:
1 Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments, which the LORD your God commanded to teach you, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go to possess it: 2 That thou mightest fear the LORD thy God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command thee, thou, and thy son, and thy son's son, all the days of thy life; and that thy days may be prolonged. 3 Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it; that it may be well with thee, and that ye may increase mightily, as the LORD God of thy fathers hath promised thee, in the land that floweth with milk and honey. 4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: 5 And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. 6 And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: 7 And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. 8 And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. 9 And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates. 10 And it shall be, when the LORD thy God shall have brought thee into the land which he sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give thee great and goodly cities, which thou buildedst not, 11 And houses full of all good things, which thou filledst not, and wells digged, which thou diggedst not, vineyards and olive trees, which thou plantedst not; when thou shalt have eaten and be full; 12 Then beware lest thou forget the LORD, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. 13 Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name. 14 Ye shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the people which are round about you; 15 (For the LORD thy God is a jealous God among you) lest the anger of the LORD thy God be kindled against thee, and destroy thee from off the face of the earth. 16 Ye shall not tempt the LORD your God, as ye tempted him in Massah. 17 Ye shall diligently keep the commandments of the LORD your God, and his testimonies, and his statutes, which he hath commanded thee. 18 And thou shalt do that which is right and good in the sight of the LORD: that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest go in and possess the good land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, 19 To cast out all thine enemies from before thee, as the LORD hath spoken. 20 And when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, What mean the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments, which the LORD our God hath commanded you? 21 Then thou shalt say unto thy son, We were Pharaoh's bondmen in Egypt; and the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand: 22 And the LORD shewed signs and wonders, great and sore, upon Egypt, upon Pharaoh, and upon all his household, before our eyes: 23 And he brought us out from thence, that he might bring us in, to give us the land which he sware unto our fathers. 24 And the LORD commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as it is at this day. 25 And it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before the LORD our God, as he hath commanded us.
Previous
Next
[AD 60] Mark on Deuteronomy 6:4
And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all? And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: [Deuteronomy 6:4] And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these. And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he: And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. And no man after that durst ask him any question.
[AD 367] Hilary of Poitiers on Deuteronomy 6:4
Let us see whether the confession of the apostle Thomas agrees with this teaching of the Evangelist, when he says, “My Lord and my God.” He is therefore his God whom he acknowledges as God. And certainly he was aware that the Lord had said, “Hear, O Israel, the Lord your God is one.” And how did the faith of the apostle become unmindful of the principal commandment, so that he confessed Christ as God, since we are to live in the confession of the one God? The apostle, who perceived the faith of the entire mystery through the power of the resurrection, after he had often heard “I and the Father are one” and “All things that the Father has are mine” and “I in the Father and the Father in me,” now confessed the name of the nature without endangering the faith.

Source: ON THE TRINITY 7.12
[AD 395] Gregory of Nyssa on Deuteronomy 6:4
Wherefore [Scripture] says, “The Lord God is one Lord.” By the word Godhead it proclaims too the only-begotten God and does not divide the unity into a duality so as to call the Father and the Son two gods, although each is called God by holy writers.

Source: ON NOT THREE GODS
[AD 397] Ambrose of Milan on Deuteronomy 6:4
The law says, “Hear, O Israel, the Lord your God.” It did not say “speak” but “hear.” Eve fell because she said to the man what she had not heard from the Lord her God. The first word from God says to you, “hear.”

Source: On the Duties of the Clergy 1.2.7
[AD 397] Ambrose of Milan on Deuteronomy 6:4
Such too was the teaching of the law: “Hear, O Israel, the Lord your God is one Lord,” that is, unchangeable, always abiding in unity of power, always the same and not altered by any accession or diminution. Therefore Moses called him one.

Source: On the Holy Spirit 3.14.105
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on Deuteronomy 6:4
“What then?” one may say. “Were they wronged who lived before his coming?” By no means, for men might then be saved even though they had not confessed Christ. For this was not required of them, but not to worship idols and to know the true God. “For the Lord your God,” it is said, “is one Lord.” Therefore the Maccabees were admired, because for the observance of the law they suffered what they did suffer; and the three children, and many others too among the Jews, having shown forth a very virtuous life and having maintained the standard of this their knowledge, had nothing more required of them. For then it was sufficient for salvation, as I have said already, to know God only, but now it is so no more. There is need also of the knowledge of Christ.

Source: HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW 36
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Deuteronomy 6:4
That Trinity is one God. Not that Father, Son and Holy Spirit are identically the same. But the Father is Father, the Son is Son, and the Holy Spirit is Holy Spirit, and this Trinity is one God, as it is written: “Hear, O Israel, the Lord your God is one God.”

Source: On Faith and the Creed 9.16
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Deuteronomy 6:4
Consider now for a while the passages of Scripture which force us to confess that the Lord is one God, whether we are asked about the Father alone, or the Son alone, or the Holy Spirit alone, or about the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit together. Certainly it is written, “Hear, O Israel, the Lord your God is one Lord.” Of whom do you think that this is said? If it is said only of the Father, then our Lord Jesus Christ is not God. Why did those words come to Thomas when he touched Christ and cried out, “My Lord and my God,” which Christ did not reprove but approved, saying, “Because you have seen, you have believed”?

