（申06）第一段“你要听” (Deut 06) First Section of “You Shall Hear”
(ChatGPT was applied for English translation.中文在后面）
Deuteronomy 6:4–9
“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. And these words, which I command you this day, shall be upon your heart. And you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall speak of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up. And you shall bind them as a sign upon your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”
This passage is the first part of the Hebrew Shema, “You shall hear,” which has three parts https://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-cn/示瑪 (the other two are in Deuteronomy 11 and Numbers 15).
This first section, “You shall hear,” is the core of cores in Jewish devotion. Jews are required to recite it every evening and morning in order to fulfill the command “when you lie down and when you rise up,” and to meditate on its meaning during the recitation of the first and second verses. If the first verse is not recited with concentration, it must be repeated. When reciting the first verse, one must accept in their heart the kingship of the LORD and consider that He is the sole sovereign over heaven and earth. While reciting the second verse, one must inwardly accept the commandment to love the LORD.
The original Hebrew of these verses is very concise. For example, the first verse reads: “The LORD our God, the LORD one,” so commentators have many diverse interpretations. For example, Rashi interprets this as meaning: “Right now, only we accept the Creator as our God, but in the future, all will acknowledge Him as King.”
Below, I attempt to reflect on the speaker’s inner thoughts at the time by considering the context of the passage and the background of the speaker.
The speaker is Moses, the leader of the Israelites, nearly 120 years old.
The time is within the last 36 days of his departure from this world.
The place is on the east bank of the Jordan River.
Forty years ago, the LORD called Moses to lead the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt. He has now been their leader for forty years, leading them through the wilderness to the eastern border of the Promised Land. But due to the sins of the Israelites and his own sin, the Creator decreed that he could not cross the river to the west. Just a few months earlier, Moses led the Israelites to conquer land east of the Jordan—an area as large as what lies west of the river—and would give it to the two and a half tribes to dwell in.
The first section of “You shall hear,” is found within the Torah portion Vaetchanan (“I pleaded”) (Deuteronomy 3:23–7:11). What I’ve just described is the background at the start of this portion. At its beginning, Moses once again pleaded with the Creator to allow him to cross over into the Promised Land, but the Creator refused and even told him not to ask again (Deuteronomy 3:26).
In the Vaetchanan portion, Moses obeyed the LORD’s command and established three cities of refuge on the east side of the Jordan—just like the ones that would later be set up on the west—to provide asylum for those who killed someone unintentionally, protecting them from blood avengers. Then, he reviewed the Ten Commandments that the Israelites received nearly forty years earlier at Mount Sinai, and encouraged the people to keep the LORD’s commandments. Then he said (Deuteronomy 6:2),
“Hear, O Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you, and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the LORD, the God of your ancestors, promised you.”
He then taught Deuteronomy 6:4–9—the first section of “You shall hear”—and then he said (Deuteronomy 6:10),
“The LORD your God will bring you into the land he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you—a land with large, flourishing cities you did not build.”
We see that he places this section of “You shall hear,” between two statements about the land of milk and honey and the land promised to your fathers. We may deduce that Moses remained deeply attached to the Promised Land, and as he taught this passage, he was thinking about the land he himself could not enter. He also knew that the LORD was capable of letting him take the Israelites into the west bank of the land, for the LORD had just helped him conquer land of equal size on the east bank. His inability to go was not because the LORD was unable, but because the LORD did not allow it. This background gives us insight into Moses’ possible personal reflections when teaching this passage, which I include in brackets 【 】below:
(Deut 6:4) “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.”
【Hear, O Israel: The Creator is our Judge (in Hebrew, “God” implies “Judge”). As Judge, He judged that you may enter the Promised Land, but I may not. But it’s not because He lacks the power to bring me in—for He already enabled me to lead you to conquer the land east of the Jordan. He is the sovereign ruler of all. Since He does not permit me to enter, it must be for the greater good. The LORD is our God—we accept only His verdict, because He alone is Lord over both this world and the world to come. In this life, when I “lie down” and cannot go to the west bank, He is LORD. In the life to come, when I “rise up” in resurrection, He is still LORD. The LORD is our God—He One and Only is.】
(Deut 6:5) “And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart (Hebrew levav), with all your life (Hebrew nehesh), and with all your extreme (Hebrew meod).”
【Right now, my heart feels regretful for not entering that beautiful land on the west. But even with this regretful heart, I will love the LORD my God—my “referee,” the One who judged my fate. His decision must be best. I accept His verdict and resolve to love Him with all my remaining life and all my “extreme”. My “extreme” is that by the LORD’s extreme grace, He spoke with me face to face in this world, teaching me the Scriptures so I could teach them to you. I will now use my remaining life to review His teachings with you—this is the best way I can love Him before my departure.】
(Deut 6:6–9) “These words which I command you today shall be on your heart… when you lie down and when you rise up…”
This first section, “You shall hear”—this famous biblical passage—was passed down to us by the Creator through Moses, who was about to leave this world. What a fitting messenger for this message.
