh had·də·ḇā·rîm ’ă·šer ’ā·nō·ḵî mə·ṣaw·wə·ḵā hay·yō·wm wə·hā·yū ‘al- lə·ḇā·ḇe·ḵā
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-they-shall-be, the-words the-these that I [am] commanding-you today, upon your-heart.
Where the English smooths the original
shall be upon thine heart ] Deuteronomy 11:18 , lay up in your heart and in your soul ; Jeremiah 31:33 , I put my law in their inward parts and write it upon their hearts . As the heart was the seat of the practical intellect, this means to commit them to memory; but with a conscience to do them.
as we are in danger of losing the things if we neglect the words, we must, therefore, even lay the words up in our hearts. Our thoughts must be daily conversant with them
In thy mind to remember them, and meditate upon them, and in thy affection to love and pursue them.
7And you shall teach them diligently to your children and speak of them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
wə·šin·nan·tām lə·ḇā·ne·ḵā wə·ḏib·bar·tā bām bə·šiḇ·tə·ḵā bə·ḇê·ṯe·ḵā ū·ḇə·leḵ·tə·ḵā ḇad·de·reḵ ū·ḇə·šā·ḵə·bə·ḵā ū·ḇə·qū·me·ḵā
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-you-shall-whet-them to-your-children, and-you-shall-speak of-them in-your-sitting in-your-house and-in-your-walking on-the-road and-in-your-lying-down and-in-your-rising-up.
Where the English smooths the original
Teach them diligently, Heb. whet , or sharpen them , so as they may pierce deep into their hearts. This metaphor signifies the manner of instructing them, that it is to be done diligently, earnestly, frequently, discreetly, and dexterously.
teach them diligently ] lit. whet or sharpen , Deuteronomy 32:41 ; make incisive and impress them on thy children; rub them in, Germ. einschärfen.
Had this system of education been carried on from the first, the history of Israel would hare been very different from what it is.“hare” is a scanning artifact in the source for “have”; quoted as printed.
8Tie them as reminders on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
ū·qə·šar·tām lə·’ō·wṯ ‘al- yā·ḏe·ḵā wə·hā·yū lə·ṭō·ṭā·p̄ōṯ bên ‘ê·ne·ḵā
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-you-shall-bind-them for-a-sign upon your-hand, and-they-shall-be for-frontlets between your-eyes.
Where the English smooths the original
From this precept the Jews derive the use of the Tephillin, the portions of the Law which they bind upon the head or arm when about to pray.
The spirit of the command, however, and the chief thing intended, undoubtedly was, that they should give all diligence and use all means to keep God’s laws always in remembrance
By adopting and regulating customary usages (e. g. Egyptian) Moses provides at once a check on superstition and a means of keeping the Divine Law in memory.
9Write them on the doorposts of your houses and on your gates.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
ū·ḵə·ṯaḇ·tām ‘al- mə·zū·zōṯ bê·ṯe·ḵā ū·ḇiš·‘ā·re·ḵā
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-you-shall-write-them upon the-doorposts of-your-house and-on-your-gates.
Where the English smooths the original
That when you enter in you may remember them.
It is not necessary to interpret even this verse in so literal a sense (Driver); even this the deuteronomist may have intended to be metaphoricalCambridge (citing Driver) leaves the literal-vs-figurative question open.
To put them in mind of them when they went out and came in, that they might be careful to observe them; this the Jews take literally also, and write in a scroll of parchment this section with some passages
10And when the LORD your God brings you into the land He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that He would give you—a land with great and splendid cities that you did not build,
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
wə·hā·yāh kî Yah·weh ’ĕ·lō·he·ḵā yə·ḇî·’ă·ḵā ’el- hā·’ā·reṣ ’ă·šer niš·ba‘ la·’ă·ḇō·ṯe·ḵā lə·’aḇ·rā·hām lə·yiṣ·ḥāq ū·lə·ya·‘ă·qōḇ lā·ṯeṯ lāḵ gə·ḏō·lōṯ wə·ṭō·ḇōṯ ‘ā·rîm ’ă·šer lō- ḇā·nî·ṯā
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-it-shall-be, when YHWH your-God brings-you into the-land that he-swore to-your-fathers, to-Abraham, to-Isaac, and-to-Jacob, to-give to-you — great and-good cities that you did-not build,
Where the English smooths the original
There was therefore before them a double danger; (1) a God-forgetting worldliness, and (2) a false tolerance of the idolatries practiced by those about to become their neighbors. The former error Moses strives to guard against in the verses before us
The song of Moses supplies a prophetic comment upon this in Deuteronomy 32:15 : “Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked . . . then he forsook God.” “In all time of our wealth, good Lord, deliver us.”
