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Word Studies

The Shema Series

Look at each word in the Shema, a famous Jewish prayer. Meditate on these ancient words and learn what it means to love and serve God.

Word Studies Series • 6 Episodes

6 Episodes

The *Shema* is an important biblical prayer for Jewish people. This prayer summed up the greatest command for God's people. "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one, and as for you, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength." Begin your study of this ancient prayer by looking at the first word, *shema*, meaning "listen."

YHWH, Adonai, LORD, Jehovah–God seems to have a lot of names. So what exactly are we supposed to call him? Dive into this fascinating look behind all the different names Jews and Christians have used to refer to God and discover the power of the personal name of the God of Israel.

Love can be a confusing word in the English language. It's used to refer to everything from your feelings to your mom to your feelings about pizza. But the biblical authors had more than one word for love. In this video, we explore the Hebrew word used for love in the ancient Shema prayer, *ahavah*.

Different cultures have different conceptions of the human heart and what it is and what it does. The biblical authors are no exception. In this video, we'll explore the ancient Hebrew word for "heart" as well as the different ideas of what our hearts represent. There is no biblical word that better captures the essence of human thought, feeling, and desire, than this rich and wonderful word.

Explore the Hebrew word *nephesh*, often translated as "soul." The English word usually refers to a non-material essence of a human that survives after death, but *nephesh* means something different. It refers to humans as living, breathing, physical beings, or just to life itself. Prepare to be surprised at the biblical meaning of this fascinating word.

Meod / Strength

What does it mean to love God with all of your strength? In this final installment of our Shema series, we explore the Hebrew word me'od, which we translate as "strength" in the Shema. But this is only one of the many ways this rich Hebrew word can be translated.