Source: LETTER 238
[AD 533] Fulgentius of Ruspe on Deuteronomy 6:4
Therefore, in whatever place you may be, because you know that you have been baptized in the one name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, according to the rule promulgated by the command of our Savior, retain this rule with your whole heart, from the start and without hesitation: the Father is God, and the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God. This means the holy and ineffable Trinity is by nature one God, concerning whom it is said in Deuteronomy, “Hear, O Israel, the Lord your God is one God,” and “You shall adore the Lord your God and him alone shall you serve.” Indeed, … we have said that this one God who alone is true God by nature, is not the Father only, nor the Son only, nor the Holy Spirit only but is at one and the same time Father, Son and Holy Spirit. [Thus] we must be wary that while we say in truth that as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are one God, insofar as this is a unity of nature, we dare not say or believe something altogether blasphemous. [Such a blasphemous saying would be] that he who is the person of the Father is the same as either the Son or the Holy Spirit, or that he who is the person of the Son is the Father or the Holy Spirit. Or [it might be] that we dare to say or to believe that the person who is properly called the Holy Spirit in the confession of this Trinity is either the Father or the Son, something that is altogether wicked.

Source: TO PETER ON THE FAITH 1.3
[AD 60] Mark on Deuteronomy 6:5
And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all? And Jesus answered him, 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, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. [Deuteronomy 6:5] And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these. And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he: And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. And no man after that durst ask him any question.
[AD 60] Matthew on Deuteronomy 6:5
But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together. Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. [Deuteronomy 6:5] This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
[AD 61] Luke on Deuteronomy 6:5
And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. [Deuteronomy 6:5] And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live. But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour? And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee. Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves? And he said, He that showed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.
[AD 395] Gregory of Nyssa on Deuteronomy 6:5
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. .
[AD 397] Ambrose of Milan on Deuteronomy 6:5
To humanity it was said, “Love the Lord your God,” yet the love of God is not instilled in the hearts of all. Deafer are the hearts of people than the hardest rock. The earth, in compliance with its Author, furnishes us with fruit which is not owed to us. We deny the debt when we do not give homage to the Author. .
[AD 397] Ambrose of Milan on Deuteronomy 6:5
Now one who loves undoubtedly believes, and by believing each one begins to love. Finally, “Abraham believed,” and thus he began to love. He did not believe in part but believed all things. Otherwise he could not possess full charity, since Scripture says, “Charity believes all things.” ()..
[AD 397] Ambrose of Milan on Deuteronomy 6:5
It is a noble thing to do one’s kindnesses and duties toward the whole of the human race. But it is ever more seemly that you should give to God the most precious thing you have, that is, your mind, for you have nothing better than that. When you have paid your debt to your Creator, then you may labor for humanity, to show them kindness and to give help. Then you may assist the needy with money, or by some duty or some service that lies in the way of your 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. .
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Deuteronomy 6:5
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.”
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Deuteronomy 6:5
The number three has an intrinsic relation to the mind. This may be understood from the text in which we are commanded to love God in a threefold manner, with the whole heart, with the whole soul, with the whole mind.
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Deuteronomy 6:5
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.
[AD 500] Desert Fathers on Deuteronomy 6:5
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 not move away in a hurry. If you keep to these guide-lines, you will be saved.’

Source: The Desert Fathers, Sayings of the Early Christian Monks
[AD 500] Desert Fathers on Deuteronomy 6:5
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.’

Source: The Desert Fathers, Sayings of the Early Christian Monks
[AD 585] Cassiodorus on Deuteronomy 6:10-19
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 consolations of the world, once he has trained himself on the Lord with total purity of mind.

Source: EXPOSITION OF THE PSALMS 85:12
[AD 60] Matthew on Deuteronomy 6:13
Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and showeth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. [Deuteronomy 6:13] Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.
[AD 61] Luke on Deuteronomy 6:13
And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, showed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. [Deuteronomy 6:13]
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Deuteronomy 6:13
What is to be said of justice in its relation to God? As the Lord says, “No man can serve two masters,” and the apostle rebukes those who serve the creature rather than the Creator, so had it not been said before in the Old Testament: “You shall adore the Lord your God and him only shall you serve”? But what need is there to say more about this here since the Scriptures are full of such texts? Justice then offers this rule of life to the lover we are describing: that he serve with gladness the Lord whom he loves, that is to say, the supreme good, the supreme wisdom, the supreme peace; and with respect to all other things, that he govern those which are subject to him and endeavor to subject all else to the same rule. This rule of life is confirmed, as we have shown, by the authority of both Testaments.

Source: ON THE CATHOLIC AND THE MANICHAEAN WAYS OF LIFE 1.24.44
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Deuteronomy 6:13
Whoever yields assent to the supreme authority of divine Scripture should first examine these words: “The Lord your God shall you adore, and him only shall you serve.” In Greek the expression used does not signify the service owed to human masters but that which is offered to God, called latreia. Thus idolatry is rightly condemned because the latreia which is due to the true God alone is offered to idols. It does not say, “You shall adore only the Lord your God,” but it says, “And him only shall you serve.” It used the word only with “you shall serve,” meaning, no doubt, that service which is called latreia. To this service belong temple, sacrifice, priest, and other like attributes.

Source: LETTER 173A
[AD 60] Matthew on Deuteronomy 6:16
Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. [Deuteronomy 6:16]
[AD 61] Luke on Deuteronomy 6:16
And he brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence: For it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee: And in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. [Deuteronomy 6:16] And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season.