John Gill Commentary Deuteronomy 6

Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the
judgments

Not the ten commandments repeated in the preceding chapter, but all others, whether moral, ceremonial, or judicial, afterwards declared; for what Moses now did was only to give a repetition and fresh declaration of such laws as he had before received, and delivered to the people; and so the Targum of Jonathan thus paraphrases this clause, this is a declaration of the commandments, statutes, and judgments:

which the Lord your God commanded to teach you ;
that is, which he commanded him, Moses, to teach them, though not fully expressed, as may be learned from (Deuteronomy 4:1Deuteronomy 4:5) (5:31)

that you might do them in the land where you go to possess it ;
this is often observed, to imprint upon their minds a sense of their duty, even of obedience to the laws of God, which they were carefully and diligently to perform in the land of Canaan they were going into, and by which they were to hold their possession of it.

That you might fear the Lord your God
Being taught to know the greatness of his being, and the nature of his mind and will, and the manner of his worship; and not with a slavish fear, but with a filial one, a reverential affection for God; being instructed in their duty, as of children, to their God and Father; see (Deuteronomy 5:29)

to keep all his statutes, and his commandments, which I command you ;
not in his own name, but in the name, and by the authority of God, whose minister and messenger he was; and all, having the stamp of divine authority on them, were to be observed and kept, and not one to be neglected or departed from:

you, and your son, and your son's son, all the days of your life ;
a man and his children, and grandchildren; he was to take care that they kept all the commandments of the Lord as long as he lived, and had any concern with them:

and that your days may be prolonged ;
long life being reckoned a very great outward mercy; a long enjoyment of, and continuance in the land of Canaan, is chiefly designed, which is usually expressed when this is observed; see (Deuteronomy 4:26Deuteronomy 4:40) (Deuteronomy 5:16Deuteronomy 5:33) .

Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it ;
Or them, the commandments given them:

that it may be well with you ;
in body and estate:

and that you may increase mightily ;
not only in wealth and riches, but chiefly in numbers:

as the Lord God of your fathers has promised you ;
a promise of increase of numbers was frequently made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; as that their seed should be as the stars of heaven, and as the dust of the earth, and the sand on the sea shore, innumerable; see (Genesis 15:5) (22:17) (25:4) (28:14) and this especially

in the land that flows with milk and honey ;
a very common periphrasis of the land of Canaan, because of the plenty of good things in it; see (Exodus 3:8) .

Hear, O Israel
These are the words of Moses, stirring up the people to an attention to what he was about to say of this great and momentous article, the unity of God, to prevent their going into polytheism and idolatry. From one of the words here used, the Jews call this section Kiriathshema, which they oblige themselves to read twice a day, morning and evening ^F14; the last letter of the first word in this verse, "Shema", meaning "hear", and the last letter of the last word in it, "Echad", meaning "one", are greater than ordinary; which seems designed to excite the attention to what is contained in this passage:

the Lord our God is one Lord; the doctrine of which is, that the Lord, who was the covenant God and Father of his people Israel, is but one Jehovah; he is Jehovah, the Being of beings, a self-existent Being, eternal and immutable; and he is but one in nature and essence; this appears from the perfection of his nature, his eternity, omnipotence, omnipresence, infinity, goodness, self-sufficiency, and perfection; for there can be but one eternal, one omnipotent, one omnipresent, one infinite, one that is originally and of himself good; one self, and all sufficient, and perfect Being; and which also may be concluded from his being the first cause of all things, which can be but one; and from his relations to his creatures, as their King, ruler, governor, and lawgiver.

And for this purpose these words are cited in (Mark 12:29Mark 12:30) but then they no ways contradict the doctrine of a trinity of persons in the unity of the divine essence, the Father, Word, and Holy Spirit, which three are one; the one God, the one Jehovah, as here expressed; see (1 John 5:7) and so the ancient Jews understood this passage.

In an ancient book of theirs it is said ^F15 Jehovah, Elohenu, Jehovah (i.e. Jehovah, our God, Jehovah); these are the three degrees with respect to this sublime mystery; "in the beginning God (Elohim) created the heavens and the earth"; and again ^F16, Jehovah, Elohenu, Jehovah, they are one; the three forms (modes or things) which are one; and elsewhere ^F17 it is observed, there are two, and one is joined to them, and they are three; and when the three are one, he says to (or of) them, these are the two names which Israel heard, Jehovah, Jehovah, and Elohenu (our God) is joined unto them; and it is the seal of the ring of truth, and when they are joined they are one in one unity; which is illustrated by the three names the soul of man is called by, the soul, spirit, and breath; and elsewhere they say ^F18 the holy blessed God, and his Shechinah, are called one; see (John 10:30) .

FOOTNOTES:

• F14: Mist. Beracot, c. 1. sect. 1, 2.
• F15: Zohar in Gen. fol. 1, 3.
• F16: Ib. in Exod. fol. 18. 3, 4.
• F17: Ib. in Numb. fol. 67. 3.
• F18: Tikkune Zohar, Correct. 47. fol. 86. 2.

And you shall love the Lord your God
Which is the first and chief commandment in the law, the sum and substance of the first table of it; and includes in it, or at least has connected with it, knowledge of God, esteem of him, delight in him, faith and trust in him, fear and worship of him, and obedience to him, which when right springs from it. God is to be loved because of the perfections of his nature, and the works of his hand, of nature, providence, and grace; and because of the relations he stands in to men, and especially to his own people; and because of his peculiar love to them; and, indeed, he is to be loved by all men for his care of them, and blessings of goodness bestowed on them;

the manner in which this is to be done follows:

with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might ;
with a superlative love, above all creatures whatever; with the whole of the affections of the heart, with great fervency and ardour of spirit, in the sincerity of the soul, and with all the strength of grace a man has, with such love that is as strong as death. Jarchi interprets loving God with all the heart, that is, with your heart not divided about God, a heart not divided between God and the creature; "all your might" he interprets of mammon or substance; and, indeed, that is one way in which men may show their love to God, by laying out their substance in his service, and for the support of his cause and interest in the world. Aben Ezra by "the heart" understands knowledge, and by the "soul" the spirit of man that is in his body, and by might perfect love in the heart.