How can Deuteronomy be both a Book of the Law, and also a book that repeatedly exhorts us to Love God with all our heart and soul?
What can we learn from the commentaries by the famous medieval rabbis Rashi, Rambam or Maimonides, and Ramban or Nachmanides?
How did the Iliad and the Old Testament both celebrate and challenge the predominant warrior ethos of the ancient world?
Medieval Jewish and Christian Commentators, My Gentile’s Defense of Judaism, Part 1
https://seekingvirtueandwisdom.com/medieval-jewish-and-christian-commentators-my-gentile-defense-of-judaism-part-1/
https://youtu.be/mN765l5O2f8
THIS VIDEO: Loving God in Deuteronomy, My Gentile’s Defense of Judaism, Part 2
https://youtu.be/1f-rAs-rBI0
Powerpoint Script with Book Links:
https://www.slideshare.net/BruceStrom1/loving-god-in-deuteronomy-my-gentiles-defense-of-judaism-part-2
DEUTERONOMY: LAW AS GOSPEL, AND LOVING GOD
When studying the rabbinical commentaries on Deuteronomy, I was struck by the number of times the commandment to Love God was repeated in various forms, including the commandment to Fear God, which is roughly equivalent, so I decided to count them, there are about twenty repetitions. This was surprising to me as a Christian, for as St Paul exhorts, “the letter” of the law “kills, but the Spirit gives life.”[1]
In our first video, we introduced you to the medieval rabbinical commentators, Rashi, Rambam, and Ramban. We also discussed Jewish exegesis, the interpretation of Scripture, comparing it to Christian methods of interpretation. In this video, we will study the many verses in Deuteronomy that exhort us to Love God in the spirit of the Law, which means that the medieval rabbis agree with St Paul.
We emphasized in this introductory lecture both the Greek Iliad and the Jewish Old Testament were compiled for ancient Greek and ancient Jewish city-states were ancient warrior cultures. Unlike today when we look forward to a retirement funded by Social Security, in the ancient world you worried that a hostile enemy would plunder your city-state, rob you of all your possessions, execute all military-age men, and enslave the women and children.
Ancient Warrior Culture, Blog 1, War, Slaves, and Concubines in Ancient Greece, Rome, and Israel
https://seekingvirtueandwisdom.com/ancient-warrior-societies-blog-1-the-warrior-ethos-of-ancient-greece/
Ancient Warrior Culture, Ancient Greece, Rome, and Israel
https://youtu.be/7QAZ_s6zw4E
Ancient Warrior Societies, Blog 2, Greek and Roman Armies and Navies
https://seekingvirtueandwisdom.com/ancient-warrior-societies-blog-2-greek-and-roman-armies-and-navies/
Ancient Warrior Societies, Blog 3, World of the Old Testament
https://seekingvirtueandwisdom.com/ancient-warrior-societies-blog-3-world-of-the-old-testament/
Ancient Warfare in Ancient Greece, Rome, and Israel. Did Joshua Massacre Pagans in Promised Land?
https://youtu.be/9xKxqAbJ2qY
Ordinary Life and Justice in Ancient Athens, Rome, and Israel
http://www.seekingvirtueandwisdom.com/ordinary-life-and-justice-in-the-ancient-world/
https://youtu.be/vl8KGL5Yx2w
Ordinary Life for Romans Under Stoic Emperor Marcus Aurelius
https://seekingvirtueandwisdom.com/ordinary-life-for-romans-under-stoic-emperor-marcus-aurelius/
https://youtu.be/9hgSbcgbCJw
Summary of Homer’s Iliad: Warrior Culture of Ancient Greece
https://seekingvirtueandwisdom.com/summary-of-homers-iliad-warrior-culture-of-ancient-greece/
https://youtu.be/6C5znDxvpQ8
Iliad, Blog 1, Why Should a Christian Read the Iliad?