Thus in the forefront of the warning not to yield to the worship of the gods of their new land the fact is emphasised in solemn phrases that it is Jehovah who brings them into it.
11with houses full of every good thing with which you did not fill them, with wells that you did not dig, and with vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant—and when you eat and are satisfied,
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
ū·ḇāt·tîm mə·lê·’îm kāl- ṭūḇ ’ă·šer lō- mil·lê·ṯā ū·ḇō·rōṯ ḥă·ṣū·ḇîm ’ă·šer lō- ḥā·ṣaḇ·tā kə·rā·mîm wə·zê·ṯîm ’ă·šer lō- nā·ṭā·‘ə·tā wə·’ā·ḵal·tā wə·śā·ḇā·‘ə·tā
Literal — word-for-word from the original
and-houses full of-every good [thing] that you did-not fill, and-cisterns hewn that you did-not hew, vineyards and-olive-trees that you did-not plant — and-you-shall-eat and-be-satisfied;
Where the English smooths the original
vineyards and olive trees which thou plantedst not; which Canaan abounded with much more than Egypt, where there were but few vines and olive trees
it is an agricultural civilisation to which Israel is succeeding, and in the agriculture of the W. Palestine hills fruit-trees were more valuable than either wheat or barley, and also their value was more dependent on the labour of previous generations.
12be careful not to forget the LORD who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
hiš·šā·mer lə·ḵā pen- tiš·kaḥ ’eṯ- Yah·weh ’ă·šer hō·w·ṣî·’ă·ḵā mê·’e·reṣ miṣ·ra·yim mib·bêṯ ‘ă·ḇā·ḏîm
Literal — word-for-word from the original
beware for-yourself lest you-forget YHWH, who brought-you-out from-the-land of-Egypt, from-the-house of-bondmen.
Where the English smooths the original
"Not forgetting" is described from a positive point of view, as fearing God, serving Him, and swearing by His name. Fear is placed first, as the fundamental characteristic of the Israelitish worship of God; it was no slavish fear, but simply the holy awe of a sinner before the holy God, which includes love rather than excludes it.
Do not let wealth and ease cause you to forget God's mercies, by which you were delivered out of misery.
give heed to thyself or be on guard with respect to thyself , apparently a common phrase from one person to another
13Fear the LORD your God, serve Him only, and take your oaths in His name.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
’eṯ- tî·rā wə·’ō·ṯōw Yah·weh ’ĕ·lō·he·ḵā ṯa·‘ă·ḇōḏ tiš·šā·ḇê·a‘ ū·ḇiš·mōw
Literal — word-for-word from the original
YHWH your-God you-shall-fear, and-him you-shall-serve, and-by-his-name you-shall-swear.
Where the English smooths the original
Literally, Jehovah thy God thou shalt fear, and him shalt thou serve: i.e., Him only, as translated by the LXX., and cited by our Lord in His temptation. It is remarkable that all His answers to the tempter were taken not only from Deuteronomy, but from one and the same portion of Deuteronomy
The command "to swear by His Name" is not inconsistent with the Lord's injunction Matthew 5:34 , "Swear not at all." Moses refers to legal swearing, our Lord to swearing in common conversation.
"Fearing" is a matter of the heart; "serving," a matter of working and striving; and "swearing in His name," the practical manifestation of the worship of God in word and conversation.
14Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
lō ṯê·lə·ḵūn ’a·ḥă·rê ’ă·ḥê·rîm ’ĕ·lō·hîm mê·’ĕ·lō·hê hā·‘am·mîm ’ă·šer sə·ḇî·ḇō·w·ṯê·ḵem
Literal — word-for-word from the original
You-shall-not walk after other gods, from-the-gods of-the-peoples that [are] around-you;
Where the English smooths the original
to go after them is to worship them, and this is to depart from the true God, and go a whoring after false deities: of the gods of the people which are round about you; the gods of the Edomites, Ammonites, Moabites, Philistines, and Egyptians
Ye shall not go after other gods , etc.] only states explicitly what is implicit in the preceding verses.
