The Shema

civic

civic

Well-known member
An old friend of mine Jeff Shirton posted this and I found it to be very good.

In the NT, we frequently find the phrase, "God the Father". We never find this phrase, the OT, only in the New, after the incarnation of the Christ.

So if only the Father is God, then why did the Biblical authors need to DISTINGUISH the phrase, "God" with "the Father", instead of simply saying "God" as they did in the OT?
Why wasn't "God" sufficient?
Why the need for "God the Father"?

I will suggest an answer, it was to distinguish the Father from the Son, since the Son is also (the same) God.


Secondly, Paul created a convention of calling the Father "God" (without denying His Lordship), and calling Jesus "Lord" (without denying His deity). What many people don't realize (or at least appreciate is that the Jews CONSTANTLY referred to God as "Lord" in the OT. Taking the commandment to not take the Lord's name in vain to the extreme, they had a habit of NEVER uttering it. So when they were talking about Him to each other, or reading His name in Scripture, they would substitute His name with either "HaShem" ("the name"), or "Adonai" ("Lord"). In fact, that's how the name "Jehovah" came about, by taking the Tetragrammaton, "YHWH", and adding the vowel points for "adonai", and getting "Yahovah". So when the first century Jews were constantly referring to Jesus as "Lord", there were strong connotations of deity.

Finally, the major daily prayer for the Jews is the Sh'ma, Deut. 6:4-5:

Deut. 6:4 “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.
...............................................................YHWH......elohim.......YHWH

So not only were "Lord" and "God" deeply associated with each other in the Jews' daily prayer, this is associated with a New Testament passage, written by a very devout and knowledgeable Jew, namely Paul:

1 Cor. 8:6 yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.

This isn't Christian theology, it's Jewish theology, expanded with Christian revelation.
 
“They consist - and this is the difficulty - either of two sentences or of only one. Grammatically, it is easier to assume that there are two substantival clauses. The first: ‘Yahweh is our God,’ is a kind of basic confession of the people of God. It is monolatrous, like the first clause of the Decalogue. A second clause is then added. This, too, may well be hymnic, but it is much more strongly didactic and demanding: ‘Yahweh is one.’ It we understand it on the analogy of a very similar construction like Gn. 41:25 … then it’s import is that Yahweh is a single person, not many.”

(Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, “The Confession of Yahweh in Dt. 6:4,” Vol. 3, p. 1080)
 
“And Jesus answered him, ‘The first of all the commandments is Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord.’”

(Mark 12:29, KJV)

The Shema is the creed of the Jew who asked and the Jew who answered.
 
Matthias said:
(Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, “The Confession of Yahweh in Dt. 6:4,” Vol. 3, p. 1080)
Click to expand...

Might be nice to post the entire context. It would appear more honest.

They are introduced by a hortatory formula : "Hear, O Israel," which is used only in Dt. (5:1; 9:1; 20:3; 27:9). For this reason, they sound like a quotation from some existing formulation. This might well have been a hymn, since they have the pregnant brevity of hymnic motifs and this is not the usual style of Dt. They consist — and this is the difficulty — either of two sentences or of only one. Grammatically, it is easier to assume that there are two substantival clauses. The first : "Yahweh is our God," is a kind of basic confession of the people of God. It is monolatrous, like the first clause of the Decalogue. A second clause is then added. This, too, may well be hymnic, but it is much more strongly didactic and demanding : "Yahweh is one." If we understand it on the analogy of a very similar construction like Gn. 41:25 : [Hebrew], i.e., that one dream is at issue, not two, then its import is that Yahweh is a single person, not many. This would be a trite commonplace, though only if emphasis is laid on the echad to give a pointless mathematical statement. The surprising and for this reason effective aspect of the mathematical climax, however, is to be found quite unmistakably in the definite emphasising of the name, which is thereby given the value of the denomination of a species. "Yahweh is one" means that in Yahweh everything that He is is absolutely exhaustively and exclusively present. The second statement is thus analytic, not synthetic. It goes beyond the first, reminding us of a verse like Is. 45:6 : [Hebrew] and demanding interpretation along the lines of verses like Dt. 4:35 : [Hebrew] or Dt. 7:9 etc., namely, that "none is what Yahweh is, God."
 
