Sometimes Phonetically Transliterated as (’e·ḥāḏ) or as (’a·ḥaṯ) too. Masculine as Echad and Feminine
as Achat.
Introduction:
One of the most frequently recited verses in Scripture is
Deuteronomy 6:4. In other words, that verse is
spoken – out loud from memory – on an extremely frequent basis by the Jews. For example: Observant Orthodox Jews
will recite the Deuteronomy 6:4 verse from the Hebrew Scriptures AT LEAST TWICE
A DAY – once in the morning and once in the evening.
Back to the
Original language:
The Hebrew in the verse of Deuteronomy 6:4 is
pronounced as follows:
Sh’ma Yis’ra’eil Adonai Eloheninu Adonai
echad.
Always safe
to check Multiple English Translations. (Trust
one translation only for serious teachings and doctrines and if translation is
wrong or faulty or inaccurate and we will be making false teachings on faulty
translations of YAH’s word)
New International Version
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God,
the LORD is one.
Aramaic Bible in
Plain English
Hear, Israel: LORD JEHOVAH our God, LORD JEHOVAH
is one:
Contemporary English Version
Listen, Israel! The LORD our God is the only
true God!
JPS Tanakh 1917
HEAR, O ISRAEL: THE LORD OUR GOD, THE LORD IS
ONE.
Literal Standard Version
Hear, O Israel: Our God YHWH—YHWH [is] one!
World English Bible
Hear, Israel: Yahweh is our God; Yahweh is one:
Young's Literal Translation
Hear, O Israel, Jehovah our God is one Jehovah;
Restoration Study Bible – 04th Edition
Hear,
O Israel: Yahweh our Elohim is one Yahweh:
All of the other
major and common English Translations of the Bible have extremely similar
renderings of the above verse. Deuteronomy 6:4 is sometimes referred to as “THE
SH’MA” (or “THE SHEMA”) – since it is referenced so frequently.
Interestingly, Yahshua himself also recited the Sh’ma. Note the following scripture passage below as quoted from Restoration Study Bible – 04th Edition.
Mark 12:28
“And one of the
scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he
had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all?”
Mark 12:29
“And Yahshua
answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; Yahweh our
Elohim is one Yahweh:”
At this point, the obvious question is: Why is that verse
recited so frequently?
·
The general answer to that question is
that the Sh’ma very succinctly summarizes the difference between the Elohim
(God) of the Bible that is YAHWEH and the pagan El’s (gods) of all other false
religions.
·
Basically, that verse explicitly
states that there is only ONE Almighty God (Elohim). This is in stark contrast
to the multiple, competing El’s (gods) in the pantheons of most other
religions.
AS
A RESULT, RECITING THE SH’MA IS A VERY SIMPLE, CONVENIENT WAY FOR A
PERSON TO RE-CONFIRM, REGULARLY AND REPEATEDLY THAT HE BELIEVES IN THE ONE AND
ONLY ONE ELOHIM (GOD) OF THE BIBLE, RATHER THAN IN TWO OR MULTIPLE OR DUAL OR
TWO IN ONE OR THREE IN ONE OR MULTIPLE PAGAN EL’S (GOD’S).
Let’s now delve deep into the Hebrew word, “ECHAD”:
The very
last word in the “Sh’ma” or “Shema” is the Hebrew word ECHAD. That word
is rendered or translated in most English translations of the Hebrew Scriptures
(Old Testament) as “ONE” and some translators prefer to use the word “ALONE”
instead. In either case, the straightforward, common-sense understanding of
ECHAD in the SHEMA tells us that only ONE person is ELSHADAI (Almighty) ELOHIM
(God) and that ONE person is our Heavenly Father – YAHWEH.
FOR
THOUSANDS OF YEARS FAITHFUL & ORTHODOX JEWS AND JEWISH SCHOLARS HAVE
ALWAYS UNDERSTOOD ECHAD TO MEAN ONE.
