THE CHRISTIAN SHEMA

In this post I will show how the inspired [N]ew [T]estament writers take the monotheistic confession found in the Hebrew Bible and expanded it to include Jesus within the divine identity of the one true God of Israel. I will be including translations of both the Hebrew and Greek versions of the [O]ld [T]estament texts in order to allow the readers to see how the NT identifies Jesus as the one YHWH whom the Israelites were commanded to confess and trust in.

The following passage is commonly referred to as the Shema, the one confession which faithful Jews at the time of Christ would utter twice a day:

“Hear, O Israel! Yahweh is our God, Yahweh is one (YHWH echad)!” Deuteronomy 6:4

“Jesus answered, ‘The foremost is, “Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is one Lord (Kyrios ho Theos hemon, Kyrios heis estin);”’” Mark 12:29

Pay close attention to the fact that the Greek rendering substitutes the divine name YHWH with the term Kyrios. Note, also, how the Greek translates the Hebrew phrase YHWH echad as Kyrios heis. This will be significant as I will demonstrate shortly.

Other texts include:

“Thus says Yahweh, your Redeemer, and the one who formed you from the womb, ‘I, Yahweh, am the maker of all things, Stretching out the heavens by Myself And spreading out the earth all alone,’” Isaiah 44:24

“Thus saith the Lord (Kyrios) that redeems thee, and who formed thee from the womb, I am the Lord that performs all things (panta): I stretched out the heaven ALONE (monos), and established the earth.” LXX

“And Yahweh will be king over all the earth; in that day Yahweh will be the only one (YHWH echad), and His name one.” Zechariah 14:9

“And the Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that day there shall be one Lord (Kyrios heis), and his name one (to onoma autou hen),” LXX

YHWH is not only described as the one and only Lord (Kyrios heis) but is also said to be the One who alone made all things, having created everything by himself.

Here’s where it gets interesting.

The NT identifies this one Lord who made everything as Jesus Christ, not God the Father!

Rather, the Father is said to be the one God who brought all creation into existence through the agency of Christ:

“yet for us there is one God, the Father (heis Theos ho Pater), from whom are all things (ek hou ta panta) and we exist for Him, and one Lord, Jesus Christ (heis Kyrios ‘Iesous Christos), by whom are all things (di’ hou ta panta), and we exist through Him.” 1 Corinthians 8:6

Now for Christ to be that one Lord through whom all creation came into being he must be YHWH Incarnate, since the OT explicitly proclaims that YHWH is the only Lord who made all things.

As such, this testimony proves that both the Father and the Son are uncreated, and therefore essentially equal. Note how this works out:

Since all creation was made by the Father through the Son this means that they both existed before creation.
And since they both existed before creation came into being this means that the Father and the Son are uncreated and eternal by nature.

Elsewhere, Jesus is described as the one Lord in the context of being that very YHWH who ascended on high, and who fills all creation:

“one Lord (heis Kyrios), one faith, one baptism… But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore it says, ‘When He ascended on high, He led captive a host of captives, And He gave gifts to men.’ (Now this expression, ‘He ascended,’ what does it mean except that He also descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is Himself also He who ascended far above all the heavens, so that He might fill all things.)” Ephesians 4:5, 7-10

Paul as ascribed to the risen Christ the following OT texts:

“You have ascended on high, You have led captive Your captives; You have received gifts among men, Even among the rebellious also, that Yah—God—may dwell there.” Psalm 68:18

“‘Am I a God who is near,’ declares Yahweh, ‘And not a God far off? Can a man hide himself in hiding places So I do not see him?’ declares Yahweh. ‘Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?’ declares Yahweh.” Jeremiah 23:23-24

This leaves absolutely no doubt that Paul and the first Christians were already worshiping the risen Jesus as the human incarnation, the very enfleshment of the one YHWH of the OT Shema!

In fact, the NT goes so far as to call Jesus the believers one and only sovereign Master and Lord, employing the very terms which the LXX uses to translate the words ha Adon/Adonay and YHWH respectively, namely, Despotes and Kyrios.