http://www.seekingvirtueandwisdom.com/iliad_blog01/
The Iliad, the Basis of Greek Culture and the Western Philosophical Tradition
https://youtu.be/DpmuhZJUJn0
Iliad Blog 2, Captured Concubines in the Iliad and the Torah
http://www.seekingvirtueandwisdom.com/iliad_blog02/
The Iliad, blog 4, Briseis, Chryseis, Aren’t all Concubines the Same?
http://www.seekingvirtueandwisdom.com/the-iliad-blog-4-briseis-chryseis-arent-all-concubines-the-same/
Concubines in the Iliad, Old Testament and Christian Tradition
https://youtu.be/bGHHD7XTvr0
Iliad, Blog 3, Visiting the Enemy Camp, Greeks vs Indians
http://www.seekingvirtueandwisdom.com/iliad-blog-3-visiting-the-enemy-camp-greeks-vs-indians/
The Warrior Cultures of the Iliad and the American Indian, Bravely Visiting the Enemy Camp
https://youtu.be/ynIx-AVI2f8
The Iliad Blog 5, the Tide of Battle Turns Against the Greeks
http://www.seekingvirtueandwisdom.com/the-iliad-blog-5-the-tide-of-battle-turns-against-the-greeks/
The Iliad Blog 6, Embassy to Achilles, Oration, Failed Meeting
http://www.seekingvirtueandwisdom.com/the-iliad-blog-6-embassy-to-achilles-oration-failed-meeting/
The Iliad Blog 7, the deaths of Patroclus and Hector
http://www.seekingvirtueandwisdom.com/the-iliad-blog-7-the-deaths-of-patroclus-and-hector/
The Iliad of Homer: Glory, Honor, Madness and Futility of War
https://youtu.be/7lI2ZQ50wRc
What we did not emphasize in our introduction was that the Greek Iliad and the Jewish Old Testament also challenged aspects of the warrior ethos in their philosophical and moral worldview. The Iliad challenged the wisdom of a pure warrior ethos, with the hero Achilles questioning the blind pursuit of glory in endless wars. Our hero Achilles in both the Iliad and the Odyssey states he would rather live a long life in obscurity as a peasant farmer than live a short life as a glorious Greek hero, although in the end, he chooses not so much glory, but rather revenge against Hector for killing his best friend Patroclus in battle. In contrast, the Old Testament celebrates social justice, the ancient version of black lives matter, by blaming Israel for God’s abandoning his people to pagan invasions on the poor treatment of the widows and orphans and sojourners, who are the disadvantaged poor and less fortunate immigrants.
In these commandments, Adonoy is the Hebrew rendition of the merciful aspect of God, while Elohim is the judgmental aspect of God.
Medieval Jewish and Christian Commentators, My Gentile Defense of Judaism, Part 1
https://seekingvirtueandwisdom.com/medieval-jewish-and-christian-commentators-my-gentile-defense-of-judaism-part-1/
https://youtu.be/mN765l5O2f8
It is Jewish tradition is to render the generic God as G_d (G underline d). I am not following this tradition because I remember my ex-military dad using the colloquial English GD as a shorthand for a curse of God. The devious deceiver seeks to spoil everything, as CS Lewis reminds us.
We are quoting Deuteronomy from the English translation of the Jewish Metsudah Chumash. Let us begin our study of the Love of God in Deuteronomy!
RASHI AND RAMBAN ON LOVING GOD IN DEUTERONOMY
Adonoy has destroyed your adversaries
Deuteronomy 4:4.
But you who cling to Adonoy,
all of you are live today.
Deuteronomy 4:29.
You will seek Adonoy, your God,
and you will find Him.
when you seek Him wholeheartedly,
and with your whole being.
Deuteronomy 5:9-10.
I am Adonoy, your God, jealous Almighty,
Who reckons the sin of parents for children
and for the third generation
and for the fourth generation of my enemies,
and performs kindliness
for thousands of generations
for those who Love Me
and for those who guard My commandments.
Deuteronomy 5:26.
I wish they would retain
their present attitude to fear Me
and to preserve all My commandments always.
Ramban: Notes this is similar to Job 28:28:
Behold, the Fear of the Eternal, that is wisdom;
and to depart from evil is understanding.
