12:29a–12:30

This is the most important: ‘Hear…. Love…: This clause introduces the command that follows. The most important refers to the command to love the Lord in 12:30. Introduce it in a natural way in your language.

Here is another way to translate this:

The most important is, ‘Listen…you must love…. (God’s Word)

Your translation should not imply thatmost important refers only to the command to Hear in 12:29b. The word Hear emphasizes the statement that follows. In some languages a command to “hear” may cause readers to misunderstand what Jesus said in this context. If that is true in your language, you may need to leave it implicit. For example, the Contemporary English Version says:

The most important one says: “People of Israel, you have only one Lord and God. 30You must love him….”

12:29a

the most important: The phrase the most important is literally “the first,” as in the Revised Standard Version. It refers to the most important command. See how you translated the phrase “the most important” in 12:28.

12:29b

In this verse Jesus quoted from Deuteronomy 6:4. (This passage (Deuteronomy 6:4) was called by the Jews the “Shema,” which is based on the Hebrew word meaning “hear.” The religious Jews repeated it twice every day as the basis of their faith (UBS Handbook, page 382). ) If you use footnotes, you may want to cross-reference that verse.

Hear O Israel: The words Hear O Israel introduce something very important that Moses was about to tell the people of Israel about God.

Here are some other ways to introduce this:

Listen, Israel! (Good News Bible)
-or-
Israel people, listen to me

Introduce Moses’ words in a way that emphasizes that what he was about to say was very important.

the Lord our God, the Lord is One: The words the Lord our God, the Lord is one indicate that the Lord our God is unique, there is no other God like him. (Jesus quoted these words from the LXX, the Greek translation of the Old Testament. In the Hebrew text of this verse, both occurrences of the word that the Berean Standard Bible translates here as Lord refer to the personal name of God. In English, people sometimes write that name as Yahweh or Jehovah.) It also implies that he is the only God that Israel worships.

Here are some other ways to translate the Lord our God, the Lord is one:

The Lord our God is the only Lord. (Good News Bible)
-or-
The Lord is our God, and he is the only one like himself.
-or-
God the Lord is the only God. He is the only one whom we worship.

In some languages it is not possible to use the title “Lord” by itself. If that is true in your language, you may be able to say “our Lord.” For example:

The Lord God who is our Lord is the only/unique one.

See Lord, Context 2, in the Glossary.

our God: In some languages it may be necessary to make the meaning of our God more explicit. For example:

the God whom we worship
-or-
the God who cares for us

This “we” includes all the people of Israel.

God: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as God refers here to the eternal spirit who created everything. He is more powerful than any other spirit, and he is perfectly good and wise. He deserves to be worshiped. Here are some ways to translate God:

• Use a name or title for God that people in your culture already use.

• Use a descriptive term that fits the truth about God that is revealed in the Bible. For example:

Creator
-or-
Great Spirit
-or-
Ruler of the universe

• Use a borrowed word from the national or trade language Bible.

Choose a term that is acceptable to the believers and churches in your area. For more detailed information, see God in the Glossary.

© 2008 by SIL International®

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All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
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