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Deuteronomy 6:4–5, known as “the Shema,” reflects the covenantal language of the ancient Near East, where loyalty and devotion were pledged to a sovereign as part of treaty obligations. This covenantal declaration became central in Jewish prayer and identity, and it continued to be echoed and reinterpreted in both Jewish and Christian literature.
Note: Dates shown in this timeline are approximate and based on scholarly estimates.
Back to Tag672 B.C.E.
The Vassal Treaties of Esarhaddon
Ancient Near East
That you will neither feed Ashurbanipal, the crown-prince, son of Esarhaddon, the king of Assyria, your lord, nor give him to drink, nor anoint him with a deadly poisonous plant nor will you make magic against him, nor make the gods and goddesses to be angry with him. You swear that you will love Ashurbanipal, the crown-prince, son of Esarhaddon, king of Assyria, your lord as you do yourselves. That, before Ashurbanipal, the crown-prince, you will not slander his brothers, his mother's sons. That you will not speak anything that is not good about them, that you will not put your hands on their houses; that you will not transgress
6th Century B.C.E. (Final composition)
Deuteronomy 6:4
Hebrew Bible
2 and that you may so revere the Lord your God that you will keep all his statutes and commandments that I am giving you—you, your children, and your grandchildren—all your lives, to prolong your days. 3 Pay attention, Israel, and be careful to do this so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in number—as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, said to you, you will have a land flowing with milk and honey. 4 Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord is one! 5 You must love the Lord your God with your whole mind, your whole being, and all your strength. 6 These words I am commanding you today must be kept in mind,
6th Century B.C.E. (Final composition)
Deuteronomy 6:5
Hebrew Bible
3 Pay attention, Israel, and be careful to do this so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in number—as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, said to you, you will have a land flowing with milk and honey. 4 Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord is one! 5 You must love the Lord your God with your whole mind, your whole being, and all your strength. 6 These words I am commanding you today must be kept in mind, 7 and you must teach them to your children and speak of them as you sit in your house, as you walk along the road, as you lie down, and as you get up.
6th Century B.C.E. (Final composition)
2 Kings 23:25
Hebrew Bible
23 But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah’s reign, such a Passover of the Lord was observed in Jerusalem. 24 Josiah also got rid of the ritual pits used to conjure up spirits, the magicians, personal idols, disgusting images, and all the detestable idols that had appeared in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem. In this way he carried out the terms of the law recorded on the scroll that Hilkiah the priest had discovered in the Lord’s temple. 25 No king before or after repented before the Lord as he did, with his whole heart, soul, and being in accordance with the whole law of Moses. 26 Yet the Lord’s great anger against Judah did not subside; he was still infuriated by all the things Manasseh had done. 27 The Lord announced, “I will also spurn Judah, just as I spurned Israel. I will reject this city that I chose—both Jerusalem and the temple, about which I said, ‘I will live there.’”
225-175 B.C.E.
Tobit 1:12
Deuterocanon
10 After I was carried away captive to Assyria and came as a captive to Nineveh, everyone of my kindred and my people ate the food of the Gentiles, 11 but I kept myself from eating the food of the Gentiles. 12 Because I was mindful of God with all my heart, 13 the Most High gave me favor and good standing with Shalmaneser, and I used to buy everything he needed. 14 Until his death I used to go into Media, and buy for him there. While in the country of Media I left bags of silver worth ten talents in trust with Gabael, the brother of Gabri.
225-175 B.C.E.
Tobit 2:2
Deuterocanon
2 When the table was set for me and an abundance of food placed before me, I said to my son Tobias, "Go, my child, and bring whatever poor person you may find of our people among the exiles in Nineveh, who is wholeheartedly mindful of God, and he shall eat together with me. I will wait for you, until you come back." 3 So Tobias went to look for some poor person of our people. When he had returned he said, "Father!" And I replied, "Here I am, my child." Then he went on to say, "Look, father, one of our own people has been murdered and thrown into the market place, and now he lies there strangled."
225-175 B.C.E.
Tobit 13:6
Deuterocanon
5 He will afflict you for your iniquities, but he will again show mercy on all of you. He will gather you from all the nations among whom you have been scattered. 6 If you turn to him with all your heart and with all your soul, to do what is true before him, then he will turn to you and will no longer hide his face from you. So now see what he has done for you; acknowledge him at the top of your voice. Bless the Lord of righteousness, and exalt the King of the ages. In the land of my exile I acknowledge him, and show his power and majesty to a nation of sinners: "Turn back, you sinners, and do what is right before him; perhaps he may look with favor upon you and show you mercy.'
225-175 B.C.E.
Tobit 14:7
Deuterocanon
6 Then the nations in the whole world will all be converted and worship God in truth. They will all abandon their idols, which deceitfully have led them into their error; 7 and in righteousness they will praise the eternal God. All the Israelites who are saved in those days and are truly mindful of God will be gathered together; they will go to Jerusalem and live in safety forever in the land of Abraham, and it will be given over to them. Those who sincerely love God will rejoice, but those who commit sin and injustice will vanish from all the earth. 8 So now, my children, I command you, serve God faithfully and do what is pleasing in his sight. Your children are also to be commanded to do what is right and to give alms, and to be mindful of God and to bless his name at all times with sincerity and with all their strength. So now, my son, leave Nineveh; do not remain here.
195-175 B.C.E.
Sirach 7:29
Deuterocanon
27 With all your heart honor your father, and do not forget the birth pangs of your mother. 28 Remember that it was of your parents you were born; how can you repay what they have given to you? 29 With all your soul fear the Lord, and revere his priests. 30 With all your might love your Maker, and do not neglect his ministers. 31 Fear the Lord and honor the priest, and give him his portion, as you have been commanded: the first fruits, the guilt offering, the gift of the shoulders, the sacrifice of sanctification, and the first fruits of the holy things.
55-57 C.E.
1 Corinthians 8:6
New Testament
4 With regard then to eating food sacrificed to idols, we know that “an idol in this world is nothing,” and that “there is no God but one.” 5 If after all there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as there are many gods and many lords), 6 yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we live, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we live. 7 But this knowledge is not shared by all. And some, by being accustomed to idols in former times, eat this food as an idol sacrifice, and their conscience, because it is weak, is defiled. 8 Now food will not bring us close to God. We are no worse if we do not eat and no better if we do.