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The Shema

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

✠ Hebrew · Greek · Latin ✠"And it was written in Hebrew, and Greek, and Latin." — John 19:20
Hebrew · Original

שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ יְהוָה אֶחָד

Greek · Septuagint

Ἄκουε Ἰσραήλ· Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς ἡμῶν Κύριος εἷς ἐστιν

Latin · Vulgate

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

One Confession · Thirty Tongues

"Every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation" — Revelation 5:9

Why "One" Matters

The Word God chose for "one" was no accident.

ECHAD — אֶחָד

One

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.

Yeshua and the Shema

Mark 12:29

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).

One God, One Mediator

1 Timothy 2:5

"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.

Bridge to Our Cousins

Surah Al-Ikhlas

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).

אל אחד. שלושים לשונות. הכרזת ישראל מוכרזת לכל העמים.
"Hear Him." — Matthew 17:5

The 42 Generations The Sevens The Names of God ברוכים הבאים