For almost a little less than 2000 years, Enters on the World Scene the NON JEWISH and NON YAHWEH based faith of the PAGAN ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH and through them 44,000 + Churches, Congregations of Christendom, Churchainity and Christianity which started a NON JEWISH, A NON HEBREW, A NON MIDDLE EASTERN, NEW RELIGION with lots of SYNCRETISM (mixing of pagan beliefs into the Faith of Yahshua). That’s why today many Pastors, Elders, Teachers, Missionaries in the Sacred Name Movement and the Hebrew Sabbath Keeping groups tend to CARRY BAGGAGE from their old CHURCH FAITH from which they have left behind.
So what’s the new non-Jewish and non-Hebrew new understanding of the word ECHAD?
It’s
always from the non-Jewish community, non-Hebrew speaking people, non-middle
eastern people, non-Semitic people (ENLISH LANGUAGE WESTERNERS) who have an
ALTERNATE belief about the word, ECHAD.
These
mostly CHRISTIAN groups who have some form of PAGANIZED thought, word or
feelings assert that ECHAD refers to a “COMPOUND UNITY”.
In other
words,
they believe that ECHAD refers to ONE GROUP, which contains multiple members. For example: They state that ECHAD
means “ONE” as in “One Baseball Team”; as opposed to “ONE” as in “ONE CHAIR”.
So according
to this Christianized & English (Anglicized) understanding of Echad, the
Shema COULD be translated this way too:
“Hear, O
Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is a compound unity (echad)”
BINATARIANS
AND TRINITARIANS LOVE THE EXPLANATION OF THERE BEING COMPOUND UNITY IN ECHAD.
Of course, the reason
why this alternate understanding of Echad is important for many Christian
groups is because it allows some groups to SPIN the Shema into an endorsement
for the TWO IN ONE GOD OR TRINITY THEORY!
In other
words,
some Christian groups state the following: “The Shema tells us that God is one.
That is true ------BUT that “one” refers to a COMPOUND UNITY. So the Shema is
telling us that there is ONE GOD ------ But he comprised of “MULTIPLE PERSONS”.
SOLA SCRIPTURA – Let Scripture interpret Scripture. (Not any Elder, Pastor, Rabbi, Teacher, Missionary, Committee or Scholars or Publishers or Translators or Organizations Understanding)
How is Echad used in the Holy Scriptures?
The Crux of the above argument is that ECHAD refers to a COMPOUND
UNITY. Of course in order to determine if that argument has any merit, it is
necessary to examine how that word is actually used in Scripture.
THANKS TO
COMPUTERISATION AND SOFTWARES:
Ø The word
ECHAD is a Masculine word and its Feminine counterpart is ACHAT.
Ø Both the
words Echad or Achat appear approximately 970 times plus or minus depending on
which English translation or version one uses. Okay.
Ø In the vast
majority of cases that is OVER 600 TIMES, the word Echad explicitly refers to a
Simple UNITARY ONE.
Ø In almost
every other case, Echad refers to ONE SINGLE ITEM, rather than ONE GROUP of
Items.
This
concept of Echad is usually expressed in English translations with the word,
“ONE”; but the words “SINGLE”, “UNIQUE”, and “FIRST”, are also used as well,
depending on the context. Here are some examples of Echad meaning a Simple, Unitary
One.
English
Standard Version – Genesis 1:9
“And God
said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one (Echad) place, and let the dry land appear.” And it
was so.”
English
Standard Version – Genesis 2:21
“So the LORD
God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one (Echad) of his ribs and closed up its place with
flesh.”
English
Standard Version – Genesis 42:11
“We are all
sons of one
(Echad) man. We are
honest men. Your servants have never been spies.”
English
Standard Version – Ezekiel 37:24
“My servant
David shall be king over them, and they shall all have one (Echad) shepherd. They shall walk in my rules and be
careful to obey my statutes.”
New American
Standard Bible - Exodus 12:46
“It is to be
eaten in a single
(Echad) house; you
are not to bring any of the meat outside of the house, nor are you to break any
bone of it.”
that one
אַחַ֖ת (’a·ḥaṯ)
Number - feminine singular
Strong's
259: United, one, first
in a single
אֶחָֽד׃ (’e·ḥāḏ)
Number - masculine singular
Strong's
259: United, one, first
English
Standard Version - Zechariah 3:9 (SEE ABOVE STRONGS DICTIONARY)
“For behold,
on the stone that I have set before Joshua, on a single (ahat) stone with seven eyes, I will engrave its
inscription, declares the LORD of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of this
land in a single
(ehad) day.”