“The one God. (a) theos is the most frequent designation of God in the NT. Belief in the one, only, and unique God (Matt. 23:9; Rom. 3:30; 1 Cor. 8:4,6; Gal. 3:20; 1 Tim. 2:5; Jas. 2:19) is an established part of Christian tradition. Jesus himself made the fundamental confession of Jud. his own and expressly quoted the Shema (Deut. 6:4-5; see Mk. 1:29-30; cf. Matt. 22:37; Lk. 10:27). This guaranteed continuity between the old and the new covenants. The God whom Christians worship is the God of the fathers (Acts 3:13; 5:30; 22:14), the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Acts 3:13; 7:32; cf. Matt. 22:32; Mk. 12:26; Lk. 20:37), the God of Israel (Matt. 15:31; Lk. 1:68; Acts 13:17), and the God of Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 1:3; Eph. 1:3; 1 Pet. 1:3).”

New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, Abridged Edition, p. 244)

Yahweh -> the God of Jesus Christ.
 
Matthias said:
“The one God. (a) theos is the most frequent designation of God in the NT. Belief in the one, only, and unique God (Matt. 23:9; Rom. 3:30; 1 Cor. 8:4,6; Gal. 3:20; 1 Tim. 2:5; Jas. 2:19) is an established part of Christian tradition. Jesus himself made the fundamental confession of Jud. his own and expressly quoted the Shema (Deut. 6:4-5; see Mk. 1:29-30; cf. Matt. 22:37; Lk. 10:27). This guaranteed continuity between the old and the new covenants. The God whom Christians worship is the God of the fathers (Acts 3:13; 5:30; 22:14), the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Acts 3:13; 7:32; cf. Matt. 22:32; Mk. 12:26; Lk. 20:37), the God of Israel (Matt. 15:31; Lk. 1:68; Acts 13:17), and the God of Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 1:3; Eph. 1:3; 1 Pet. 1:3).”

New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, Abridged Edition, p. 244)
Click to expand...


New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology (NIDNTT): The climax of Johannine teaching occurs in the confessional formula of 1 Jn. 5:20 which asserts the full identity of essence of Christ and God: "And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, to know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life" (RSV). This gives a lit. reproduction of the Gk. words. (2:82, God, J. Schneider)
 
dizerner said:
Might be nice to post the entire context. It would appear more honest.

They are introduced by a hortatory formula : "Hear, O Israel," which is used only in Dt. (5:1; 9:1; 20:3; 27:9). For this reason, they sound like a quotation from some existing formulation. This might well have been a hymn, since they have the pregnant brevity of hymnic motifs and this is not the usual style of Dt. They consist — and this is the difficulty — either of two sentences or of only one. Grammatically, it is easier to assume that there are two substantival clauses. The first : "Yahweh is our God," is a kind of basic confession of the people of God. It is monolatrous, like the first clause of the Decalogue. A second clause is then added. This, too, may well be hymnic, but it is much more strongly didactic and demanding : "Yahweh is one." If we understand it on the analogy of a very similar construction like Gn. 41:25 : [Hebrew], i.e., that one dream is at issue, not two, then its import is that Yahweh is a single person, not many. This would be a trite commonplace, though only if emphasis is laid on the echad to give a pointless mathematical statement. The surprising and for this reason effective aspect of the mathematical climax, however, is to be found quite unmistakably in the definite emphasising of the name, which is thereby given the value of the denomination of a species. "Yahweh is one" means that in Yahweh everything that He is is absolutely exhaustively and exclusively present. The second statement is thus analytic, not synthetic. It goes beyond the first, reminding us of a verse like Is. 45:6 : [Hebrew] and demanding interpretation along the lines of verses like Dt. 4:35 : [Hebrew] or Dt. 7:9 etc., namely, that "none is what Yahweh is, God."
Click to expand...

More honest? I gave the reference so that anyone who wants to can check the source for the entire entry.

Very few people read long posts. I don’t. I‘m on forums for conversation, not lectures.

If you think I’m dishonest then come right out and say so. (I won’t report it as a personal attack.)
 
civic said:
An old friend of mine Jeff Shirton posted this and I found it to be very good.

In the NT, we frequently find the phrase, "God the Father".
Click to expand...
And the next few words too,

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

For language to mean anything if one says OF OUR it leads to a second thing. It doesn't speak of the first thing mentioned.
 
Matthias said:
“The one God. (a) theos is the most frequent designation of God in the NT. Belief in the one, only, and unique God (Matt. 23:9; Rom. 3:30; 1 Cor. 8:4,6; Gal. 3:20; 1 Tim. 2:5; Jas. 2:19) is an established part of Christian tradition. Jesus himself made the fundamental confession of Jud. his own and expressly quoted the Shema (Deut. 6:4-5; see Mk. 1:29-30; cf. Matt. 22:37; Lk. 10:27). This guaranteed continuity between the old and the new covenants. The God whom Christians worship is the God of the fathers (Acts 3:13; 5:30; 22:14), the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Acts 3:13; 7:32; cf. Matt. 22:32; Mk. 12:26; Lk. 20:37), the God of Israel (Matt. 15:31; Lk. 1:68; Acts 13:17), and the God of Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 1:3; Eph. 1:3; 1 Pet. 1:3).”

