Deuteronomy 6 is one of the holiest chapters in Scripture. It gives the Shema, commands total love for the one Lord, orders the teaching of children, and warns Israel not to forget God when houses are full and life is comfortable. The chapter moves from confession to affection, from affection to memory, and from memory to obedience.
Deuteronomy 6 - The Shema and the Love of God
Historical and Scriptural Context
After renewing the Ten Words in chapter 5, Moses now gives the inner center of covenant life. Obedience cannot survive as bare duty. It must be animated by love. The chapter therefore becomes a fountain for later biblical revelation. Our Lord cites its central command as the first and great commandment.
The chapter also teaches the pedagogy of the home. The covenant is to be spoken while sitting, walking, lying down, and rising up. Faith is not outsourced. Parents are responsible to make remembrance ordinary.
Geographical Significance ⛰️
Israel is still east of the Jordan, looking toward cities, wells, vineyards, and olive trees they did not build or plant. Geography here becomes moral danger. The land is good, but settled abundance may become more spiritually dangerous than the wilderness if the people grow full and forgetful.
Characters
- The Lord: the one true God, object of total love.
- Israel: called to hear, love, fear, serve, and remember.
- Children and sons: covenant memory must be handed down through generations.
- The nations and their gods: a living temptation surrounding Israel.
Text Broken Open
1. The confession of God’s oneness
4: Hear, O Israel, The Lord our God is one Lord. 5: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy mind, and with all thy soul, and all thy strength. 6: And these words, all that I command thee this day, shall be in thy heart and in thy soul. 7: And thou shalt teach them to thy children, and thou shalt speak of them sitting in the house, and walking by the way, and lying down, and rising up. 8: And thou shalt fasten them for a sign upon thy hand, and it shall be immoveable before thine eyes. 9: And ye shall write them on the lintels of your houses and of your gates.
The chapter begins with hearing. Before a person speaks to God well, he must learn to hear God. The one God asks for an undivided heart. Love is not sentiment here. It is covenantal self-offering expressed in memory, speech, and obedience.
Orthodox spirituality refuses to separate doctrine and devotion. The confession that God is one is not an abstract formula. It is the ground of wholehearted life. If the Lord is one, the heart must not be divided among rival loves.
The Fathers were careful not to oppose the Shema to the Church’s confession of the Trinity. St Basil, in On the Holy Spirit, and St Athanasius, in On the Incarnation, insist that the Son and the Spirit are not rival gods standing beside the Father, but belong to the one divine life revealed in salvation. So when Christ Himself repeats the Shema, He is not setting aside His own divinity. He is drawing Israel’s confession to its full brightness: the one Lord whom Israel hears is made known as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, without any division of the divine unity.
2. The battle after blessing
10: And it shall come to pass when the Lord thy God shall have brought thee into the land which he sware to thy fathers, to Abraam, and to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give thee great and beautiful cities which thou didst not build, 11: houses full of all good things which thou didst not fill, wells dug in the rock which thou didst not dig, vineyards and oliveyards which thou didst not plant, then having eaten and been filled, 12: beware lest thou forget the Lord thy God that brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 13: Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve; and thou shalt cleave to him, and by his name thou shalt swear. 14: Go ye not after other gods of the gods of the nations round about you; 15: for the Lord thy God in the midst of thee is a jealous God.
The great danger is not only famine, but fullness. Neediness can drive a person to prayer. Plenty can lull him into spiritual sleep. Moses knows this. Therefore he teaches Israel to bless the Giver and not merely consume the gift.
This chapter speaks powerfully to Christians in stable societies, comfortable routines, or seasons of professional success. Forgetfulness often arrives politely.
3. Do not tempt the Lord
16: Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God, as ye tempted him in the temptation. 17: Thou shalt by all means keep the commands of the Lord thy God, the testimonies, and the ordinances, which he commanded thee. 18: And thou shalt do that which is pleasing and good before the Lord thy God.
To tempt God is to demand proof while withholding trust. It is to stand over Him instead of beneath Him. Our Lord uses this verse against the devil in the wilderness. The true Son answers Israel’s old failure with obedient faith.
St John Chrysostom, commenting on the temptation narratives in his Homilies on Matthew, notes that Christ answers the devil from Deuteronomy not because the Son lacks power, but because He teaches us to overcome by humble obedience rather than spectacle. Israel tempted God at Massah by demanding signs on its own terms. Christ, the true Son, refuses that path. He hungers, hears, trusts, and waits on the Father.
