YHVH: The Divine Adjective

Deuteronomy 6:4, commonly referred to as the Shema, is the very heart of the Hebrew Bible and the Jewish faith. It is also the very foundation of the New Testament proclamation of the Triunity of God.

The passage stresses the fact of YHVH being the only God whom his people are to serve and worship, which can be seen by way the following Jewish translations render the verse:

“Hear, O Israel! The ETERNAL is our God, the ETERNAL alone.” Revised JPS, 2023

“Hear, O Israel! יהוה is our God, יהוה alone.” The Contemporary Torah, Jewish Publication Society, 2006

“Hearken O Israel: YHWH our God, YHWH is One!” The Five Books of Moses, by Everett Fox. New York, Schocken Books, 1995

“Hear, O Yisra᾽el: The Lord our God; the Lord is one.” The Koren Jerusalem Bible

“Listen, Yisroel! Adonoy is our God, Adonoy is one.” Metsudah Chumash, Metsudah Publications, 2009

Performing the Command­ments out of Love

Besides fulfilling God’s commandments because you are legally obligated to do so based on the covenant He made with you at Mount Sinai, you should also fulfill them out of love, because when you are motivated by love, you will fulfill the commandments even when doing so seems inconvenient, burdensome, or inexpedient. This love, in turn, should be based on your awareness that God is the one and only true deity. Therefore, hear, Israel: Although GOD is presently only our God, since only we, as a nation, have accepted Him as our sole sovereign, GOD is nonetheless the one and only true deity, and the day will come when He will be acknowledged as such by all humanity. If you indeed contemplate this truth and all its implications, you will come to love GOD, your God, with all your heart – i.e., with total sincerity, and even by harnessing your inclination to do evil for serving Him; and at the expense of your very soul – i.e., even if doing so requires you to suffer martyrdom; and with all your material means, even if you value these material means more than your own life; and whether He treats you well or seemingly does not.… The Kehot Chumash; Chabad House Publications, Los Angeles

“Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone.” Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures, published by JPS 1985

“Hear, O Israel, the L‑rd [who is] our G‑d [now, and not the G‑d of the peoples — He is destined to be] the one L‑rd.” The Rashi chumash by Rabbi Shraga Silverstein

“HEAR, O ISRAEL: THE LORD OUR GOD, THE LORD IS ONE.” The Holy Scriptures: A New Translation (JPS 1917)

“Listen, Yisroel! Adonoy is our God, Adonoy is one.” Bold Onkelos commentary, Metsudah Chumash, Metsudah Publications, 2009 [with Onkelos translation]

“Hear, O Israel: The Eternal of Mercy, who is also our Almighty, will in the future, be acknowledged also by the whole world as the One and only Eternal of Mercy.” Charles Kahane, New York, 1963

The preceding translations were taken from Sefaria.org: Deuteronomy 6:4-5 with Translations. All emphasis was mine.

Here is how two very prominent Rabbis interpret the Shema:

6:4

ה' אלהינו ה' אחד - ה' הוא לבדו אלהינו ואין לנו אלוה אחר עמו. וכן בדברי הימים: ואנחנו ה' אלהינו ולא עזבנוהו - כלומר, עימכם עגלי זהב אבל אנו ה' הוא אלהינו ולא עזבנו אותו כבית ירבעם, שאתם משתחוים להם. 

ה' אלוקימו, 

Hashem alone is elokeynu, there is no other kind of divinity which is a partner to Him. We find a similar formulation in Chronicles II 3,10 ואנחנו ה' אלוקינו ולא עזבנוהו, meaning: “although you have golden calves, as far as we are concerned we believe only in Hashem who is our only G’d, and we have not abandoned Him as did Jerobam.”

ה' אחד - לו לבדו נעבוד ולא נצרף לעבוד עמו אל אחר אפילו לקסום קסמים כמו שפירשתי למעלה. 

ה' אחד. 