Adonoy gives Israel his Laws
Deuteronomy 6:2.
In order that you will fear Adonoy, your God,
to preserve all His statues and commandments
that I am commanding you,
you and your son and your grandson,
all the days of your life,
and in order that you live long.
Ramban does not interpret this as saying that a long life is a reward for obeying the commandments, but rather that you and your descendants should keep the commandments for all time.
Deuteronomy 6:5-6.
You are to Love Adonoy, your God,
with all your heart, with all your soul,
and with all your possessions.
And these words
That I command you today
shall be upon your heart.
Rashi: YOU ARE TO LOVE
You are to obey His words and commands,
because of your Love for Him.
There is no comparison between
one who obeys out of love
and one who obeys out of fear.
He who serves his master out of fear,
should the master overburden him,
he will leave and go away.
YOU ARE TO LOVE
WITH ALL YOUR HEART
Rashi: With your two inclinations, (good and evil).
Another interpretation, “with all your heart,”
your heart should not be fragmented with God.
YOU ARE TO LOVE
WITH ALL YOUR POSSESSIONS
With all your wealth.
There are men whose wealth
is dearer to them than their bodies.
It is therefore said, “With all your possessions.”
Another interpretation, “With all your measures,”
with whatever measure he apportions you,
whether it is a measure of goodness
or a measure of punishment, you must Love Him.
THESE WORDS THAT I COMMAND YOU TODAY
These words shall not be in your eyes
like an outdated decree
which no one takes seriously,
but rather like a newly given one,
which is read eagerly by all.
The footnotes observe that in Jewish tradition, all commandments should be performed with love, both Love for God and love for our neighbor. The sacrifice of wealth implied is obligatory. “Scripture has already obligated you to sacrifice your soul. In addition, you must Love and extol Him for the very act of taking your soul or measuring other punishment.” All the commandments teach us how to Love God.
Ramban says that the opinion of the Midrash is that when you Love God with your heart, that is a deep desire of the soul. When you Love God with your soul, that is from the intellectual capacity of the soul. When you Love God with all your heart, you “Love Him as your very life, giving up your life with love.”
This is the likely source for Jesus’ exhortation in Matthew:
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”
Deuteronomy 6:13.
Fear Adonoy, your God,
and serve Him, and swear by His name.
Rashi: If you fear all these qualities (mentioned in Scripture):
You fear His Name and you serve Him,
then you may swear by His Name;
for since you fear His Name
you will be prudent with your oath,
otherwise you should not swear.
Ramban: How do you serve God? “You serve Him by studying his Torah, and in His Sanctuary.”
Deuteronomy 6:24.
Adonoy commanded us
to perform all these statutes
to show that we fear Adonoy, our God;
to benefit us for all time,
to keep us alive like this day.
Deuteronomy 7:9.
You will know that Adonoy, your God,
is the God, the trusted Almighty,
who keeps the covenant and the kindliness
for those who Love Him
and for those who keep His commandments,
for a thousand generations.
Rashi: “Perhaps thousands of generations.”
Ramban: “He who is chosen to be loved, is known to be ready to suffer whatever comes upon him from his lover.” This conflicts with the current notion that God should deliver us from our sufferings, that suffering is a proof that God does not exist for some people.
Deuteronomy 7:13.
Adonoy will love you,
and bless you, and multiply you:
and He will bless the fruit of your belly
and the fruit of your soul,
your gain, your win, and your olive oil,
the offspring of your cattle,
and the herds of your sheep,
upon the soil that He swore to your forefathers,
to give you.
Just prior to this next verse, while waiting forty days for Moses to come down from the mountain where he was meeting with the Lord, the people of Israel had crafted the golden calf, which they were dancing around and worshiping.
Deuteronomy 10:12.
And now, Israel,
what is Adonoy, your God, asking of you,
other than to Fear Adonoy, your God,
to go in all His ways and to Love Him,
and to serve Adonoy, your God,
wholeheartedly and with your whole being.
