Shema Yisrael

"Hear, O Israel! יהוה is our God, יהוה alone." (Deuteronomy 6:4)

Shema Yisrael, also known as the Shema or Sh'ma, is a Jewish prayer that serves as a centerpiece of Jewish prayer services. It is found in verse Deuteronomy 6:4 of the Hebrew Bible. A common translation is: "Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone." A practicing Jew may substitute the terms "HaShem" ("the Name", often abbreviated to ה׳) or "Adonai" ("my Lord") for "the Lord". In the Hebrew Bible, the Shema is directly followed by the V'ahavta.

This page lists various quotes about the Shema. For more information, see the Wikipedia articles Shema Yisrael, Va'etchanan and Book of Deuteronomy.

Quotes

Hebrew Bible

See also: Shema Yisrael (Wikipedia)

• שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ יְהֹוָה  אֶחָד׃
  • Deuteronomy 6:4 (MT)
  • Transliteration:
    • Sh'ma Yisra'el, YHWH 'eloheinu, YHWH 'eḥad.
  • Translations:
    • Hear, O Israel! יהוה is our God, יהוה alone.
      • NJPS translation
    • Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone.
      • JPS translation
    • Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord.
      • KJV translation
    • Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one!
      • NKJV translation
    • Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.
      • NIV translation
    • Hear, O Israel, the Lord, our God, is Lord alone.
      • NCB translation
    •  Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one!
      • NASB translation
    • Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone.
      • NRSVUE translation

New Testament

See also: Great Commandment

• Ἄκουε, Ἰσραήλ, κύριος ὁ θεὸς ἡμῶν κύριος εἷς ἐστιν.
  • Mark 12:29 (SBL)
  • Translations:
    • Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord.
      • KJV translation

Quotes about Shema Yisrael

"[T]he ayin [ע] of Shema and the dalet [ד] of echad are enlarged." (Maimonides: Mishneh Torah)

• [In] the third passage, Shema, the ayin [ע] of [the word] Shema and the dalet [ד] of [the word] echad are enlarged.
  • Maimonides: Mishneh Torah, Sefer Ahavah, "Tefillin, Mezuzah and the Torah Scroll" 2:6

• The first verse of the Shema is considered the most essential declaration of the Jewish faith—the Lord is our God, the Lord is one.
  • "The Shema". My Jewish Learning (2017).

• The speaker in 6:4–9, as is typical of Deuteronomy, is Moses.
  • Marc Zvi Brettler: "The Shema's Second Paragraph: An Inner-Biblical Interpretation". TheTorah.com (2018).

• The syntax of the statement is quite strange. … Thus, it is not surprising that both traditional commentators as well as contemporary scholars offer many different interpretations.
  • Daniel M. Zucker: "Shema Yisrael: In What Way Is 'YHWH One'?". TheTorah.com (2017).

See also

• Great Commandment
• Judaism
• Tanakh#Deuteronomy
• Tetragrammaton
• V'ahavta