The Shema in Hebrew
The Shema is the central declaration of Jewish faith, said morning and evening for many centuries. Its name is simply its first word, “hear”. These six verses are short, full of repeated words, and a lovely place to begin reading Hebrew.
Learn to read this in Biblical Hebrew
No account needed. Your first line takes about three minutes.
The text and translation
שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ יְהוָה אֶחָד׃
Hear, Israel: Yahweh is our God. Yahweh is one.
Word by word
- שְׁמַע
- to hear
- יִשְׂרָאֵל
- Israel
- יְהוָה
- Jehovah
- אֱלֹהֵינוּ
- God, gods
- יְהוָה
- Jehovah
- אֶחָד
- one
וְאָהַבְתָּ אֵת יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ בְּכָל־ לְבָבְךָ וּבְכָל־ נַפְשְׁךָ וּבְכָל־ מְאֹדֶךָ׃
You shall love Yahweh your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might.
Word by word
- וְאָהַבְתָּ
- to love
- אֵת
- (marks the direct object)
- יְהוָה
- Jehovah
- אֱלֹהֶיךָ
- God, gods
- בְּכָל
- all, every
- לְבָבְךָ
- heart
- וּבְכָל
- all, every
- נַפְשְׁךָ
- soul
- וּבְכָל
- all, every
- מְאֹדֶךָ
- very
וְהָיוּ הַדְּבָרִים הָאֵלֶּה אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי מְצַוְּךָ הַיּוֹם עַל־ לְבָבֶךָ׃
These words, which I command you today, shall be on your heart;
Word by word
- וְהָיוּ
- to be, become
- הַדְּבָרִים
- word, thing
- הָאֵלֶּה
- these
- אֲשֶׁר
- who, which, that
- אָנֹכִי
- I
- מְצַוְּךָ
- to command
- הַיּוֹם
- day
- עַל
- above
- לְבָבֶךָ
- heart
וְשִׁנַּנְתָּם לְבָנֶיךָ וְדִבַּרְתָּ בָּם בְּשִׁבְתְּךָ בְּבֵיתֶךָ וּבְלֶכְתְּךָ בַדֶּרֶךְ וּבְשָׁכְבְּךָ וּבְקוּמֶךָ׃
and you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up.
Word by word
- וְשִׁנַּנְתָּם
- to whet
- לְבָנֶיךָ
- son
- וְדִבַּרְתָּ
- to speak
- בָּם
- in, with, by
- בְּשִׁבְתְּךָ
- to sit
- בְּבֵיתֶךָ
- house
- וּבְלֶכְתְּךָ
- to go
- בַדֶּרֶךְ
- way
- וּבְשָׁכְבְּךָ
- to lie down
- וּבְקוּמֶךָ
- to arise
וּקְשַׁרְתָּם לְאוֹת עַל־ יָדֶךָ וְהָיוּ לְטֹטָפֹת בֵּין עֵינֶיךָ׃
You shall bind them for a sign on your hand, and they shall be for frontlets between your eyes.
Word by word
- וּקְשַׁרְתָּם
- to bind
- לְאוֹת
- sign
- עַל
- above
- יָדֶךָ
- hand
- וְהָיוּ
- to be, become
- לְטֹטָפֹת
- bands
- בֵּין
- between
- עֵינֶיךָ
- eye
וּכְתַבְתָּם עַל־ מְזוּזֹת בֵּיתֶךָ וּבִשְׁעָרֶיךָ׃
You shall write them on the door posts of your house and on your gates.
Word by word
- וּכְתַבְתָּם
- to write
- עַל
- above
- מְזוּזֹת
- door-post
- בֵּיתֶךָ
- house
- וּבִשְׁעָרֶיךָ
- gate
What to notice
- שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל means “hear, Israel”. When reading aloud, Jewish tradition says Adonai, “my Lord”, in place of God's written name.
- יְהוָה אֶחָד is usually translated “Yahweh is one”. People have long discussed whether this means one and undivided, or the only one for Israel.
- בְּכָל־ לְבָבְךָ means “with all your heart”. In biblical Hebrew the heart is where you think and decide, as much as where you feel.
- מְזוּזֹת בֵּיתֶךָ means “the doorposts of your house”. The small case fixed to Jewish doorposts takes its name, mezuzah, from this word, and it holds these very verses.
Read it yourself
Urling teaches the words in this text first, so that when you reach it you can read it in Biblical Hebrew. It uses short lessons, and nothing has to be memorised from a list.
Learn to read this in Biblical Hebrew
No account needed. Your first line takes about three minutes.
Sources
Westminster Leningrad Codex with Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible morphology (Deut 6:4–6:9). English: World English Bible.
Text licence: Text public domain; morphology CC BY 4.0 (Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible Project).
Language pack licence: Text public domain; data CC BY 4.0 (credit the Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible Project).
Text: Westminster Leningrad Codex (public domain). Morphology and lemmas: Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible Project (CC BY 4.0). Glosses: OSHB Hebrew Lexicon index of Brown-Driver-Briggs (1906, public domain; index CC BY 4.0), Strong's (1890) as fallback, with AI-written corrections (marked "ai"). English: World English Bible (public domain, eBible.org).
The introduction and notes on this page were written by Claude (AI). Word glosses are AI-assisted, and so is the English unless the source above names another translator.