Rashi: “Although you have perpetrated all this,
He is still compassionate and affectionate towards you,
so that, despite all your transgressions before Him,
He requires of you nothing other to Fear God.”
Ramban: “God does not require anything of you for His sake, only for your sake.”
Deuteronomy 10:20.
You are to fear Adonoy, your God, serve Him,
cling to Him, and swear by His name.
Deuteronomy 11:1.
You are to Love Adonoy, your God,
and you are to guard His watch,
and His statues, and His laws,
and His commandments, all the years.
Deuteronomy 11:13.
The Lord says:
Should you thoroughly heed My commandments,
I am commanding you today,
to Love Adonoy, your God,
and to serve Him with all your desires,
and with your entire being.
Rashi: TO LOVE ADONOY, YOUR GOD
“You must not say,
‘I shall study so that I may become wealthy,
or so that I may be called Rabbi,
or so that I may be rewarded.’
Rather, all that you fulfill, fulfill with love,
and the glory will eventually follow.”
TO SERVE HIM WITH ALL YOUR HEARTS
“The service of the heart refers to prayer.”
Deuteronomy 11:22-23.
For if you truly guard this entire mitzvah
that I am commanding you to perform,
to Love Adonoy, your God,
to walk in His ways and to cling to Him,
Adonoy will expel all these nations before you,
and you will inherit nations
greater and more powerful than you.
Rashi:
TRULY GUARD
“One must be diligent in learning,
so that it will never be forgotten.”
TO WALK IN ALL HIS WAYS
“As God is merciful, you should be merciful.
As God acts kindly, you should act kindly.
TO CLING TO HIM
“Is it possible to say this?
Is He not a consuming fire?
Rather, cling to the disciples and sages,
and I will credit you as if you had clung to Him.”
Deuteronomy 13:5.
After Adonoy, your God, are you to go,
Fear Him, keep His commandments,
heed His voice, serve Him, and cleave to Him.
Rashi: KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS,
The Torah was given through Moses.
HEED HIS VOICE,
The voice of the prophets.
CLEAVE TO THEM,
Embrace His ways, engage in kindness,
bury the dead, and visit the sick,
just as the Holy One, may He be blessed, did.
Deuteronomy 18:13.
Walk in perfect trust with Adonoy, your God.
Rashi: Walk with Him in utter trust,
in anticipation of Him.
Do not explore the future,
rather, whatever befalls you,
accept with perfect trust.
Then, you will be with Him.
Hillel once said, “If you find yourself in a country where there are no men, Be a man!”
Deuteronomy 19:9.
When you will be guarding
this entire mitzvah to fulfill it,
that I am commanding you today,
to Love Adonoy, your God,
and to go in His ways for all time.[2]
This warning against guarding the commandments, including the spiritual dangers of envy, covetousness, slander, bearing false witness or feeling angry towards our neighbor, or adultery or not loving our neighbor, is also referred to in the Mitzvah forbidding us to build a roof on a house without a parapet, or wall on the roof of our soul:
Negative Mitzvah 298.
When you build a new home,
You are to make a fence for your roof;
And do not place blood liability in your house,
For someone who should fall
May fall from it.
Deuteronomy 22:8-9
This translation of the Hebrew emphasizes the importance of guarding our soul against sin: “For someone who should fall, May fall from it.”[3]
RAMBAM’s COMMENTARY ON LOVING AND FEARING GOD
Constantly in the Old Testament the Lord constantly reminds the Jews that “I am the Lord thy God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.” Rambam argues that without a firm conviction of the existence of God, that understanding and observing the Commandments are impossible.
The second positive Commandment, that we should uphold the Unity of God, may be the only place where the tensions between Christianity and Judaism are addressed. But in our introductory video and blog, we included St Augustine’s explanation of the Trinity, affirming that Christianity also upholds that there is only one God.
This is followed by the Love of God, Fear of God, Worshipping God, and Cleaving to God, which are differing forms of the Love of God, followed by positive commandments to live a holy life honoring God.