English Standard Version
“And there shall be a unique (echad) day, which
is known to the LORD, neither day nor night, but at evening time there shall be
light.”
one,
אַחַ֥ת (’a·ḥaṯ)
Number - feminine singular
Strong's
259: United, one, first
is unique,
אַחַ֥ת (’a·ḥaṯ)
Number - feminine singular
Strong's
259: United, one, first
New American Standard Bible – Song of Solomon
(SEE STRONGS DICTIONARY ABOVE)
But my dove, my perfect one, (ahat) is unique: (ahat) She is her
mother’s only daughter; She is the pure child of the one who gave birth to her.
The young women saw her and called her blessed, The queens and the concubines
also, and they praised her, saying,
English Standard Version – Genesis 2:11
“The name of the first (echad) is the
Pishon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Havilah, where there
is gold.”
English
Standard Version – Genesis 8:5
“And the
waters continued to abate until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first (echad) day of the month, the tops of the mountains
were seen.”
CLEARLY, ALL OF THE ABOVE SCRIPTURAL EXAMPLES REFER TO ONE SINGLE PERSON, PLACE OR THING – NOT TO ONE GROUP OF ITEMS.
What about these cases?
As
mentioned, in the vast majority of cases, echad refers to one single item.
However, in a small MINORITY of cases, echad refers to ONE GROUP of items. Here are the examples of this:
1. English Standard Version – Genesis 2:24
Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his
wife, and they shall become one (echad) flesh.
2. English Standard Version – Genesis 1:5
God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was
evening and there was morning, the first
(echad) day.
3. English Standard Version – Numbers 13:23
And they came to the Valley of Eshcol and cut down from there a branch with a single
(echad) cluster of grapes,
Here is a
“Summary” of the above examples:
1.
Example 1: Echad is used to describe a husband and wife – together – as ONE
FLESH.
2.
Example 2: Echad is used to describe an evening and a morning – together –
as the FIRST DAY.
3.
Example 3: Echad is used to describe a SINGLE Cluster of grapes.
Some
groups point to these above specific examples to try to prove that echad – in
the Shema – refers either to a BINATARIAN or TRINITARIAN teaching.
In other
words, they assert the following:
Echad, in
the Shema is used to describe the Father, Son and Holy Spirit – together
– as ONE God or as the Father Yahweh is the same as the Son Yahshua as ONE God.
However,
is the above assertion really true? Do the three examples listed above actually
describe the BINATARIAN (2 Gods in 1) or the TRINITARIAN (3 Gods in 1 God)
doctrine?
Let’s consider the 3 examples more deeply
once again:
1.
In Example 1,
Scripture states that a husband and wife – together – become “one flesh”. This means that husband
– by himself – does not fully comprise the one flesh; and that the wife – by herself – also does
not fully comprise the one flesh. Instead, the husband and the wife, by
themselves, are only parts – or “halves” – of the other.
2.
Similarly,
in example 2, Scripture states that an evening and a morning - together – became the “first day”. This means that
the evening – by itself – does not fully
comprise the first day; and that the morning – by itself – also does not fully comprise the first
day. Instead, the evening and the morning – by themselves – are only “subsets”
of the first day.
3.
The same
principle applies to example 3. One single grape – by itself – does not fully
comprise the entire cluster; one grape is just a single member – a subset – of a cluster of grapes.
THE
REASON WHY THE ABOVE ITEMS ARE IMPORTANT IS BECAUSE THE DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY
ASSERTS THE FOLLOWING:
The
Father is fully God, the Son is fully God, and the Holy Spirit is fully God.
However, there are not three Gods, but one God.
Of course, that doctrine is entirely different than the
examples provided above.
Consider Example 1 again. It
states that the husband and the wife – by themselves – are NOT fully the “one flesh”.
The Trinity doctrine, though states that the Father, Son and the Holy
Spirit – by themselves – ARE
fully the “one God”.
To make the contrast even more clear,
consider the following: In order to cause example 2 to agree with the Trinity
doctrine, Scripture would have to say something like this:
The
evening fully comprised the entire day, and the morning fully comprised one
entire day. However, there were not two days, but one day.