4. Teach the next generation the story of grace
20: And it shall come to pass when thy son shall ask thee at a future time, saying, What are the testimonies, and the ordinances, and the judgments, which the Lord our God has commanded us? 21: Then shalt thou say to thy son, We were slaves to Pharao in the land of Egypt, and the Lord brought us forth thence with a mighty hand, and with a high arm. 22: And the Lord wrought signs and great and grievous wonders in Egypt, on Pharao and on his house before us. 23: And he brought us out thence to give us this land, which he sware to give to our fathers. 24: And the Lord charged us to observe all these ordinances; to fear the Lord our God, that it may be well with us for ever, that we may live, as even to-day. 25: And there shall be mercy to us, if we take heed to keep all these commands before the Lord our God.
The answer to a child’s question is not: “Because these are the rules.” It is: “Because the Lord saved us.” The commandments live within a story of liberation and mercy. This is how Christian teaching should also sound.
The Shema across Scripture and the Church
The Brenton Septuagint wording, “with all thy mind, and with all thy soul, and all thy strength,” is pastorally useful because it helps teachers connect Deuteronomy 6 with the Gospel summary of the law. The point is not a technical word study for its own sake. The whole person is summoned: understanding, desire, strength, memory, speech, household rhythm, and public identity. Christ receives this command as the great commandment and then lives it perfectly. He loves the Father without divided will, resists the tempter with Deuteronomy on His lips, and heals our scattered love by drawing it into His own obedience.
Church’s Voice in Worship
Deuteronomy 6 has deep Orthodox resonance. The command to love God wholly belongs to every prayer rule, every fast, every confession, and every Divine Liturgy. The chapter’s domestic pedagogy also harmonizes with the Orthodox understanding of the Christian home as a little church.
I have not verified a specific Coptic Orthodox lectionary placement for this chapter as a whole, so I do not assign one. Its spiritual use, however, is beyond doubt. The chapter is especially fitting for catechesis, parenting instruction, youth discipleship, and lessons on daily prayer and remembrance.
Spiritual Fruit 🍇
- single-hearted love for God
- reverent hearing of Scripture
- vigilance in times of comfort
- faithful transmission of the faith to children
- gratitude for salvation history
- distrust of worldly abundance when it seeks to replace gratitude
Teacher's Notes
Show: If using the relationship chart, emphasize that covenant faith is handed on through households and generations, not merely through private inspiration.
A brief Gospel bridge is Matthew 22:37, NKJV: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.”
Another useful bridge is Matthew 4:7, NKJV, where Christ cites the warning not to tempt the Lord.
This chapter is excellent for parents and godparents. Ask how faith is made audible in the home.
The repeated verbs are useful anchors: hear, love, teach, speak, remember, beware.
Encourage practical application: fixed prayer, Scripture in the home, table thanksgiving, holy icons rightly used, and spoken remembrance of God’s mercies.
Glossary
- Shema: traditional name for Deuteronomy 6:4-5, from the opening word “Hear.”
- Jealous God: covenant zeal that rejects rival loves.
- House of bondage: Egypt as the place of slavery.
- Testimonies: covenant witness-statutes that remind Israel of God’s will.
- Little church: common Orthodox expression for the Christian household shaped by prayer and faith.
Translation and Source Notes
- Old Testament quotations are from Brenton’s Septuagint.
- Brief New Testament cross-references are NKJV only.
- The language of loving God with all the mind, soul, and strength follows Brenton’s English rendering.
- No exact liturgical placement is asserted without verification.
Sources
Primary sources
- The Holy Bible, Brenton Septuagint, Deuteronomy 6.
- The Holy Bible, NKJV, Matthew 4 and 22 for the Lord’s use of Deuteronomy.
- St Athanasius, On the Incarnation.
- St Basil the Great, On the Holy Spirit.
- St John Chrysostom, Homilies on Matthew.
Secondary academic sources
- Jeffrey H. Tigay, Deuteronomy (JPS Torah Commentary).
- J. G. McConville, Deuteronomy (Apollos Old Testament Commentary).
Coptic Orthodox / pastoral sources
- Orthodox Study Bible notes on the Shema and covenant life.
- Pastoral material from Orthodox tradition on family prayer and catechesis.
- Fr Tadros Yacoub Malaty, material on Deuteronomy where available.
Web pages and non-academic sources cited
- CCEL and New Advent, used only as access sites for public-domain patristic texts where applicable; the primary citation remains the Father and work itself.