He alone, and Him we will serve without resorting to any man-made intermediary such as charms, etc.” (see our commentary on 5,6) (Rashbam on Deuteronomy 6:4; emphasis mine) 

6:4

ומה שהעתיקו קדמונינו ז״‎ל על ק״‎ש הוא האמת ואין צורך לחפש דע כי זה השם הנכבד הוא שם העצם ואם כן מה טעם לאמרו פעם שנית והתשובה כי אדם שם עצם ושם מקרה שאיננו כן ואם הוא נקרא מעצם האדמה וכן זה והעד השם שהוא סמוך אל צבאות או העיקר הוא אלהינו ונכפל כמו כן לומר אחד והטעם לבדו וראיות עד אין חקר יש כי השם אחד והפסוק שאמר ביום ההוא יהיה ה' אחד על מחשבות בני אדם והנכון בעיני שהוא דבק עם מלך כי כן כתוב והיה ה' למלך על כל הארץ ביום ההוא יהיה ה' מלך אחד ושמו אחד כטעם כי אז אהפוך אל עמים שפה ברורה והנה כל העולם ידברו שפה אחת על כן יהיה שם ה' אחד:  

HEAR O ISRAEL: THE LORD (YHVH) OUR GOD, THE LORD (YHVH) IS ONE.] That which the ancients, of blessed memory, transmitted regarding the reading of the shema is true, According to Rabbinic tradition there is a biblical command to recite Hear (shema), O Israel, morning and evening. and there is no need for further investigation. Note that the glorious name (YHVH) is a noun. A proper noun. This being the case, why is it said a second time? Why repeat the proper noun? Scripture should have read, Hear, O Israel, the Lord (YHVH) our God is one. It should be noted that I.E. comments elsewhere that it is biblical style to repeat nouns in the same verse. See I.E. on Gen. 19:24, (Vol. 1, p. 208) and on Ps. 1:2. The answer is that Adam is a noun. Adam is also an adjective, and not a noun, In other words, the name Adam is at times a proper name and at other times an adjective. even though he was called after the very earth. The same is true of the name YHVH. It is employed both as a proper noun and as an adjective. See I.E. on Ex. 3:15 (Vol. 2, pp. 67,68). The fact that YHVH is connected to tzeva’ot (hosts) Adonai tzeva’ot (the Lord of hosts) (Is. 1:9). is proof. For Adonai is in the construct with tzeva’ot, whereas a proper name cannot come in the construct. See I.E. on Ex. 3:15 (Vol. 2, p. 65). On the other hand, the term Elohenu (our God) might be the object. In other words, the main purpose of the verse is to teach us that YHVH is our God. The name YHVH was repeated in order to state YHVH echad (the Lord is one) the meaning of which is, only YHVH. After Scripture tells us that YHVH is our God, it goes on to say that only YHVH is our God. There are many proofs that YHVH alone is God. The medieval Jewish philosophers proved that there can be only one God. The verse that states, In that day shall the Lord be One (echad) I.E. renders this, In that day shall the Lord alone be God. (Zech. 14:9), speaks of men’s thoughts. In my opinion, the word one In Zech. 14:9. is connected to the word king, for Scripture writes: And the Lord shall be King over all the earth; In that day shall the Lord alone be King and His name one (Zech. 14:9). *Zech. 14:9 reads: And the Lord shall be King over all the earth; In that day shall the Lord be One, and His name one. I.E.’s interpretation eliminates the implication that today there are more gods than YHVH, for it speaks of all people recognizing one king, i.e., the Lord. The latter is similar in meaning to For then will I turn to the peoples, A pure language, That they may all call upon the name of the Lord (Zeph. 3:9}. Behold, all the nations will speak one language. The name of the Lord will therefore be one. (Ibn Ezra on Deuteronomy 6:4; emphasis mine)

Ibn Ezra’s claim that the Divine Name YHVH (also known as the Tetragrammaton [four letters]) is both a proper noun and an adjective is quite intriguing. This would mean that YHVH is not only the personal name of the one true God, but also a description of that God.

In other words, the name YHVH tells us what God is like, pointing to the kind or type of God that the Bible commands believers to worship.

Further Reading

Rabbinic Judaism & God's Plurality

HEBREW WITNESS: CAN THREE BE ONE?

Don’t Christians Believe in Three Gods?