Of course the above assertion is pure
nonsense. What Scripture actually states
is that the evening was just PART of the day, and the morning was just PART of
the day – and that the two of them –
together, comprised the full day.
Now, consider this: In order for the
Trinity concept to agree with the examples above, one would have to say
something like this:
The Father is “one third” of
God, the Son is “one third” of God, and the Holy Spirit is “one third” of God;
and the three of them – together –
comprise one God.
However,
most Trinity proponents strongly disagree with the above statement. This is
because they are completely focused on the idea that each “person” of the
Trinity is fully God – and that there are not three Gods but
one God.
That concept
is not expressed by the word echad at all – and not in any of the places where
it appears in Scripture.
CONCLUSION:
Some mainstream expositors make the following
type of blunt assertion, whenever they discuss the Shema: Echad means a compound unity – period.
The implication of that assertion, of course,
is that echad only means a compound unity. In other words, that
assertion implies that in every case where echad is used, it always
refers to one group of items – rather than to one single item. However, as
mentioned above, in the vast majority of cases, echad actually refers to
just one single item.
So the
implication that echad always refers to a “compound unity” is DEMONSTRABLY
FALSE.
Not only that, but even in the minority of
case where echad does refer to a compound unity, the meaning still does
not conform to the Binatarians or Trinitarian doctrine. Basically, in the cases
where echad refers to one group of items, it is clear that each member of the
group is only a subset of the listed, “compound unity”.
The final term to note is that many other
passages in Scripture state that only our Heavenly Father is Almighty God.
That, in turn, tells us that echad – in the Shema – refers to just one person:
Our Heavenly Father Yahweh.
First of
all, note that the phrase, “God the Father” DOES appear in
Scripture – in many places – But the phrases, “God the Son” and “God the Holy
Spirit” do NOT appear anywhere in Scripture. The terms that do appear in
Scripture are the Son of God
and the Spirit of God.
Next
consider the two passages below: In the first, Jesus (Yahshua)
himself states that our Heavenly Father is the ONLY true God (Elohim), while
Jesus (Yahshua) is the one who was send by God (Elohim). Similarly, Paul tells
us that the Father is our God (Elohim) – while Jesus (Yahshua) is our Lord.
i.e. Our “Master” or “Boss”.
Mark 10:17 –
RSB 04TH Edition
“And when he
was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and
asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?”
Mark 10:18 –
RSB 04th Edition
“And Yahshua
said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is,
Elohim.”
John 20:17
“Yahshua
saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to
my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and
to my Elohim, and your Elohim.”
Yachad
Yachad means "together" and comes from echad, one.
Yachad means "together" and comes from echad, one. The most famous pair who were beyachad - as one - was Abraham and Isaac, "And the two of them walked together, vayelchu sh'nehem yachdav" (Genesis 22:8). Rashi explains yachdav as with an equal heart. This expression is used frequently in Israel as a title to lectures on seemingly contradictory concepts. For example, for years after Yitzchak Rabin's assassination, people asked "Democracy and Judaism, will the two walk yachdav?"
David in Psalm 133 declares, "How good and pleasant it is that brothers dwell also together, gam yachad." The word gam points to an extra level of unity. Rashi reads it as God being with the people when they are united among themselves. Others read it as a political aspiration for the Jewish people to be united in one polity.
Yachad also has spiritual connotations. Every morning, before reciting the Shema, we pray "Veyached - and make our heart one to love and fear Your Name". God declares, "I will give them one heart, lev echad" (Ezra 11:19). The blessing is to have a heart free of conflict and doubt. The Aramaic translation reads one heart as a "strong heart" - for a state of yachad strengthens both the individual and the nation.
Lexicon :: Strong's H3162 - yaḥaḏ
יַחַד
TWOT Reference: 858b
Echad and Yachad Conclusion
’Yachad is, in fact, the Hebrew word for “together.” But ’Yachad means something much deeper than the simple fact of being physically together. Connected to the Hebrew word Echad (meaning “one”) and the Hebrew word Achdut (meaning “unity”), ’Yachad speaks to the quality of our togetherness. Simply stated, ’Yachad means “as one.” It implies a unity of purpose, a deep and unbreakable solidarity, and a shared vision and purpose.