The worship of Jehovah not only precludes all idolatry, which the Lord, as a jealous God, will not endure (see at Exodus 20:5 )
15For the LORD your God, who is among you, is a jealous God. Otherwise the anger of the LORD your God will be kindled against you, and He will wipe you off the face of the earth.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
kî Yah·weh ’ĕ·lō·he·ḵā bə·qir·be·ḵā qan·nā ’êl pen- ’ap̄- Yah·weh ’ĕ·lō·he·ḵā ye·ḥĕ·reh bāḵ wə·hiš·mî·ḏə·ḵā mê·‘al pə·nê hā·’ă·ḏā·māh
Literal — word-for-word from the original
for a-jealous God [is] YHWH your-God in-your-midst; lest the-anger of-YHWH your-God burn against-you, and-he-destroy-you from-upon the-face of-the-ground.
Where the English smooths the original
16Do not test the LORD your God as you tested Him at Massah.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
lō ṯə·nas·sū ’eṯ- Yah·weh ’ĕ·lō·hê·ḵem ka·’ă·šer nis·sî·ṯem bam·mas·sāh
Literal — word-for-word from the original
You-shall-not test YHWH your-God, as you-tested-him at-Massah.
Where the English smooths the original
As ye tempted him in Massah. —How did they tempt Him in Massah? By raising the unbelieving question, “Is the Lord among us, or not?” ( Exodus 17:7 ). Even by the side of Satan upon the giddy pinnacle of the Temple, our Saviour refused to doubt the care of Jehovah.
this is another passage used by Christ to repel the temptations of Satan, Matthew 4:7 , as tempted him in Massah; a place so called from the Israelites tempting the Lord there, Exodus 17:7
Ye shall not tempt , etc.] Rather, try , or put to the proof . On Massah cp. Deuteronomy 9:22 , Deuteronomy 33:8 , and see on Exodus 17:2 ; Exodus 17:7 .
17You are to diligently keep the commandments of the LORD your God and the testimonies and statutes He has given you.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
šā·mō·wr tiš·mə·rūn ’eṯ- miṣ·wōṯ Yah·weh ’ĕ·lō·hê·ḵem wə·‘ê·ḏō·ṯāw wə·ḥuq·qāw ’ă·šer ṣiw·wāḵ
Literal — word-for-word from the original
Keeping you-shall-keep the-commandments of-YHWH your-God, and-his-testimonies and-his-statutes that he-commanded-you.
Where the English smooths the original
It will be our righteousness. It is only through the Mediator we can be righteous before God. The knowledge of the spirituality and excellency of the holy law of God, is suited to show sinful man his need of a Saviour
You shall diligently keep the commandments of the Lord your God,.... Not only the ten commands, but all others: and his testimonies, and his statutes, which he hath commanded thee; those of a judicial and ceremonial kind.
They were rather to observe all His commandments diligently, and do what was right and good in His eyes.
18Do what is right and good in the sight of the LORD, so that it may be well with you and that you may enter and possess the good land that the LORD your God swore to give your fathers,
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
wə·‘ā·śî·ṯā hay·yā·šār wə·haṭ·ṭō·wḇ bə·‘ê·nê Yah·weh lə·ma·‘an yî·ṭaḇ lāḵ ū·ḇā·ṯā wə·yā·raš·tā ’eṯ- haṭ·ṭō·ḇāh hā·’ā·reṣ ’ă·šer- Yah·weh niš·ba‘ la·’ă·ḇō·ṯe·ḵā
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-you-shall-do the-right and-the-good in-the-eyes of-YHWH, so-that it-may-go-well for-you, and-you-may-enter and-possess the-good land that YHWH swore to-your-fathers,
Where the English smooths the original
Not that which is right in thine own eyes, as many superstitious and sinful practices seem right and good to evil-minded men. Let God’s will and word, and not thine own fancy or invention, be thy rule in God’s service.
