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 13:3

13:3 You must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer, ⁵  for the Lord your God will be testing you to see if you love him ⁶  with all your mind and being. ⁷ 

Deuteronomy 13:1

13:1 Suppose a prophet or one who foretells by dreams ⁸  should appear among you and show you a sign or wonder, ⁹ 

Deuteronomy 29:9

The Present Covenant Setting

29:9 “Therefore, keep the terms ¹⁰  of this covenant and obey them so that you may be successful in everything you do.

Deuteronomy 29:17

29:17 You have seen their detestable things ¹¹  and idols of wood, stone, silver, and gold.) ¹² 

Psalms 41:12

41:12 As for me, you uphold ¹³  me because of my integrity; ¹⁴ 

you allow ¹⁵  me permanent access to your presence. ¹⁶ 

Psalms 119:80

119:80 May I be fully committed to your statutes, ¹⁷ 

so that I might not be ashamed.

Jeremiah 3:10

3:10 In spite of all this, ¹⁸  Israel’s sister, unfaithful Judah, has not turned back to me with any sincerity; she has only pretended to do so,” ¹⁹  says the Lord.

Jeremiah 4:14

4:14 “Oh people of Jerusalem, purify your hearts from evil ²⁰ 

so that you may yet be delivered.

How long will you continue to harbor up

wicked schemes within you?

Jeremiah 29:13

29:13 When you seek me in prayer and worship, you will find me available to you. If you seek me with all your heart and soul, ²¹ 

Ephesians 6:24

6:24 Grace be ²²  with all of those who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love. ²³ 

[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.

[13:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “or dreamer of dreams.” See note on this expression in v. 1.

[13:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “the Lord your God.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.

[13:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “all your heart and soul” (so NRSV, CEV, NLT); or “heart and being” (NCV “your whole being”). See note on the word “being” in Deut 6:5.

[13:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “or a dreamer of dreams” (so KJV, ASV, NASB). The difference between a prophet (נָבִיא, navi’) and one who foretells by dreams (חֹלֵם אוֹ, ’o kholem) was not so much one of office – for both received revelation by dreams (cf. Num 12:6) – as it was of function or emphasis. The prophet was more a proclaimer and interpreter of revelation whereas the one who foretold by dreams was a receiver of revelation. In later times the role of the one who foretold by dreams was abused and thus denigrated as compared to that of the prophet (cf. Jer 23:28).

[13:1]  ⁹ tn The expression אוֹת אוֹ מוֹפֵת (’ot ’o mofet) became a formulaic way of speaking of ways of authenticating prophetic messages or other works of God (cf. Deut 28:46; Isa 20:3). The NT equivalent is the Greek term σημεῖον (shmeion), a sign performed (used frequently in the Gospel of John, cf. 2:11, 18; 20:30-31). They could, however, be counterfeited or (as here) permitted to false prophets by the Lord as a means of testing his people.

[29:9]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “words.”

[29:17]  ¹¹ tn The Hebrew term שִׁקּוּץ (shiquts) refers to anything out of keeping with the nature and character of Yahweh and therefore to be avoided by his people Israel. It is commonly used with or as a synonym for תּוֹעֵבָה (to’evah, “detestable, abhorrent”; 2 Kgs 23:13; Jer 16:18; Ezek 5:11; 7:20; 11:18, 21; see note on the term “abhorrent” in Deut 7:25). See M. Grisanti, NIDOTTE 4:243-46.

[29:17]  ¹² tn The Hebrew text includes “which were with them.” Verses 16-17 constitute a parenthetical comment.

[41:12]  ¹³ tn Or “have upheld.” The perfect verbal form can be taken as generalizing/descriptive (present) or as a present perfect.

[41:12]  ¹⁴ sn Because of my integrity. See Pss 7:8; 25:21; 26:1, 11.

[41:12]  ¹⁵ tn The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive has the same aspectual function as the preceding perfect. It is either generalizing/descriptive (present) or has a present perfect nuance (“you have allowed”).

[41:12]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and you cause me to stand before you permanently.”

[119:80]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “may my heart be complete in your statutes.”

[3:10]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “And even in all this.”

[3:10]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “ has not turned back to me with all her heart but only in falsehood.”

[4:14]  ²⁰ tn Heb “Oh, Jerusalem, wash your heart from evil.”

[29:13]  ²¹ tn Or “If you wholeheartedly seek me”; Heb “You will seek me and find [me] because you will seek me with all your heart.” The translation attempts to reflect the theological nuances of “seeking” and “finding” and the psychological significance of “heart” which refers more to intellectual and volitional concerns in the OT than to emotional ones.

[6:24]  ²² tn Or “is.”

[6:24]  ²³ tc Most witnesses (א² D Ψ Ï it sy) have ἀμήν (amhn, “amen”) at the end of the letter. Such a conclusion is routinely added by scribes to NT books because a few of these books originally had such an ending (cf. Rom 16:27; Gal 6:18; Jude 25). A majority of Greek witnesses have the concluding ἀμήν in every NT book except Acts, James, and 3 John (and even in these books, ἀμήν is found in some witnesses). It is thus a predictable variant. The earliest and best witnesses (Ì⁴⁶ א* A B F G 0278 6 33 81 1175 1241 1739* 1881 sa) lack the particle, giving firm evidence that Ephesians did not originally conclude with ἀμήν.