ECHAD — אֶחָד
OneThe Hebrew word is not yachid (solitary, only). It is echad — a compound oneness, the same word used for husband and wife becoming "one flesh" (Genesis 2:24). The Shema does not deny the Triune God; it foreshadows Him.
The most ancient confession of faith — declared in 30 tongues to every people, tribe, and nation.
שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ יְהוָה אֶחָד
Sh'ma Yisrael, Adonai Eloheinu, Adonai Echad.
— Deuteronomy 6:4 · spoken by Israel for over 3,000 years
שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ יְהוָה אֶחָד
Ἄκουε Ἰσραήλ· Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς ἡμῶν Κύριος εἷς ἐστιν
Audi Israhel, Dominus Deus noster Dominus unus est
"Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD. And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might."
— Deuteronomy 6:4-5, AKJV
"Every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation" — Revelation 5:9
The Word God chose for "one" was no accident.
The Hebrew word is not yachid (solitary, only). It is echad — a compound oneness, the same word used for husband and wife becoming "one flesh" (Genesis 2:24). The Shema does not deny the Triune God; it foreshadows Him.
When asked the greatest commandment, Jesus quoted the Shema first. He did not abolish it. He embodied it — for in Him all the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily (Colossians 2:9).
"For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus." The Shema and the Cross say the same thing: God is One, and He has come for you.
The Qur'an's great confession — "Say: He is Allah, the One" — echoes the Shema. To our Muslim brothers and sisters: the One God you proclaim is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who has spoken finally in the Son (Hebrews 1:1-2).
One God. Thirty tongues. The confession of Israel proclaimed to every nation.
"Hear Him." — Matthew 17:5