There was no question now whether Israel should pass the Jordan; but how far the conquest of Canaan would be completed, or within what period of time, depended upon their faithfulness to His decrees.
Here he condemns all of man's good intentions.
19driving out all your enemies before you, as the LORD has said.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
la·hă·ḏōp̄ ’eṯ- kāl- ’ō·yə·ḇe·ḵā mip·pā·ne·ḵā ka·’ă·šer Yah·weh dib·ber
Literal — word-for-word from the original
to-thrust-out all your-enemies from-before-you, just-as YHWH has-spoken.
Where the English smooths the original
The infin, here expresses the carrying out of the action intimated in the words," that it may be well with thee"
This the Lord promised, and as it seems with an oath, that he would do for them; drive out their enemies, and make way for the settlement of them in their country
"so that He (Jehovah) thrust out all thine enemies before thee, as He hath spoken"
The verse-by-verse work is done. What follows gathers the whole unit. All three layers below are machine-generated (⚙). Weigh them; they have no authority.
AI synthesis — woven from the public-domain voices above and the original text; generated and fallible.
The unit opens not with a list but with a singular: wə·zōṯ ham·miṣ·wāh — “and this [is] the commandment.” The Pulpit Commentary catches the English softening it: “In the Hebrew it is, This is the commandment… the sum and substance of the Divine enactment.” Keil & Delitzsch read the same word as “the substance of all that Jehovah had commanded… synonymous therefore with the Thorah,” with “the statutes and the rights” standing in apposition, unpacking it. So before the Law is itemized it is unified — one obligation, then its kinds. ⚙ The purpose-clause of v. 2 (lə·ma‘an) names the aim of the whole apparatus: that you may fear YHWH… you and your son and your son’s son. Henry: “It is highly desirable that not we only, but our children, and our children's children, may fear the Lord.” The Law is given to make a God-fearing people that outlasts the man who teaches it (v. 1’s emphatic Piel lə·lammêḏ, drilled teaching) and the generation that first hears it.
Here the unit reaches its summit, and the apparatus must tread carefully because the Hebrew itself is open. Four bare words, no verb: YHWH ’ĕlōhênū YHWH ’eḥāḏ. Barnes names what they became — “the ‘Shema’… the creed of the Jews” — and insists the line claims more than mere monotheism: “the Lord God of Israel is absolutely God, and none other.” The absence of a copula leaves several faithful renderings standing side by side (“the LORD is one,” “the LORD alone”); ⚙ the BSB picks one, and an honest reading lets the others stand. Then comes the command Jesus calls “the first and great commandment” (Ellicott): wə·’ā·haḇtā — you shall love — with heart, soul, and might. Benson refuses to let it stay external: “It is not only the external action, but the internal affection of the mind that God requires.” Barnes maps the three faculties — heart as “the seat of the understanding,” soul as “the center of will and personality,” might as “the outgoings and energies of all the vital powers” — and concludes the New Testament “requires no more than this total self-surrender.” ⚙ Matthew Henry hears in the threefold divine name and the plural ’ĕlōhîm a hint of “a Trinity of persons, even in this express declaration of the unity of the Godhead.” That is confession reading the Old by the light of the New; offered here, as Henry offers it, as a thing to weigh — not the plain claim of the verse, which is the oneness of God and the wholeness of the love He is owed.
Love that is real does not stay interior. The words are first to be upon the heart (v. 6) — Cambridge: “commit them to memory; but with a conscience to do them” — and only then to move outward: whetted into the children (v. 7’s startling šinnantām, H8150, “sharpen,” which Poole renders “whet… so as they may pierce deep into their hearts”), bound on hand and forehead (v. 8), written on doorpost and gate (v. 9). ⚙ The progression is total: heart, body, household, city — there is no zone of life the one commandment does not claim. Then the warning turns, and its shrewdness is that the peril is not hardship but abundance. Israel will inherit cities, houses, wells, and vineyards it did not build, fill, dig, or plant (vv. 10–11) — and Barnes names the resulting “double danger; (1) a God-forgetting worldliness, and (2) a false tolerance of the idolatries… of their neighbors.” So v. 12: hiššāmer lə·ḵā, guard yourself, “lest thou forget the Lord.” Ellicott reaches for the liturgy: “In all time of our wealth, good Lord, deliver us.” The house of plenty is more spiritually dangerous than the house of bondage it replaced.