（申06）第一段“你要听”
申命记6:4-9
“以色列阿，你要听。耶和华我们神是独一的主。你要尽心，尽性，尽力爱耶和华你的神。我今日所吩咐你的话都要记在心上，也要殷勤教训你的儿女。无论你坐在家里，行在路上，躺下，起来，都要谈论。也要系在手上为记号，戴在额上为经文。又要写在你房屋的门框上，并你的城门上。”
这段经文，是希伯来语shema，“你要听”，三部分中的第一段 https://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-cn/示瑪（另两段在别处，位于申命记11章和民数记15章）。这第一段“你要听”，是犹太人灵修的重点中的重点，他们每天晚上早晨都需要朗诵，以履行“躺下，起来，都要谈论”的教导，并且朗诵第一句和第二句时需要默想里面的意思。其中第一句如果朗读时不用心，就需要重读。朗诵第一句时，心里需要接受主的王权，并思想主是掌管诸天和全地的独一主宰。朗诵第二句时，需要心里接受爱主的诫命。
这些经文的原文结构都很简洁，比如说第一句是：“主我们神，主一”，所以解经家有很多不同方面的解释。比如Rashi解经认为，这可以表示现在只有我们接受造物主作我们的神，但将来万有都要拥戴造物主作王。
以下，我尝试按照经文的上下文，并结合说话的人的背景，来揣摩说话者当时内心的想法。
说话的人，是将近一百二十岁的以色列人的领袖，摩西，
时间，是在他离开今世前的36天中的某一天，
地点，是在约旦河东岸。
四十年前，主呼召摩西带领以色列人脱离了埃及的奴役，他已经作了四十年的领袖，带以色列人走过旷野，来到应许之地东界约旦河的对岸。但是因为以色列人犯的错误和他自己犯的错，造物主规定他不能过到河西。摩西就在几个月前带以色列人在河东占领了与河西一样大的地方，给以色列的两个半支派居住。
第一段“你要听”的经文，位于“我恳求”vaetchanan这个读经进度（申命记3:23-7:11） 里，以上我介绍的，就是这个读经进度开始时的背景，摩西在这个读经进度开始时，曾再次恳求造物主允许他过河进入应许之地，但造物主不允许，还不让他再求这件事（申命记3:26）。
在“我恳求”vaetchanan这个读经进度里，摩西遵守主的命令，在河东为以色列人设立了三座逃城，与河西将来一样，为无意中杀了人的人作躲避遇难者亲属报复的避难所。然后，他为以色列人复习将近四十年前在西奈山从主那里接受的十诫，并鼓励以色列人遵行主的诫命。然后他说（申命记6:2）“以色列阿，你要听，要谨守遵行，使你可以在那流奶与蜜之地得以享福，人数极其增多，正如耶和华你列祖的神所应许你的”。然后他教导申命记6:4-9的第一段“你要听”的经文，然后他说（申命记6:10）“耶和华你的神领你进他向你列祖亚伯拉罕，以撒，雅各起誓应许给你的地。那里有城邑，又大又美，非你所建造的。” 我们看到，他把第一段“你要听”的经文，放在两句“流奶与蜜之地”和“应许给你的地”的经文中间。我们可以推论，摩西对应许之地念念不忘，他教导第一段“你要听”时，是心里想着他所不能去的这应许之地的。而且他知道主是有能力让他占领河西的应许地的，因为主刚帮助他占领了河东一样大的土地。他不能去，是因为主的不允许，不是不能够。这个背景，对我们解释第一段“你要听”，就提供了摩西自己内心的可能想法，放在括弧【 】中：
（申6:4）“听啊，以色列，主我们神，是独一的主。”
【听啊，以色列，造物主是我们命运的判决者（希伯来文神有审判者的意思）。作为审判者，祂判决你们这批人能进应许地，而判决我不能进应许地。但祂并非没有能力让我带你们进应许地，因为祂既然能让我带你们占领河东的地，也能让我带你们占领河西的地，祂是掌管万有的独一主宰。既然祂不让我过去，一定是这样更好。主是我们神，我们只接受祂一位的判决， 因为祂同一位主既掌管今生也掌管来世。今生我不能到河西去， 但依靠祂， 我还有来世的盼望。今生结束我“躺下”时，祂是主，来世复活我“起来”时， 祂还是主。主是我们神， 只有祂一位。】
（申6:5）“你要用你每所有心态（原文的levav），又要用你所有的生命（原文的nefesh），又要用你所有的极其（原文的meod)，爱主你的神。”
【我现在的心态，是遗憾不能进这美好的河西之地，但在这样的心态中，我还是要爱主我的神，我命运的“裁判”，祂的安排一定更好。我接受祂的判决，并决定用我所有的余生和所有的“极其”来爱祂。我的“极其”，是蒙主对我极其恩待，在今世，祂就口对口教导我圣经叫我传给你们，我要用余生为你们复习主的教导，这也是现在我离世前爱主的最好方式，】
（申6:6-9）“我今日所吩咐你的话都要记在心上，… 躺下，起来，都要谈论 …”
第一段“你要听”，这段著名的圣经经文，造物主通过告别今世之前的摩西传给我们，真是最合适的选择。