Rambam or Maimonides, Positive Commandments
- Believing in God
- Unity of God
May be the only Mitzvah that addresses the tensions between Christianity and Judaism. - Love of God
- Fear of God
- Worshipping God
- Cleaving to God
- Taking an oath by God’s Name
- Walking in God’s Ways
- Sanctifying God’s Name
- Reading the Shema
- Studying the Torah
- PLUS: Phylacteries, Fringes, Door Posts, Remembering God
Ramban asks us: “What is the right kind of love? One is to entertain towards the Lord an exceedingly great and mighty Love, so that his very soul shall be bound by his Love of God, being ever enraptured by it, as is the mind of one who, being lovesick, does not cease to languish after his beloved, with whom he is ever enraptured, whether sitting or rising, eating or drinking: nay, great than this should be the Love for the Lord in the hearts of His lovers, who are ever to be enraptured with this Love.”
The Fear of God is not an immature type of love that is replaced by the true Love of God, as many verses in both the Old and New Testaments exhort that we never leave our Fear of God behind. Rambam teaches that we should never be at ease or self-confident before the Almighty God, and that we should always be in awe of God’s majesty. Sublime awe is akin to our Love for God.
On Worshipping God, Rambam teaches us that “prayer without devotion is no prayer at all.” “What is devotion? One must free his heart from all other thoughts and regard himself as standing in the presence of God.” When we cleave to God we also cleave to wise men and their disciples, so we may learn from them.
One of the fundamental teachings of Judaism is when we walk in God’s ways, we fulfill our duty of imitating God. Since we are made in the image of God, we must walk in the ways of God.
How can we sanctify God’s name? This command is expressed in Leviticus 12:32, with God exhorting us, “I will be hallowed among the children of Israel.” We sanctify the Lord by living a godly life. People should not form their opinions of Judaism and Christianity by how we of the faith live our lives, but they do.
The compiler of this mitzvah quotes the Mishneh Torah: “The scholar who is scrupulous in his own conduct, speaking gently to his fellow men, showing concern for their welfare, receiving them with a cheerful countenance, accepting humiliation at their hands without humiliating them, showing honor even to those who slight him, being faithful in his dealings, not passing his time unduly in the company of ignorant men and their affairs, being ever seen engaged in the study of the Law,” openly showing his faith to his neighbors, “avoiding extremes and strange conduct, so that all may be disposed to praise him and love him, and to be desirous of emulating his deeds, such a one sanctifies the Lord.”
The observant Jew prays the Shema in the morning and the evening, and likewise many observant Orthodox Christians have a habit of daily prayers, and likewise many Catholics attend a short morning mass each weekday.
The Shema prayer begins with:
“Hear O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One
Blessed is the name of His glorious kingdom forever and ever.”
Then it continues with these verses from Deuteronomy 6:5-9:
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. Take to heart these instructions with which I charge you this day. Impress them upon your children. Recite them when you stay at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you get up.”
Then there are instructions to make the faith a visible part of your daily life and your house, so your faith is not hidden from your neighbors:
“Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them serve as a symbol on your forehead, inscribe them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”
Followed by verses from Deuteronomy 11:13-21:
“If then, you obey the commandments that I enjoin upon you this day, loving the LORD your God and serving Him with all your heart and soul, I will grant the rain for your land in season, the early rain and the late.”
This is followed by verses reminding you of the blessings and curses for those who follow in the way of the Lord,
“You shall gather in your new grain and wine and oil— I will also provide grass in the fields for your cattle—and thus you shall eat your fill. Take care not to be lured away to serve other gods and bow to them. For the LORD’s anger will flare up against you, and He will shut up the skies so that there will be no rain and the ground will not yield its produce, and you will soon perish from the good land that the LORD is assigning to you.”
And by additional verses that compel you to remember and commemorate your faith among men:
“Therefore impress these My words upon your very heart: bind them as a sign on your hand and let them serve as a symbol on your forehead, and teach them to your children—reciting them when you stay at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you get up; and inscribe them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates— to the end that you and your children may endure, in the land that the LORD swore to your fathers to assign to them, as long as there is a heaven over the earth.”
