The Shema

Brief Introduction:

The Shema is a set of three biblical passages combined into a daily devotional recitation, treated much like a prayer. In ancient Israel, it was sometimes recited with a fourth passage—the Ten Commandments—but today it primarily serves as a daily affirmation of faith in the one God.

The first and most important passage comes from the book of Deuteronomy, where Moses addresses the Israelites shortly before they enter the Promised Land. The second passage is drawn from a later section of that same speech, continuing Moses’ call to covenant faithfulness. The third passage comes from the book of Numbers and records an earlier revelation God gave to Moses during Israel’s wilderness journey. The name Shema is derived from the opening words of the first passage in Hebrew: “Shema Yisrael,” which translate into English as “Hear, O Israel.”

Traditionally, observant Jews recite the Shema in Hebrew every morning and every evening. Because of this lifelong rhythm, it came to be seen as the final words a faithful Jew hopes to speak before death—a last affirmation of trust and loyalty to God.

By the time of Jesus, the Shema was already central to Jewish religious life, recited daily and taught from childhood. This background gives important context to Mark 12:28–34, where a scribe asks Jesus which commandment is the greatest. Jesus responds by quoting the opening words of the Shema—“Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one”—and identifying it as the first and greatest commandment. His answer is met with approval from the scholar, suggesting that Jesus’ response was both familiar and authoritative. Rather than introducing a novel idea, Jesus affirms the well‑established heart of Israel’s faith—a passage he would almost certainly have known by heart and very likely recited regularly.

The text of ‘The Shema’ in English:

Deuteronomy 6 verses 4-9:

4 Hear, O Israel:
5 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.
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.

Deuteronomy 11 verses 13-21

13 And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments which I command you this day,
to love the Lord your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.
14 That I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain,
that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil.
15 And I will send grass in thy fields for thy cattle,
that thou mayest eat and be full.
16 Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them;
17 And then the Lord’s wrath be kindled against you, and he shut up the heaven, that there be no rain, and that the land yield not her fruit; and lest ye perish quickly from off the good land which the Lord giveth you.
18 Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes.

19 And ye shall teach them your children,

speaking of them
when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way,
when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
20 And thou shalt write them upon the door posts of thine house, and upon thy gates:
21 That your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children,
in the land which the Lord sware unto your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven upon the earth.

Numbers 15 verses 37-41:

37 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

38 Speak unto the children of Israel,
and bid them that they make them fringes in the borders of their garments throughout their generations,
and that they put upon the fringe of the borders a ribband of blue:
39 And it shall be unto you for a fringe,
that ye may look upon it,
and remember all the commandments of the Lord,
and do them;

and that ye seek not after your own heart and your own eyes,
after which ye use to go a whoring:

40 That ye may remember,
and do all my commandments,
and be holy unto your God.

41 I am the Lord your God,
which brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God:
I am the Lord your God.