shema prayer transliteration and english

#Shema prayer transliteration and english full#

What we translate into English as “love” here is the Hebrew word ahavah. The next instruction in the prayer is to love the Lord your God. In Hebrew, hearing and doing are the same thing. Here, the word shema means to allow the words to sink in, provide understanding, and generate a response-it’s about action. The opening line, “Hear, O Israel,” does not simply mean to let sound waves enter your ears. Let’s look closer at the powerful words of the Shema to understand why it was so important for Jewish people and how modern Christians can also find wisdom in this ancient prayer. But to do so, the people must learn to listen to and love God fully, above all else.

#Shema prayer transliteration and english full#

He is urging them to not repeat the mistakes of their parents’ generation, wanting them to experience the full blessing of the promised land.

In the opening section of Deuteronomy where this famous prayer first appears, Moses is addressing the new generation of Israel as they prepare to enter the promised land. This prayer has been one of the most influential traditions in Jewish history, functioning both as the Jewish pledge of allegiance and a hymn of praise. 15:37-41) and prayed these words every morning and every evening. Ancient Jewish people combined lines from Deuteronomy 6:4-5 with other passages from the Torah (Deut. The Shema gets its name from the first Hebrew word of the prayer-”hear” or “listen”, a translation of the Hebrew word shema.