Lies that Jews Changed the Shema by Paul Sumner There is a lie going around the web. It says that in their Hebrew Bibles Jews altered the "Shema" (Deuteronomy 6:4) in order to suppress Christian trinitarian interpretations of this famous Jewish creed. The fabricators of the falsehood say the adjective "One" [echad] in the original Hebrew denotes "a compound plural." This, they say, implies that God (YHVH) is a unity of more than one divine person. They interpret the verse to mean: “Hear O Israel, YHVH our God, YHVH is a compound Deity.” But, the rumor mongers say, because Judaism rejects this orthodox Christian concept of the Godhead, the rabbis sought to undermine the value of Deut 6:4 as a proof-text. So they reportedly substituted the adjective yachid, meaning a "unique" or "solitary" One, for the original echad. This would change the emphasis of the Shema to: “YHVH is not a Compound Deity [echad] but a Solitary Being [yachid].” The facts are otherwise. There are no Hebrew texts of Deuteronomy 6:4 that contain the word yachid in place of echad. All extant hand-printed copies of the Torah are identical at v. 4. This includes fragments of Deuteronomy found among the Dead Sea Scrolls. And all subsequently type-set (mechanically printed) Jewish Bibles and commentaries are the same. Echad stands clearly in every Jewish edition of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) and every English translation. [Top] The origin of the Lie may come from confusing the Bible text with the Thirteen Principles of Faith composed by Maimonides. Maimonides (aka Rambam; 1135-1204 CE) was physician to the Sultan Saladin and communal leader of Egyptian Jewry. He was also an important figure in the codification of Jewish law. As such, he was also acquainted with Roman Catholic apologetics and interpretations of the Old Testament. It's possible he may have encountered Catholic use of the word echad to prove that Moses himself hinted at the Triunity of the Godhead, as mentioned in Deut 6:4. To counter this idea, Maimonides opted to employ the adjective yachid in his Second Principle of Faith: [The word "Unity" here is chosen by this modern Jewish translator to signify God's singular, unified Being, who embodies the totality of every dimension and definition of Deity. It does not imply that "God" is a united gathering of divine personalities.] [Top] When some Christians read this creedal statement composed by Maimonides for contemporary medieval Jews, they imagine a polemical rejection of Trinitarian theology and a deliberate distortion of the Biblical text of Deut 6:4. No doubt Maimonides did not accept the idea of a Triune Godhead. And he no doubt sought to strengthen Jewish resolve to affirm rabbinic monotheism in the face of Roman Catholicism. But he did not alter a single word in the Shema itself. No orthodox Jew would ever do such a thing. Maimonides only strengthened the inherent meaning of the adjective echad, which primarily denotes the numeral "one." And in some passages echad actually means "single, solitary or unique" [Exod 24:3; Isa 51:2; Zech 3:9; 2 Sam 7:23; Zech 14:7, 9; Song of Songs 6:9]. [Consider the article "Echad" in the Shema.] Informing people about Maimonides' "Second Principle of Faith" and how it relates to the actual text of Deut 6:4 is hard to do. Some people want to believe lies about Jews. No amount of historical or Biblical facts will expel the spirit of falsehood unless they choose to receive the Spirit of Truth (John 14:17). [Top] The vast majority of Christians are not anti-Jewish. Yet many are taught that the Shema "teaches" the doctrine of the Triunity of God, even though the New Testament itself never uses Deut 6:4 as a proof-text for this post-biblical concept. So if someone (falsely) says "the Jews altered the Bible," they can create bias toward and mistrust of Jewish opinions. People need to realize how theological traditions and institutions determine what we see in Scripture. Every Bible translation does this to some extent; some far more than others. Distinguishing unbiblical distortions and biases from the original Text of Scripture best comes from attentive reading of the proof-texts used by Yeshua and his apostles. This effort opens a whole new window into NT exegesis of the Hebrew Bible. One of the obvious—and surprising—insights easily seen throughout the NT is that "the Shema is not all, for followers of Yeshua," as a living statement of faith for all Messianic followers of Yeshua. Notes In the Hebrew Bible the adjective echad occurs 970x. In the Hebrew Bible the adjective yachad occurs 45x and denotes "togetherness" or "unity." For example: Deut 33:5; 2 Sam 11:11; 2 Sam 21:9; Is 22:3; 50:8; Ps 2:2; 133:1. The kings and rulers "of the earth take their stand and...counsel together against YHVH and against his Anointed" (Ps 2:2). In contrast, it is "good and pleasant" when brothers [and sisters] "dwell together in unity" (Ps 133:1). The noun yachid occurs 12x: Gen 22:2, 12, 16; Judg 11:34; Jer 6:26; Amos 8:10; Zech 12:10; Ps 22:20; 25:16; 35:17; 68:6. God said, "Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love..." (Gen 22:2). ...they will mourn for him [Messiah] as one mourns for an only child (Zech 12:10). God makes a home for the solitary (Ps 68:6, Heb. v. 7). Note the related study: HaYachid: The Unique Messiah [PDF]. [Top] Explanation | Site Map | Judaism| Explanation hebrew-streams.org