2.12

The Shema (Box 2.2)

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.”

In Jesus’s day, as in our own, the Shema was the central prayer of Judaism, recited daily. It comes from Deuteronomy 6:4, though later versions would add a liturgical refrain and append verses from Deuteronomy 6:5–9; 11:13–21; Numbers 15:37–41. Shema is the Hebrew word for “Hear!”