Exegesis on Deut 6:4-6
Deuteronomy 6:4-6
An Exegetical Research Paper
Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts.
ESTABLISHING THE TEXT
The text is a passage known as the Shema (“Hear”) which has become the fundamental dogma of the Old Testament and was also identified in the New Testament (Mark 12:29-30) as the most important of all the commandments. This comprises the basic teaching which exhorts the Israelites to love God with their whole being, including the intellect, emotions and will. The central importance defined by Moses in this passage extends to the required teaching of these commandments to the children by all means possible. (Wolf 1991)
Book
The Hebrew appellation for this title is called Mishmeh Torah משנה תורה which means “repeated law” or “second law” (to show continuity from the Sinai Covenant laws) . The word Deuteronomy came from the Greek title deuteronomion which means the same as repeated law. This is taken from the verse Deut. 17:18. Consistent with its contents, Deuteronomy delivers a review of the laws and history which have taken place in the first four books of the Pentateuch (also known as tetrateuch)
Authorship
Compared to the first four books, Deuteronomy has explicitly stated Moses as its author, (1:5, 5:1; 27:1,8; 29:2; 31:1,9,24, 30;) and his writing (31:9,22,24). Other books of the bible make reference to Moses as the author of the book:
1 Kings 2:3; 8:53 Acts 3:22; 7:37-38
2 Kings 14:6; 18:6,12 Rom. 10:19
Matt 19:7-8 1 Cor 9:9
Mark 10:3-5; 12:19 Heb 10:28
But certain events in the book show that Moses was not the only author. Specific Passages such as the death of Moses proves that another author necessitates the recording of this event. (Deut 31) Other researches indicate that the book of Deuteronomy could have been written or appended in a much later date after
An Exegetical Research Paper
Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts.
ESTABLISHING THE TEXT
The text is a passage known as the Shema (“Hear”) which has become the fundamental dogma of the Old Testament and was also identified in the New Testament (Mark 12:29-30) as the most important of all the commandments. This comprises the basic teaching which exhorts the Israelites to love God with their whole being, including the intellect, emotions and will. The central importance defined by Moses in this passage extends to the required teaching of these commandments to the children by all means possible. (Wolf 1991)
Book
The Hebrew appellation for this title is called Mishmeh Torah משנה תורה which means “repeated law” or “second law” (to show continuity from the Sinai Covenant laws) . The word Deuteronomy came from the Greek title deuteronomion which means the same as repeated law. This is taken from the verse Deut. 17:18. Consistent with its contents, Deuteronomy delivers a review of the laws and history which have taken place in the first four books of the Pentateuch (also known as tetrateuch)
Authorship
Compared to the first four books, Deuteronomy has explicitly stated Moses as its author, (1:5, 5:1; 27:1,8; 29:2; 31:1,9,24, 30;) and his writing (31:9,22,24). Other books of the bible make reference to Moses as the author of the book:
1 Kings 2:3; 8:53 Acts 3:22; 7:37-38
2 Kings 14:6; 18:6,12 Rom. 10:19
Matt 19:7-8 1 Cor 9:9
Mark 10:3-5; 12:19 Heb 10:28
But certain events in the book show that Moses was not the only author. Specific Passages such as the death of Moses proves that another author necessitates the recording of this event. (Deut 31) Other researches indicate that the book of Deuteronomy could have been written or appended in a much later date after
Bibliography: Cairns, Ian. Deuteronomy: Word andPresence. Grand Rapids, MI: W B. Eerdmans publishing Co., 1992. Craigie, Peter C. "The Book of Deuteronomy." In The New International Commentary on the Old Testament, by W. B. Eerdmans, 30-32. Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, Inc., 1976. John H. Walton, Victor H. Matthews and Mark W. Chavalas. "Deuteronomy." In IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament, by IVP. InterVarsity Press, 2000. Lasor, W.S. "Ashurbanipal." In International standard Bible Encyclopedia -revised edition, by W. B. Eerdmans. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm B. eerdmans Publishing Co., 1979. Parsons, John J. The Shema-Hear, O Israel! http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Scripture/Torah/The_Shema/the_shema.html (accessed October 11, 2010). W. B. Eerdmans. International Standard BibleEncyclopeda, Revised ed. Chicago Il: Wm. B.Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1979. Weinfeld, Moshe. Deuteronomy 1-11 A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary. New York, NY: Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group , Inc, 1991. Wiersbe, Warren. The Bible Exposition commentary : Old Testament. 2004. Wolf, Herbert. "Deuteronomy." In An Introduction to the Old Testament Pentateuch, by Herbert Wolf. Chicago: Moody Publishing Co., 1991. [ 2 ]. Moshe Weinfeld, Deuteronomy 1-11 A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary (New York, NY, Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group., Inc., 1991) p 1-3 [ 3 ] [ 4 ]. Peter C. Craigie, The New International Commentary on the Old Testament: The Book of Deuteronomy. (Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Compnay, Inc., 1976), 30-32. [ 5 ]. Weinfeld, 1991. p 17 [ 6 ] [ 9 ]. International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, revised edition,( Chicago, IL by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. 1979.) [ 10 ] [ 17 ]. Cairns, 1992, p 84 [ 18 ]