The cure for forgetting is a positive triad. K&D: “‘Fearing’ is a matter of the heart; ‘serving,’ a matter of working and striving; and ‘swearing in His name,’ the practical manifestation of the worship of God.” Verse 13 — Him you shall fear, Him serve, by His name swear — is the very text Jesus wields against Satan (Matthew 4:10), and Ellicott marks the pattern: “all His answers to the tempter were taken… from one and the same portion of Deuteronomy.” The negative follows hard: walk not after other gods (v. 14), for a jealous God is YHWH in your midst (v. 15) — qannâ’, that rare, fierce covenant-jealousy — and do not test Him as at Massah (v. 16), the unbelieving demand that God prove Himself, which Christ also refuses (Matthew 4:7). The unit lands on a standard set outside the self: do the right and the good in the eyes of YHWH (v. 18). Poole: “Not that which is right in thine own eyes… Let God’s will and word, and not thine own fancy or invention, be thy rule.” And it closes where v. 3 began — on God’s spoken word kept (v. 19, “as YHWH has spoken”): the conquest is His promise, not Israel’s prowess. Grace brackets the whole law — the sworn oath of v. 10 and the sworn oath of v. 18 hold the commandments between them.
Set under the rule that Scripture alone is the final authority, four things in this unit ask to be tested rather than trusted:
The one God is loved with the whole self, or not truly at all. The creed (v. 4) and the command (v. 5) are inseparable: because the LORD is one, the love owed Him is undivided — heart, soul, and might, with nothing kept back. Monotheism here is not a doctrine to file but a claim on the entire person. Any love that reserves a province for another lord has already denied the ’eḥāḏ.
The Word is to saturate the whole of life, not occupy a religious corner. Heart, children, hand, forehead, doorpost, gate, sitting, walking, lying, rising (vv. 6–9) — the text deliberately exhausts the map. ⚙ Whether the binding and writing were meant literally or figuratively (the commentators divide), the intent is past dispute: the words of God are to be the permanent, ambient medium of a life, the way Psalm 1 says the blessed man meditates day and night.
Prosperity is a sharper test than poverty. The unit's longest warning is aimed not at suffering but at success (vv. 10–12). The danger of the good land is that the gift will eclipse the Giver. This is the Berean caution turned on the comfortable: the heart most likely to forget God is the full one.
The good is defined by God's eyes, not ours. “The right and the good in the eyes of YHWH” (v. 18) fixes the standard outside the self — the exact opposite of the refrain that damns the book of Judges, “every man did what was right in his own eyes.” Geneva reads it as a verdict on “all of man's good intentions.” Conscience is to be formed by the Word, not consulted as a rival authority to it.
These are this tool's readings, fallible and marked. Hold them against the text; keep only what Scripture bears.
The house of plenty is a more dangerous place to forget God than the house of bondage ever was. (an interpretive line, not Scripture)
AI-generated connections. Each carries a verification badge with a recorded basis; contested links are flagged.
The command of v. 6 to set the words upon the heart, and of v. 8 to bind them for frontlets between the eyes, returns almost verbatim at Deuteronomy 11:18 — the two great Shema-passages of the book. ⚙ Honesty requires splitting the two halves, because the Verifier tiers them differently. The heart-half (v. 6 ↔ 11:18) shares only the common word lêbâb (H3824, “heart,” in 230 verses), so on its own it is a thematic, not verbal, echo. The verbal weight lives in the frontlets-half: v. 8 ↔ 11:18 share the genuinely rare ṭôwphâphâh (H2903, “frontlets,” in only three verses in all of Scripture), together with qâshar (H7194, “bind”), ʼôwth (H226, “sign”), and bêyn (H996, “between”). That rare-word overlap is what makes the badge verbal; the heart-clause rides along as its thematic companion.
