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 11:13

11:13 Now, if you pay close attention ⁹  to my commandments that I am giving you today and love ¹⁰  the Lord your God and serve him with all your mind and being, ¹¹ 

Matthew 22:36-37

22:36 “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” ¹²  22:37 Jesus ¹³  said to him, “‘Love ¹⁴  the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ ¹⁵ 

[6:5]  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.

[6:5]  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.

[6:5]  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.

[6:5]  ⁴ sn For NT variations on the Shema see Matt 22:37-39; Mark 12:29-30; Luke 10:27.

[10:12]  ⁵ tn Heb “the Lord your God.” See note on “he” in 10:4.

[10:12]  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.”

[10:12]  ⁷ tn Heb “the Lord your God.” See note on “he” in 10:4.

[10:12]  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.

[11:13]  ⁹ tn Heb “if hearing, you will hear.” The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute to emphasize the verbal idea. The translation renders this emphasis with the word “close.”

[11:13]  ¹⁰ tn Again, the Hebrew term אָהַב (’ahav) draws attention to the reciprocation of divine love as a condition or sign of covenant loyalty (cf. Deut 6:5).

[11:13]  ¹¹ tn Heb “heart and soul” or “heart and being.” See note on the word “being” in Deut 6:5.

[22:36]  ¹² tn Or possibly “What sort of commandment in the law is great?”

[22:37]  ¹³ tn Grk “And he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[22:37]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “You will love.” The future indicative is used here with imperatival force (see ExSyn 452 and 569).

[22:37]  ¹⁵ 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.