For the record, Deut 6:5 is NOT the Shema - the word does not appear in Deut 6:5. The Shema is Deut 6:4 because that verse begins with the command to "hear".

Deut 6:5 as commonly (and correctly) translated from the Hebrew is this:

And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might/strength.

Note the order of words: heart, soul, might/strength

This text has numerous variations in translation. Here is a list:

• Swete's LXX: mind, soul, might/ability
• Rahlfs LXX: heart, soul, might/ability

(Rahlfs LXX textual apparatus lists some variations.) The "heart" vs "mind" difference is almost excusable as "heart" in Hebrew is often used as a metaphor for the thinking and emotional ability (as in many other languages).

In the NT, Jesus is quoted as saying

• Matt 22:37; heart, soul, mind
• Mark 12:30; heart, soul, mind, strength
• Luke 10:27, heart, soul, strength, mind

Some get quite hung-up about these differences; I do not. The important point is the one both Deut 6 and Jesus make - we are to love God supremely with our entire being. The various lists are merely merisms for our human entirety.

For the record, Deut 6:5 is NOT the Shema - the word does not appear in Deut 6:5. The Shema is Deut 6:4 because that verse begins with the command to "hear".

Deut 6:5 as commonly (and correctly) translated from the Hebrew is this:

And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might/strength.

Note the order of words: heart, soul, might/strength

This text has numerous variations in translation. Here is a list:

• Swete's LXX: mind, soul, might/ability
• Rahlfs LXX: heart, soul, might/ability

(Rahlfs LXX textual apparatus lists some variations.) The "heart" vs "mind" difference is almost excusable as "heart" in Hebrew is often used as a metaphor for the thinking and emotional ability (as in many other languages).

In the NT, Jesus is quoted as saying

• Matt 22:37; heart, soul, mind
• Mark 12:30; heart, soul, mind, strength
• Luke 10:27, heart, soul, strength, mind

Some get quite hung-up about these differences; I do not. The important point is that which both Deut 6:5 and Jesus make - we are to love God supremely with our entire being. The various lists are merely merisms for our entire human ability and psyche.

For the record, Deut 6:5 is NOT the Shema - the word does not appear in Deut 6:5. The Shema is Deut 6:4 because that verse begins with the command to "hear".

Deut 6:5 as commonly (and correctly) translated from the Hebrew is this:

And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.

The text of the LXX and my literal translation is given below for the same verse:

καὶ ἀγαπήσεις Κύριον τὸν θεόν σου ἐξ ὅλης τῆς διανοίας σου καὶ ἐξ ὅλης τῆς ψυχῆς σου καὶ ἐξ ὅλης τῆς δυνάμεώς σου. = And you will love [the] Lord the God of you from the whole of your mind and from the whole of your soul and the whole of your might/ability.

Before moving on to the NT quotations, it is immediately apparent that the LXX was translated from a different Hebrew text from what we now have. Note the different list of human abilities: heart-soul-might, vs, mind-soul-might. This is almost excusable as "heart" in Hebrew is often used as a metaphor for the thinking ability.

In the NT, Jesus is quoted as saying in Matt 22:37:

‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’

Now we have another list again: heart-soul-mind. "Might" is completely absent.

In Mark 12:30 we have the same conversation reported this way:

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’

We have here another list: heart-soul-mind-strength.

In Luke 10:27 we have yet another difference:

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’

Here we have a fifth variation: heart-soul-strength-mind.

Some get quite hung-up about these differences; I do not. The important point is the one both Deut 6 and Jesus make - we are to love God supremely with our entire being. The various lists are merely merisms for our human entirety.

For the record, Deut 6:5 is NOT the Shema - the word does not appear in Deut 6:5. The Shema is Deut 6:4 because that verse begins with the command to "hear".

Deut 6:5 as commonly (and correctly) translated from the Hebrew is this:

And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might/strength.

Note the order of words: heart, soul, might/strength

This text has numerous variations in translation. Here is a list:

• Swete's LXX: mind, soul, might/ability
• Rahlfs LXX: heart, soul, might/ability

(Rahlfs LXX textual apparatus lists some variations.) The "heart" vs "mind" difference is almost excusable as "heart" in Hebrew is often used as a metaphor for the thinking and emotional ability (as in many other languages).

In the NT, Jesus is quoted as saying

• Matt 22:37; heart, soul, mind
• Mark 12:30; heart, soul, mind, strength
• Luke 10:27, heart, soul, strength, mind

Some get quite hung-up about these differences; I do not. The important point is the one both Deut 6 and Jesus make - we are to love God supremely with our entire being. The various lists are merely merisms for our human entirety.