Deuteronomy 6:3

_HEAR THEREFORE, O ISRAEL, AND OBSERVE TO DO IT; THAT IT MAY BE WELL WITH THEE, AND THAT YE MAY INCREASE MIGHTILY, AS THE LORD GOD OF THY FATHERS HATH PROMISED THEE, IN THE LAND THAT FLOWETH WITH MILK AND HONEY._ As the Lord God of thy fathers hath promised thee. The reference is to Genesis 15:5; Exodus 3:8; Exodus 3:17....

1-3 In this and the like passages, the "commandments" seem to denote the moral law, the "statues" the ceremonial law, and the "judgments" the law by which the judges decided. Moses taught the people all that, and that only, which God commanded him to teach. Thus Christ's ministers are to teach his churches all he has commanded, neither more nor less, Matthew 28:20. The fear of God in the heart will be the most powerful principle of obedience. It is highly desirable that not we only, but our children, and our children's children, may fear the Lord. Religion and righteousness advance and secure the prosperity of any people....

Verse Deuteronomy 6:3. _HEAR THEREFORE, O ISRAEL, AND OBSERVE TO DO IT_] Literally, Ye shall hear, O Israel, and thou shalt keep to do them. 1. _God is to be heard_; no _obligation_ without _law_ to found it on, and no _law_ in religion but from God. 2. The commandment must be _understood_ in order to be obeyed. 3. It must be _observed _- attentively considered, in order to be understood. And, 4. It must be _performed_, that the end for which it was given may be accomplished, viz., that GOD may be _glorified_, and that it may _be well_ with the _people_. What is here spoken applies powerfully to every part of the _moral_ law; God has given IT as a _rule of_ _life_, therefore obedience to it is indispensably necessary, not to the _purchase of salvation_, for no human m

IN THE LAND - Better: According as the Lord the God of thy fathers promised thee a land flowing with milk and honey....

HEAR THEREFORE, O ISRAEL, AND OBSERVE TO DO IT,.... Or them, the commandments given them: THAT IT MAY BE WELL WITH THEE; in body and estate: AND THAT YE MAY INCREASE MIGHTILY; not only in wealth and riches, but chiefly in numbers: AS THE LORD GOD OF THY FATHERS HATH PROMISED THEE; a promise of increase of numbers was frequently made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; as that their seed should be as the stars of heaven, and as the dust of the earth, and the sand on the sea shore, innumerable; see Genesis 15:5 and this especially IN THE LAND THAT FLOWETH WITH MILK AND HONEY; a very common periphrasis of the land of Canaan, because of the plenty of good things in it; see Exodus 3:8....

Deuteronomy 6:1. _Now these are the commandments, the statues, and the judgments, which the LORD your God commanded to teach you, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go to possess it: That thou mightest fear the LORD thy God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command thee, thou, and thy son, and thy son's son, all the days of thy life; and that thy days may be prolonged._ Obedience to God should arise from the fear of him, or from a holy awe of God felt in the heart, for all true religion must be heart work. It is not the bare action alone at which God looks, but at the motive at the spirit which dictates it. Hence it is always put, «That thou mightest fear the Lord thy God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments.» Neither are we to be content with keeping commands ourselves. It is the duty of parents to seek the good of their children to

2. THE FIRST COMMANDMENT AND WHAT IT INVOLVES CHAPTER 6 _ 1. Hear, therefore, O Israel! (Deuteronomy 6:1)_ 2. The first commandment (Deuteronomy 6:4) 3. The remembrance of these words and practical obedience (Deuteronomy 6:6) “Hear, O Israel! The LORD our God is one LORD.” Much has been made of this verse by orthodox Jews, who reverence it greatly. They call it the “Shema” after the first word “Hear.” It is often used by Jews and Unitarians to deny the three persons of the Godhead. The Hebrew word “echod” (one), however, excludes forever such a denial, for it means a compound unity. The Hebrew has another word which expresses exactly what Jews and Unitarians, who reject

Exhortation to obey Yahweh's commands, referring to the Decalogue (Deuteronomy 5:6) or to Deuteronomy 12 ff. to which it would make an excellent introduction, as it may have been originally. Deuteronomy 6:1. commandment: better, commandments; Heb. uses the singular where in other languages the plural would stand. Deuteronomy 6:2. fear: Deuteronomy 4:10 *. Deuteronomy 6:3. See Deuteronomy 4:1 *. milk and honey:

HEAR... OBSERVE. Note the Figure of speech _Paronomasia_ (App-6), used for emphasis: May be Englished _"Hear._.. _Heed"._ AS. according as. THE LAND, &C. Compare Genesis 17:8; Exodus 3:8; Exodus 3:17; Exodus 13:5; Exodus 33:3.Numbers 13:27; Numbers 13:14; Numbers 13:8;...

Transition to the Sg. with a somewhat loose accumulation of common deuteronomic formulas; on these grounds regarded by some as an editorial addition. This is not certain, but very probable. Omit Deuteronomy 6:2, and Deuteronomy 6:4 follows naturally on Deuteronomy 6:1 as the beginning of the Miṣwah, but couched, like the Decalogue in ch. 5, in the Sg. At the same time all of Deuteronomy 6:2 need not be editorial. Note that the one Pl. clause they contain is not a common formula....