The Constitution of the Old Testament – Part I

The Constitution of the Old Testament – Part I December 3, 2016

The rabbis taught that the Shema (Dt 6.4-9) is the Constitution of the Tanach or Old Testament.  This is the first of a 6-part series on the Shema.

שְׁמַ֖ע יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֵ֖ינוּ יְהוָ֥ה׀ אֶחָֽד׃

4 Listen up, Israel. YWHW is our God, YHWH alone.

Usually this is translated “YHWH is one” (NIV & ESV; only the NLB and NRSV get it right).  But this is probably not correct.

This has been the translation by Jews only since Christianity has become dominant in the world, and the rabbis’ concern since that time (4th century AD) was to emphasize how rabbinic Judaism was different, that is, that God is one and not three.   But even today’s state-of-the-art commentary from the JPS translates this word the way I have.

The original sense was, There are all sorts of celestial powers that are made by YHWH (what Paul later calls principalities and powers), but the only one that we Jews should worship is the God of Israel, who gave us his name as YHWH, the sacred Tetragrammaton (four letters).

Of this name and no other God said, This is my name forever and this is my title for all generations.  The rabbis did not pronounce it because of the second commandment (Do not take the name of the Lord in vain) and Jesus followed this rabbinic convention when he referred to it in the Lord’s Prayer: Hallowed by Thy Name. And in John 17 where he says, I have made known your name, and Holy Father, protect them in your name.

Paul appears to have followed this rabbinic tradition.  When he refers in Philippians 2.9 to “the name that is above every other name,” it is clear, as Richard Bauckham has observed, that no Jewish writer could say or write this without meaning God’s unique name, the Tetragrammaton. The Tetragrammaton is included in the Trinity, because “Spirit of holiness”  was a familiar rabbinic circumlocution for YHWH.   So the word “alone” was used in a world of polytheism, as a silent witness against Christianity.

“One” was not a word emphasizing numeric quantity (only one as opposed to two or three, as Jews have taught since the 4th century AD), but as a word to warn Jews not to worship any other god or power (worship YHWH alone).

The next logical question: So what does it mean that YHWH is our God? What does that mean for my life? The answer is in the next verse, which we will discuss tomorrow.

 


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