Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Deuteronomy 6:5
Since there is but One God, and that God is Israel’s God, so Israel must love God unreservedly and entirely. The “heart” is mentioned as the seat of the understanding; the “soul” as the center of will and personality; the “might” as representing the outgoings and energies of all the vital powers.The New Testament itself requires no more than this total self-surrender of man’s being to his maker Matthew 22:37. The Gospel differs from the Law not so much in replacing an external and carnal... read more
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Deuteronomy 6:4
These words form the beginning of what is termed the “Shema” (“Hear”) in the Jewish Services, and belong to the daily morning and evening office. They may be called “the creed of the Jews.”This weighty text contains far more than a mere declaration of the unity of God as against polytheism; or of the sole authority of the revelation that He had made to Israel as against other pretended manifestations of His will and attributes. It asserts that the Lord God of Israel is absolutely God, and none... read more