When Jesus was confronted by the Pharisees and asked which commandment in the Law was the greatest, His answer was both profoundly simple and infinitely deep. He reached back to the Shema, the central prayer of Israel from Deuteronomy 6:5: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is One. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.” In quoting this, Jesus was not merely repeating an ancient command but bringing His listeners into the very heart of God’s covenant with humanity. To love God with heart, soul, and might is not a casual suggestion; it is the essence of true worship and devotion. It encompasses every dimension of our being.
The first word in the Hebrew is Ve’ahavta, “and you shall love.” This comes from the root word ahav (אהב), which is more than emotional affection. In Hebrew thought, love is always tied to action, covenant loyalty, and devotion. The letters themselves reveal a spiritual pattern. Aleph (א) points to God, the beginning and the source. Hey (ה) signifies revelation and breath, the opening by which life is given and revealed. Bet (ב) is the house, the inner dwelling or family. Together they suggest that true love is when God (Aleph) is revealed (Hey) in the house (Bet) of your life. Love for God, therefore, is not merely a feeling in the mind but the manifestation of His presence within your household, your thoughts, your choices, and your way of life. Jesus commands that love for God should saturate everything.
When the text declares that this love is directed toward “the LORD your God,” the sacred name YHWH (יהוה) appears. Each letter of this divine Name is rich in meaning. Yod (י) is a hand, symbolizing power and action. Hey (ה) is revelation again, God’s self-disclosure to His people. Vav (ו) is a hook or connector, joining heaven and earth, eternity and time. The final Hey (ה) once again signifies revelation, grace, and the breath of life. To love YHWH is to respond to the One who reveals Himself and stretches forth His hand to connect the unseen with the seen, the eternal with the temporal. In this sacred Name, the mystery of God’s covenant presence is contained. Thus, when Jesus instructs us to love God, it is not love for an abstract deity but for the living, revealed Lord who makes Himself known to His people.
The word for God here is Elohekha, “your God.” Elohim (אלהים) emphasizes His power as Creator and Judge. The root letters are Aleph (א), Lamed (ל), Hey (ה), Yod (י), and Mem (ם). Aleph is the source, the One. Lamed is the shepherd’s staff, representing authority, teaching, and guidance. Hey again is revelation. Yod is power, the hand stretched forth. Mem is waters, depth, hiddenness, the source of life. Elohim thus carries the sense of God as the sovereign One who teaches, reveals, empowers, and sustains. He is not a distant deity but the God who claims covenant relationship with His people, guiding them like a shepherd and providing life like flowing water. Loving Elohim means acknowledging Him as your source, your teacher, your guide, and your strength.
The verse then moves into the scope of this love: “with all your heart.” The Hebrew is levavkha (לְבָבְךָ). The word levav is an expanded form of lev (heart). In Hebrew thought, the heart is not only the seat of emotions but the center of thought, decision, and will. The rabbis taught that the doubling of the word points to the two inclinations within a person: the yetzer hatov (inclination to good) and the yetzer hara (inclination to evil). To love God with all your heart means to surrender both—the desire for good and the struggle with evil—to Him. It is to let His teaching (Lamed) rule within the house (Bet) of your being. In other words, nothing in your inner life, not even your weaknesses or temptations, is outside the reach of His love. Jesus affirms that loving God begins at the very center of our being, transforming our motives, our decisions, and our hidden thoughts.
The next phrase is “with all your soul.” In Hebrew, this is nafshekha (נַפְשְׁךָ), from nefesh, which means more than just “soul” in the Western sense. It refers to the breath of life, the essence of one’s self, the very being. The letters nun (נ), peh (פ), and shin (ש) provide a picture: nun signifies life and continuity; peh is the mouth, symbolizing speech and expression; shin is fire and divine presence. Thus, nefesh encompasses your life, your speech, your identity, and the fire within you. To love God with all your soul means to dedicate your entire being—your life, your words, your passions, and your identity—to Him. Jesus ties this to the truth that every breath we take is meant to glorify God. Loving Him with your soul is giving Him your very existence, not compartmentalized but whole.
Finally, the Shema says, “with all your might”—in Hebrew me’odekha (מְאֹדֶךָ). This is a fascinating word because me’od usually means “very” or “muchness.” It implies intensity, resources, energy, everything you have and everything you are. The letters mem (מ), aleph (א), and dalet (ד) suggest water or flow (Mem), God’s oneness (Aleph), and the doorway or path (Dalet). To love God with all your might is to pour out all your resources, acknowledging God as the source, and walking in the door of obedience with humility. This includes your possessions, your time, your opportunities, your talents, and your energy. Jesus broadens the phrase in Matthew’s account by also including the “mind,” showing that intellectual devotion, thoughts, and reasoning are also part of what is surrendered to God.
When all these parts are brought together, the command becomes not a burden but a path of freedom. To love God with all your heart means allowing His truth to rule in your inner house. To love Him with all your soul means offering Him your life, breath, and identity. To love Him with all your might means surrendering your resources and strength. Each Hebrew letter paints a picture of devotion that is total, not partial. And when Jesus calls this the greatest commandment, He is showing us that the essence of life is not found in outward ritual alone, but in wholehearted love and devotion to the One who first loved us.
This teaching also reveals the unity of Scripture. The Shema was central to Israel’s identity, recited daily, binding God’s people to Him in covenant love. Jesus reaffirms it and deepens it, calling His followers to embody it in every aspect of life. The love of God is not divided into compartments; it permeates heart, soul, and strength, and in Matthew’s Gospel, it extends to the mind as well. Loving God is the integrating principle of the believer’s existence. Every thought, every breath, every action becomes an act of worship.
Spiritually, this truth challenges us to consider whether there are parts of our life where we withhold love from God. Do we let Him rule only in the realm of our emotions but not in our thoughts? Do we give Him words of worship but keep our resources for ourselves? Do we allow Him to be Lord of our Sunday but not of our Monday work? Jesus’s command leaves no room for half-hearted devotion. The Hebrew words remind us that love for God encompasses the whole person—inner and outer, seen and unseen, spiritual and practical.
This truth is also deeply relational. God does not command love in the abstract; He reveals Himself in His Name, in His covenant, in His acts of salvation. Love for Him is always a response to His revelation. As John would later write, “We love because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19). To love God with all your heart, soul, and might is not to manufacture emotion but to respond to the God who has revealed His hand (Yod), His connection (Vav), and His grace (Hey) in our lives.
Therefore, when Jesus lifts up this commandment, He is not only pointing back to Moses but forward to the cross. On the cross, He Himself fulfills the Shema perfectly. With all His heart, He surrenders to the Father’s will. With all His soul, He lays down His life as a ransom for many. With all His might, He gives everything—His strength, His blood, His breath—until it is finished. And by doing so, He makes it possible for us, who are frail and divided, to love God wholly. Through the Spirit, our hearts are renewed, our souls revived, and our strength redirected to glorify Him.
In the end, Matthew 22:37 is more than a command; it is an invitation into a covenant of love that transforms every part of life. It calls us back to the purpose for which we were created—to dwell in God’s presence, to love Him fully, and to manifest His glory in the world. When the Hebrew letters are studied, they paint a mosaic of devotion that engages heart, soul, and might. When lived out, they bring wholeness, unity, and joy. And when we see them fulfilled in Christ, they give us hope that by His Spirit, we too can love God with undivided devotion, just as He has loved us with an everlasting love.