Deuteronomy 6:6 · Deuteronomy 6:8 · Deuteronomy 11:18
basis: verbal tier rests on the v. 8 ↔ 11:18 frontlet overlap — rare ṭôwphâphâh (H2903, only 3 vv) with qâshar (H7194), ʼôwth (H226), bêyn (H996); the v. 6 ↔ 11:18 'upon the heart' link shares only common lêbâb (H3824, 230 vv) and is thematic, stated plainly here, not upgraded
The obscure word for the bands worn between the eyes (v. 8) is one Scripture uses almost nowhere else. ⚙ The Verifier finds it shared with Exodus 13:16, the Passover-redemption text, along with ʼôwth (“sign”) and bêyn (“between”). The two passages together gave rise to the Jewish tephillin; Barnes makes the cross-reference himself, sending the reader from this verse to Exodus 13:16 for “the ‘frontlets,’ the ‘phylacteries’ of the New Test.”
Deuteronomy 6:8 · Exodus 13:16
basis: shared rare lexeme ṭôwphâphâh (H2903, only 3 vv) with ʼôwth (H226) and bêyn (H996); Verifier-confirmed Hebrew↔Hebrew verbal link
Verse 16 names a place by naming a sin: Massah, “Testing.” ⚙ The Verifier ties it through the rare lexeme Maççâh (H4532, only 5 verses) and the verb nâçâh (H5254, “to test”) to its origin in Exodus 17:7, to Moses’ blessing of Levi at Deuteronomy 33:8, and — through Maççâh and the heart-word lêbâb — to Psalm 95:8, “harden not your heart… as in the day of Massah.” One rare word carries a single memory from the wilderness into the Psalter’s warning, which Hebrews then presses on the church (Hebrews 3:7–11).
Deuteronomy 6:16 · Exodus 17:7 · Deuteronomy 33:8 · Psalm 95:8
basis: shared rare lexeme Maççâh (H4532, only 5 vv) and nâçâh (H5254); Verifier-confirmed Hebrew↔Hebrew verbal chain (Exodus 17:7; Deuteronomy 33:8; Psalm 95:8)
The fierce word of v. 15, qannâʼ (“jealous”), is reserved almost wholly for God’s zeal over exclusive worship. ⚙ The Verifier finds it shared (with ʼêl, “God”) between this verse, Exodus 34:14 — “the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God” — and Deuteronomy 4:24, “the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.” Cambridge draws the same lines, sending the reader from v. 15 to “Deuteronomy 4:24, Deuteronomy 5:9… note on Exodus 20:5.” A rare lexeme (5 verses) makes this a verbal, not merely thematic, thread.
Deuteronomy 6:15 · Exodus 34:14 · Deuteronomy 4:24
basis: shared rare lexeme qannâʼ (H7067, only 5 vv) with ʼêl (H410); Verifier-confirmed Hebrew↔Hebrew verbal link (Exodus 34:14; Deuteronomy 4:24)
The startling verb of v. 7, shânan (H8150, “to whet, sharpen”), turns the teaching of children into edge-work — Poole renders it “whet , or sharpen them , so as they may pierce deep into their hearts.” (the spacing before the commas is the source's own scanning artifact, quoted as printed) ⚙ The Verifier confirms it is a rare word — only nine verses in all of Scripture — and shares it with Moses' own song at Deuteronomy 32:41, “if I whet my glittering sword,” where God sharpens the blade of His judgment. One uncommon verb thus joins the two ends of the book: the parent who whets the words of the covenant into a child, and the LORD who whets His sword against His foes — teaching and judgment as two edges of the same steel. (The same root recurs in the Psalter of weapons and bitter tongues, Psalm 45:5; 120:4; 64:3.)
Deuteronomy 6:7 · Deuteronomy 32:41
basis: shared rare lexeme shânan (H8150, only 9 vv); Verifier-confirmed Hebrew↔Hebrew verbal link between the whetting of teaching (6:7) and the whetting of the sword (Deuteronomy 32:41)
The catalogue of unearned goods in vv. 10–11 — hewn cisterns, houses full of good things, vineyards and olives they did not labor for — reappears almost as an inventory in Nehemiah 9:25, where the Levites confess that God did give exactly this. ⚙ The Verifier records the shared lexemes châtsab (H2672, “to hew,” 22 vv), ṭûwb (H2898, “goodness,” 31 vv), zayith (H2132, “olive”) and bôwr (H953, “cistern”). The grim irony Nehemiah names is the very danger Moses warned of: “they… delighted themselves in thy great goodness” — and forgot.