The Shema closes with verses in Numbers 15:37-41 that serve as a commemoration and further reminders of the faith with fringes and cords on your clothing:
“The LORD said to Moses as follows: Speak to the Israelite people and instruct them to make for themselves fringes on the corners of their garments throughout the ages; let them attach a cord of blue to the fringe at each corner. That shall be your fringe; look at it and recall all the commandments of the LORD and observe them, so that you do not follow your heart and eyes in your lustful urge.”
Closing with: “Thus you shall be reminded to observe all My commandments and to be holy to your God. I the LORD am your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God: I, the LORD your God.”
The Jews who encourage us to study the Torah and the Christians who seek to read the entire Bible in a year in daily selections both seek to make God a greater part of their lives. Christians can replace “Law” with “Bible” in this quote by Rabbi Meir, “He who occupies himself in the study of the Law for its own sake merits many things, nay more, he is deserving of the whole world. He is called friend, beloved of God, lover of God, lover of mankind; and it clothes him with humility and reverence and fits him to become righteous, saintly, upright, and faithful; and it keeps him far from sin and brings him near to virtue, and from him, men enjoy counsel and sound knowledge and understanding.”
The next four mitzvoth command the Jews to wear reminders of their faith in phylacteries, or small cases containing key Scriptures, attached to his head and his arm, fringes on their clothing, and passages written on his doorposts.[4]
DISCUSSING THE SOURCES
We have another video reflecting on the commentaries of the medieval rabbis, Rashi, Rambam, and Ramban, plus many modern summaries of the modern collections of the moral teachings from the Talmud and Torah, the first five books of the Old Testament.
Book Reviews, Commentaries of Torah and Talmud, Medieval Rabbis and Modern Rabbis and Scholars
http://www.seekingvirtueandwisdom.com/book-reviews-commentaries-of-torah-and-talmud-medieval-rabbis-and-modern-rabbis-and-scholars/
https://youtu.be/mvstpk88TxI
What other scholars have noted the similarities between the style of the Torah and the Synoptic Gospels? We have noted that Professor Peter van ’t Riet has written a book on this topic, Reading Torah, the Key to the Gospels. Plus, we have viewed an excellent DVD series of short movies on the Decalogue recommended by Robert Ebert, the later movie reviews, plus have several more books on the Decalogue and the Torah. We plan videos and blogs on these topics sometime in 2024.
Summary of Platonic Dialogues on Love and Friendship, With Commentary by Copleston and Ander Nygren
https://seekingvirtueandwisdom.com/summary-of-platonic-dialogues-on-love-and-friendship/
https://youtu.be/cjXRXQc6Ff4
[1] https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Corinthians+3%3A6&version=NRSVCE
[2] For those works cited that are organized by either Mitzvah or by verses, page references are unnecessary.
All Scripture quotations are from the Metsudah Chumash.
The Metsudah Chumash/Rashi, Five Volume Set, translated and/or annotated by Avrohom Davis, Hicham Kornfeld, and Abraham Walzer, (New York, Metsuda Publications, 1999-2002),
The Torah/Chumash with Rashi’s commentary is online at www.chabad.org , search by bible verse.
Ramban Nachmanides, Commentary on the Torah, Five Volume Set, translated and annotated by Rabbi C Chavel (New York: Shilo Publishing House, 1976)
Ronald Eisenberg, The 613 Mitzvot, A Contemporary Guide to the Commandments of Judaism (Rockville, MD: Schreiber Publishing, 2005)
Richard Elliott Friedman, Commentary on the Torah (New York: Harper Collins, 2001)
and the quote from Matthew: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=matthew+22%3A37-40&version=NRSVCE
[3] Rambam. Negative 298
[4] For those works cited that are organized by either Mitzvah or by verses, page references are unnecessary.
All Scripture quotations are from the Metsudah Chumash.
Rambam Maimonides, The Commandments, translated by Rabbi C Chavel, Volume One, Positive Commandments, Volume Two, Negative Commandments (New York: The Soncino Press, 1967)
The Shema link: https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/the-shema/
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