How does the Trinity fit with the Shema?
"Hear, O Israel: the LORD our God, the LORD is one" (Deuteronomy 6:4, JPS 1917). The Hebrew word for one, echad, can mean a compound unity ("one flesh", Genesis 2:24). Messianic Jews believe in one God, known as Father, Son and Spirit.
The Shema (Deuteronomy 6:4) is the heart of Jewish faith, and of Yeshua's: when asked the greatest commandment he quoted it (Mark 12:29).
Echad is used for one cluster of grapes, one people, and "one flesh" for a husband and wife. The usual word for an absolute single is yachid, which isn't used of God here. God is called Elohim, a plural form, and says "Let us make man" (Genesis 1:26).
None of this "proves" the Trinity. It shows the Tanakh leaves room for a oneness that is rich, not bare. The New Covenant fills in what the Tanakh hints: the Father, his Word (Yeshua), and his Spirit (Ruach HaKodesh), one God.
In the Scriptures
4שְׁמַ֖ע יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֵ֖ינוּ יְהוָ֥ה ׀ אֶחָֽד׃
4HEAR, O ISRAEL: THE LORD OUR GOD, THE LORD IS ONE.
Deuteronomy 6:4 (Hebrew & JPS 1917)
24עַל־כֵּן֙ יַֽעֲזָב־אִ֔ישׁ אֶת־אָבִ֖יו וְאֶת־אִמּ֑וֹ וְדָבַ֣ק בְּאִשְׁתּ֔וֹ וְהָי֖וּ לְבָשָׂ֥ר אֶחָֽד׃
24Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife, and they shall be one flesh.
Genesis 2:24 (Hebrew & JPS 1917)
26וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֱלֹהִ֔ים נַֽעֲשֶׂ֥ה אָדָ֛ם בְּצַלְמֵ֖נוּ כִּדְמוּתֵ֑נוּ וְיִרְדּוּ֩ בִדְגַ֨ת הַיָּ֜ם וּבְע֣וֹף הַשָּׁמַ֗יִם וּבַבְּהֵמָה֙ וּבְכָל־הָאָ֔רֶץ וּבְכָל־הָרֶ֖מֶשׂ הָֽרֹמֵ֥שׂ עַל־הָאָֽרֶץ׃
26And God said: ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.’
Genesis 1:26 (Hebrew & JPS 1917)
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Sources
- Deuteronomy 6:4; Genesis 1:26 and 2:24; Numbers 13:23 (eshkol echad, one cluster)
- Mark 12:29
