Deuteronomy 6:4
Listen to this page
Open the MP3 directly
The context
Moses speaks to the generation about to enter the land, in the farewell addresses of Deuteronomy. Chapter 6 follows the renewal of the covenant and the warning against the peoples already there. Verse 4 is the opening of the daily confession, and verse 5 attaches the command to love with heart, soul, and strength.
What it establishes
It establishes the exclusive claim of Israel's God against the gods of the surrounding nations, and it makes that claim the premise for total loyalty. The confession is addressed to a people, not offered as a philosophical thesis, and it is followed immediately by command.
What it does not establish
It does not settle how the oneness is to be parsed. The word rendered one can stress uniqueness as easily as numerical singularity, and the verse is read differently by Jewish and Christian interpreters. It rules out rival gods; it does not by itself adjudicate later Trinitarian questions.
Short note, first pass, October 2026. Corrections welcome.
Cited in these answers
Part of Scripture, Opened — the exegetical layer behind every citation on this site. Scripture quotations are from the ESV.