2 Chronicles 15:12

15:12 They solemnly agreed ¹  to seek the Lord God of their ancestors ²  with their whole heart and being.

2 Chronicles 15:15

15:15 All Judah was happy about the oath, because they made the vow with their whole heart. They willingly sought the Lord and he responded to them. ³  He made them secure on every side. ⁴ 

2 Chronicles 31:21

31:21 He wholeheartedly and successfully reinstituted service in God’s temple and obedience to the law, in order to follow his God. ⁵ 

Deuteronomy 6:5

6:5 You must love ⁶  the Lord your God with your whole mind, ⁷  your whole being, ⁸  and all your strength. ⁹ 

Luke 10:27-29

10:27 The expert ¹⁰  answered, “Love ¹¹  the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, ¹²  and love your neighbor as yourself.” ¹³  10:28 Jesus ¹⁴  said to him, “You have answered correctly; ¹⁵  do this, and you will live.”

10:29 But the expert, ¹⁶  wanting to justify ¹⁷  himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

¹ tn Heb “entered into a covenant.”

² tn Heb “fathers.”

³ tn Heb “and with all their desire they sought him and he allowed himself to be found by them.”

⁴ tn Heb “and the Lord gave them rest all around.”

⁵ tn Heb “and in all the work which he began with regard to the service of the house of God and with respect to the law and with respect to the commandment, to seek his God; with all his heart he acted and he succeeded.”

⁶ tn The verb אָהַב (’ahav, “to love”) in this setting communicates not so much an emotional idea as one of covenant commitment. To love the Lord is to be absolutely loyal and obedient to him in every respect, a truth Jesus himself taught (cf. John 14:15). See also the note on the word “loved” in Deut 4:37.

⁷ tn Heb “heart.” In OT physiology the heart (לֵב, לֵבָב; levav, lev) was considered the seat of the mind or intellect, so that one could think with one’s heart. See A. Luc, NIDOTTE 2:749-54.

⁸ tn Heb “soul”; “being.” Contrary to Hellenistic ideas of a soul that is discrete and separate from the body and spirit, OT anthropology equated the “soul” (נֶפֶשׁ, nefesh) with the person himself. It is therefore best in most cases to translate נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) as “being” or the like. See H. W. Wolff, Anthropology of the Old Testament, 10-25; D. Fredericks, NIDOTTE 3:133-34.

⁹ sn For NT variations on the Shema see Matt 22:37-39; Mark 12:29-30; Luke 10:27.

¹⁰ tn Grk “And he”; the referent (the expert in religious law, shortened here to “the expert”) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

¹¹ tn Grk “You will love.” The future indicative is used here with imperatival force (see ExSyn 452 and 569).

¹² sn A quotation from Deut 6:5. The fourfold reference to different parts of the person says, in effect, that one should love God with all one’s being.

¹³ tn This portion of the reply is a quotation from Lev 19:18. The verb is repeated in the translation for stylistic reasons.

¹⁴ tn Grk “And he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

¹⁵ sn Jesus commends the reply (you have answered correctly). What is assumed here, given the previous context, is that he will respond to Jesus’ message, as to love God is to respond to his Son; see v. 22.

¹⁶ tn Grk “And he”; the referent (the expert in religious law, shortened here to “the expert”) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁷ tn Or “vindicate.”