Deuteronomy 6:5

6:5 You must love ¹  the Lord your God with your whole mind, ²  your whole being, ³  and all your strength. ⁴ 

Deuteronomy 10:12

An Exhortation to Love Both God and People

10:12 Now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you except to revere him, ⁵  to obey all his commandments, ⁶  to love him, to serve him ⁷  with all your mind and being, ⁸ 

Deuteronomy 30:6

30:6 The Lord your God will also cleanse ⁹  your heart and the hearts of your descendants ¹⁰  so that you may love him ¹¹  with all your mind and being and so that you may live.

Matthew 22:37-40

22:37 Jesus ¹²  said to him, “‘Love ¹³  the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ ¹⁴  22:38 This is the first and greatest ¹⁵  commandment. 22:39 The second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ ¹⁶  22:40 All the law and the prophets depend ¹⁷  on these two commandments.”

Mark 12:30-31

12:30 Love ¹⁸  the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ ¹⁹  12:31 The second is: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ ²⁰  There is no other commandment greater than these.”

Mark 12:33-34

12:33 And to love him with all your heart, with all your mind, and with all your strength ²¹  and to love your neighbor as yourself ²²  is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 12:34 When Jesus saw that he had answered thoughtfully, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” Then no one dared any longer to question him.

Hebrews 8:10

8:10 “For this is the covenant that I will establish with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord. I will put ²³  my laws in their minds ²⁴  and I will inscribe them on their hearts. And I will be their God and they will be my people. ²⁵ 

¹ 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.

² 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.

³ 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.

⁴ sn For NT variations on the Shema see Matt 22:37-39; Mark 12:29-30; Luke 10:27.

⁵ tn Heb “the Lord your God.” See note on “he” in 10:4.

⁶ tn Heb “to walk in all his ways” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV); NAB “follow his ways exactly”; NLT “to live according to his will.”

⁷ tn Heb “the Lord your God.” See note on “he” in 10:4.

⁸ tn Heb “heart and soul” or “heart and being”; NCV “with your whole being.” See note on the word “being” in Deut 6:5.

⁹ tn Heb “circumcise” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV); TEV “will give you and your descendents obedient hearts.” See note on the word “cleanse” in Deut 10:16.

¹⁰ tn Heb “seed” (so KJV, ASV).

¹¹ tn Heb “the Lord your God.” See note on the second occurrence of the word “he” in v. 3.

¹² tn Grk “And he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

¹³ tn Grk “You will love.” The future indicative is used here with imperatival force (see ExSyn 452 and 569).

¹⁴ sn A quotation from Deut 6:5. The threefold reference to different parts of the person says, in effect, that one should love God with all one’s being.

¹⁵ tn Grk “the great and first.”

¹⁶ sn A quotation from Lev 19:18.

¹⁷ tn Grk “hang.” The verb κρεμάννυμι (kremannumi) is used here with a figurative meaning (cf. BDAG 566 s.v. 2.b).

¹⁸ tn Grk “You will love.” The future indicative is used here with imperatival force (see ExSyn 452 and 569).

¹⁹ sn A quotation from Deut 6:4-5 and Josh 22:5 (LXX). The fourfold reference to different parts of the person says, in effect, that one should love God with all one’s being.

²⁰ sn A quotation from Lev 19:18.

²¹ sn A quotation from Deut 6:5.

²² sn A quotation from Lev 19:18.

²³ tn Grk “putting…I will inscribe.”

²⁴ tn Grk “mind.”

²⁵ tn Grk “I will be to them for a God and they will be to me for a people,” following the Hebrew constructions of Jer 31.