New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, Abridged Edition, p. 244)

Yahweh -> the God of Jesus Christ.
Click to expand...

Jesus isn’t a trinitarian. Jesus is a Jew; a unitarian. The Shema is the creed of Judaism.

The God of Jesus is only one person, the Father.
 
civic said:
Sh'ma, Deut. 6:4-5:
Click to expand...


Deuteronomy 6:4-5
(4) Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one!
(5) You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. (NASB)

The underlined is mine.

The utmost importance that there is only one Lord cannot in any way be divorced from the fact that He alone is to be prayed (worshiped).
a. New International Dictionary of Old Testament Theology and Exegesis (NIDOTTE): Inside the covenant circle God demands of his people a completely exclusive worship (cf. 6:4) (3:938, jealous, H. G. L. Peels).
b. Judaism 101: The Shema can also be translated as "The L-rd is our G-d, The L-rd alone," meaning that no other is our G-d, and we should not pray to another. (The Nature of G-d)
http://www.jewfaq.org/g-d.htm
c. Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (TDNT): The religion of Israel demanded exclusive worship of Yahweh, and therefore all prayer in Israel was necessarily addressed to the one God. It is obvious that this was of decisive importance (2:790, "The Main Features of OT Prayer," euchomai, Herrmann).

Matthias prays to Jesus, but denies the Lord Jesus is the Almighty.
This demonstrates he is in violation of the Shema.
 
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”We must suppose that the Markan form goes back to oral tradition passed on by a Church that did not any longer recite the Shema. But here at least in his statement of the first commandment Jesus stands foursquare within the orbit of Jewish piety.”

(Hugh Anderson, New Century Bible Commentary on Mark, p. 280)
 
Matthias said:
”We must suppose that the Markan form goes back to oral tradition passed on by a Church that did not any longer recite the Shema. But here at least in his statement of the first commandment Jesus stands foursquare within the orbit of Jewish piety.”

(Hugh Anderson, New Century Bible Commentary on Mark, p. 280)
Click to expand...

Great.
Jesus knew there is one God, and since He (Jesus) is the proper recipient of prayer demonstrates the "one God" encompasses Him.
 
“It is difficult to understand how and why Jesus’ affirmation of the Shema, which is neither remarkable nor specifically Christian, would have been created by an early Christian prophet.”

(Craig Evans, Commentary on Mark 8-16p. 261)
 
Matthias said:
“It is difficult to understand how and why Jesus’ affirmation of the Shema, which is neither remarkable nor specifically Christian, would have been created by an early Christian prophet.”

(Craig Evans, Commentary on Mark 8-16p. 261)
Click to expand...

Irrelevant to your misguided point.
 
The confession of Judaism isn’t the confession of trinitarianism; it’s the confession of unitarianism.

The Jews aren’t trinitarians; they’re unitarians.
 
Matthias said:
“And Jesus answered him, ‘The first of all the commandments is Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord.’”

(Mark 12:29, KJV)

The Shema is the creed of the Jew who asked and the Jew who answered.
Click to expand...


Charles Ellicott: When you think how passionately the Hebrews of our Lord’s time clung to that peculiar tenet which their nation had been set in the heart of pagan polytheism on purpose to defend—the truth that God is one; and when you see at the same time how such Hebrews as John, Paul, and Peter came to revere Jesus the Son of God as equally to be worshipped with the Father, and received the invisible Spirit who came at Pentecost as no less truly a Divine Person, you must feel that this new revelation of a Trinity in God left quite unaltered their old faith that God is one. It was a mighty and a blessed addition to their knowledge of Jehovah; but it did not shake what they knew before—“Hear, O Israel: Jehovah our Lord is one Jehovah.” (See "Mark 12:29-31, ii. The Lord is one")
http://www.studylight.org/commentaries/ebc/mark-12.html
 
dizerner said:
Strictly speaking, it would in fact be neither, and possibly either.
Click to expand...

I don’t understand why you say that.

The confession of Judaism (unitarian) isn’t the confession of trinitarianism / trinitarians.

Unitarians aren’t trinitarians and trinitarians aren’t unitarians.
 
I hadn’t thought it would be necessary to post about Jews being unitarian, not trinitarian, but I think now that I probably should.

”The Jews … to this day … still assert that God is only one in person, as well as in nature.”

(William Beveridge, Private Thoughts on Religion, p. 66)

In order for a Jew to become a trinitarian, he or she must abandon the unitarianism of Judaism.
 

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