Compare the following passages,

“You alone are Yahweh. You have made the heavens, The heaven of heavens with all their host, The earth and all that is on it, The seas and all that is in them. You give life to all of them And the heavenly host bows down to You.” Nehemiah 9:6

“And Esdras said, Thou art the only true Lord (Kyrios monos); thou madest the heaven, and the heaven of heavens, and all their array, the earth, and all things that are in it, the seas, and all things in them; and thou quickenest all things, and the hosts of heaven worship thee.” LXX

“And Abram said, ‘O Lord Yahweh (Despota Kyrie), what will You give me, as I go on being childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?’… And he said, ‘O Lord Yahweh (Despota Kyrie), how may I know that I will possess it?’” Genesis 15:2, 8

“Therefore the Lord (Kyrios), Yahweh of hosts (ho Despotes sabaoth), The Mighty One of Israel, declares, “Ah, I will be comforted concerning My adversaries, And I will avenge Myself on My enemies.” Isaiah 1:24

“For behold, the Lord (ho Despotes), Yahweh of hosts (Kyrios sabaoth), is going to remove from Jerusalem and Judah Both supply and support, the whole supply of bread And the whole supply of water,” Isaiah 3:1

“Behold, the Lord (ho Despotes), Yahweh of hosts (Kyrios sabaoth), will lop off the boughs with a terrible crash; Those also who are high in stature will be cut in pieces And those who are lofty will be made low.” Isaiah 10:33

“Then I said, ‘Alas, Lord Yahweh (ho Despota Kyrie)! Behold, I do not know how to speak Because I am a youth.’” Jeremiah 1:6

“Then I said, ‘Ah, Lord Yahweh (ho Despota Kyrie)! Surely You have utterly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, “You will have peace”; whereas a sword touches the throat.’” Jeremiah 4:10

“So now, O Yahweh (Despota Kyrie), please take my life from me, for death is better to me than life.”” Jonah 4:3

With what Jude wrote in reference to the risen Lord:

“For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our ONLY Master and Lord, Jesus Christ (ton MONON Despoten kai Kyrion hemon ‘Iesoun Christon).” Jude 1:4

The only way that a monotheistic Jew could describe the heavenly Jesus as the only Despotes and Kyrios is if he believed that God’s Son is actually that very Adonay YHWH of the Hebrew Bible who became Man. There’s simply no way around this.

The following chart will help the readers see how the NT clearly and inarguably attributes to Christ the very words of the Shema when referring to the one true YHWH.

“The Lord (Kyrios) our God (ho Theos hemon) is one Lord (Kyrios heis esti).” Deut. 6:4 LXX

“there shall be one Lord (Kyrios heis),” Zech. 14:9 LXX

“the only true Lord (Kyrios monos),” Neh. 9:6 LXX

“for us (hemis)… one God (heis Theos), the Father… and one Lord (heis Kyrios), Jesus Christ,” 1 Cor. 8:6

“one Lord (heis Kyrios),” Eph. 4:5

“our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ (ton monon … Kyrion … ‘Iesoun Christon).” Jude 1:4

What this means is that the NT has taken the heart of Jewish monotheistic faith and expanded it to include Christ within the identity of the one true God of Israel.

Thus, for the first Christians the Father is the God spoken of in the Shema, whereas Jesus is the one YHWH which that very confession commands believers to acknowledge and trust in!

Unless noted otherwise, scriptural references taken from the Legacy Standard Bible (LSB).

FURTHER READING

The Christianization of the OT Shema

The Binitarian Nature of the Shema [Part 1], [Part 6], [Appendix A]

Does the fact that the Bible distinguishes Jesus from God disprove his Deity?

JESUS: THE ONE AND ONLY ADONAY YHWH

JESUS CHRIST: THE LORD AND THE LORD’S SON

JUDE TESTIFIES THAT JESUS IS YHWH ALMIGHTY!

Jesus Christ: The Lord God Who Saved and Punished Israel During the Exodus

The Quran Confirms that Jude Identifies Jesus Christ as God in the Flesh!