Deuteronomy 6:11 · Nehemiah 9:25
basis: no single word is rare (rarest: châtsab H2672, 22 vv; with ṭûwb H2898, zayith H2132, bôwr H953); the verbal tier rests on the dense CLUSTER of four distinctive agricultural terms co-occurring — hew, goodness, olive, cistern — which the Verifier reads as a deliberate inventory-echo, not on any one rare lexeme
Asked for the first commandment of all, Jesus answers by reciting this unit: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart…” (Mark 12:29–30, quoting vv. 4–5; cf. Matthew 22:37; Luke 10:27). ⚙ Because this is a Greek New Testament citation of a Hebrew text, the Verifier finds no shared Strong's number — the lexicons do not bridge the Testaments — yet it is the most explicit quotation imaginable: the Lord names the verse as Scripture's greatest command. The tier rests on that open citation, not on a shared lexeme, which cross-Testament links by their nature cannot supply.
Deuteronomy 6:4 · Deuteronomy 6:5 · Mark 12:29-30 · Matthew 22:37 · Luke 10:27
basis: explicit NT quotation (Mark 12:29–30 cites vv. 4–5 by name as the first commandment); cross-Testament Greek↔Hebrew, so no shared Strong's lexeme is possible — tier rests on the open citation, not a verbal index match
Three of Jesus' replies in the wilderness are drawn from these very verses: v. 13 (“You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve,” Matthew 4:10) and v. 16 (“You shall not put the Lord your God to the test,” Matthew 4:7, naming Massah). Ellicott marks the pattern — “all His answers to the tempter were taken… from one and the same portion of Deuteronomy.” ⚙ Again the citation crosses Greek and Hebrew, so the Verifier returns no shared Strong's number; the link is an explicit, named New Testament quotation, and is tiered on that ground alone.
Deuteronomy 6:13 · Deuteronomy 6:16 · Matthew 4:7 · Matthew 4:10 · Luke 4:8 · Luke 4:12
basis: explicit NT quotation (Matthew 4:7,10 / Luke 4:8,12 cite vv. 13 and 16 in the temptation); cross-Testament Greek↔Hebrew — no shared Strong's lexeme possible, tier rests on the open citation
The whole-self language of v. 5 — heart and soul — runs as a refrain through the book. ⚙ The Verifier links v. 5 to Deuteronomy 11:18 by the shared lexemes lêbâb (H3824, “heart”) and nephesh (H5315, “soul”). These are common words, so the connection is structural/thematic — a shared covenantal pattern of total devotion — rather than a rare-word quotation; left at that tier on purpose.
Deuteronomy 6:5 · Deuteronomy 11:18 · Deuteronomy 10:12
basis: shared common lexemes lêbâb (H3824, 230 vv) and nephesh (H5315, 683 vv) — frequent words, so the recurring heart-and-soul pattern is thematic, not a rare-word verbal quotation; downgraded accordingly
AI-generated reading; weigh it against the text.
When a scribe asks Jesus which commandment is first, He does not improvise — He recites this unit: “The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart…” (Mark 12:29–30). Ellicott records the ancient verdict that vv. 4–5 are styled by our Lord “the first and great commandment” in the Law. ⚙ The Shema is thus not superseded by the gospel but taken up into it: the love commanded at Moab is the love the incarnate Son confirms as Scripture's summit, and the love He alone renders perfectly on our behalf.
Deuteronomy 6:4 · Deuteronomy 6:5 · Mark 12:29-30 · Matthew 22:37-38
Verse 16 — “You shall not test the LORD your God, as you tested Him at Massah” — is the word Christ speaks back to Satan on the temple pinnacle (Matthew 4:7). ⚙ Where the first Israel tested God in the wilderness and failed (Exodus 17:7), the true Israel stands in the wilderness and trusts. Ellicott draws the contrast: “Even by the side of Satan upon the giddy pinnacle of the Temple, our Saviour refused to doubt the care of Jehovah.” The obedience this unit commands and Israel could not keep, Jesus renders whole — armed, as the commentators note, with this very portion of Deuteronomy.
