Moses gives the Shema to Israel on the plains of Moab, the same setting as Deut 32. They are about to enter a land of many gods. The Shema is not primarily a doctrinal proposition; it is a daily reorientation. Twice a day, every day — on rising and on lying down — Israel was to recite this sentence, the way you might pull a compass out of your pocket to make sure you are still pointed north.

From the writers we read together

Carmen Joy Imes

Old Testament scholar, on Sinai's enduring relevance

Imes argues that the third commandment — "do not bear the Name in vain" — is best read as a covenant identity warning, not just a profanity rule. To bear God's Name is to wear his identity into the world. The Shema is the daily reset of that wearing. Hear — the Lord is one — love him with everything you are.

Most of us recite this verse and then go about a day in which the Lord is one of many things we love. The Shema does not allow that grammar. There is one God; therefore there is one supreme love; therefore everything else has a second-order place. The verse is not extreme. It is simply true.