Deuteronomy 6:13 · Deuteronomy 6:16 · Matthew 4:7 · Matthew 4:10 · Exodus 17:7
Matthew Henry, commenting on v. 17, hears the gospel already pressing through the charge to keep every commandment: “It is only through the Mediator we can be righteous before God. The knowledge of the spirituality and excellency of the holy law of God, is suited to show sinful man his need of a Saviour.” ⚙ The unit's relentless demand — love with the whole heart, soul, and might — is precisely what exposes that no son of Adam loves so, and so points past itself: the law, holy and good, becomes a tutor leading to Christ (Galatians 3:24), in whom alone its righteous requirement is fulfilled (Romans 8:3–4). This reading is the historic Reformation one; weigh it against the text.
Deuteronomy 6:5 · Deuteronomy 6:17 · Galatians 3:24 · Romans 8:3-4
The biblical text is the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain (CC0). Hebrew/Greek text, transliteration, morphology and Strong’s are transcribed from the Berean interlinear (CC0) + Strong’s lexicons (PD); the literal renderings, divergence notes, word notes and all synthesis are this tool’s own work (⚙) — fallible; verify them.
Named voices, quoted verbatim from public-domain works:
The biblical text is the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), dedicated to the public domain (CC0). The named voices are verbatim public-domain excerpts from the Biblehub commentary set for Deuteronomy 6:1–19 — Charles Ellicott (Commentary for English Readers, 1878), Matthew Henry (Concise Commentary, 1706), Albert Barnes (Notes on the Bible, 1834), Joseph Benson (Commentary, 1810s), Matthew Poole (Annotations, 1685), John Gill (Exposition, 1746–63), the Geneva Study Bible (1599), the Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (1880s), the Pulpit Commentary (1880s), Jamieson, Fausset & Brown (1871), and Keil & Delitzsch (1860s). Each excerpt is a contiguous quotation, trimmed only at its ends; spelling and scanning artifacts in the sources (e.g. Ellicott's “Bashi” for Rashi, “hare” for “have”) are quoted as printed and flagged in the editorial notes.
The Hebrew is the Masoretic tradition. ⚙ Transliterations, parsings, the literal renderings built up from the original, the “where the English smooths the Hebrew” notes, the grand commentary, threads, and the reading of Christ are this tool's own synthesis — careful but fallible; check them against a lexicon (BDB, HALOT) and a standard grammar.
Cross-reference tiers follow the Verifier's computed bases. The Hebrew↔Hebrew links (frontlets/Exodus 13:16 and Deuteronomy 11:18; whetting/Deuteronomy 32:41; Massah/Exodus 17:7, Deuteronomy 33:8, Psalm 95:8; jealous God/Exodus 34:14, Deuteronomy 4:24) rest on shared Strong's lexemes that are genuinely rare (ṭôwphâphâh H2903 in 3 vv; Maççâh H4532 in 5 vv; qannâʼ H7067 in 5 vv; shânan H8150 in 9 vv), and are marked verbal · confirmed. The inherited-plenty link to Nehemiah 9:25 is also marked verbal, but on a different ground stated in its badge: no single word is rare, and the tier rests on a dense cluster of four distinctive agricultural terms (hew, goodness, olive, cistern) co-occurring as an inventory-echo. The New-Testament links (Mark 12:29–30; Matthew 4:7, 10) are explicit Gospel quotations of this unit; because they cross from Greek to Hebrew, the Verifier finds no shared Strong's number, so they are tiered structural / thematic · confirmed — the tier rests on the open citation, not a verbal index match — stated plainly in each badge. Two echoes to Deuteronomy 11:18 use only common words — the heart-and-soul refrain of v. 5, and the “upon the heart” clause of v. 6 — and are therefore kept (or noted within their badges) at structural / thematic, not upgraded; only the v. 8 frontlet-overlap with 11:18 earns the verbal tier. Per standing policy, the Joshua 1:5 → Hebrews 13:5 flag does not apply to this unit (it contains Deuteronomy 6, not Joshua 1). “Search the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:11)
✦ = human, public-domain source, quoted and named. ⚙ = machine synthesis, to be verified. Flagged cross-references are left visible on purpose — the verifier working in the open. “Search the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:11)