Sermon Tone Analysis

Religious Usage: a. Human Love for God.

A series of texts concentrated especially in Deuteronomy exhorts and indeed commands that Israel shall love God.

The classic example comes in the commandment that concludes the Shĕmaʿ in Deut 6:4–5: “you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.”

This love that can be commanded by another has its conceptual roots, like the love of Jonathan, Israel, and Judah for David (see above), in the rhetoric of international relations in the ANE of the period, rather than from the sphere of conjugal intimacy.

Rulers write to their equals with whom they are in treaty relationship concerning the importance of love; a ruler may command subject vassals to show love to the ruler as expression of their faithfulness to a treaty of protection provided by the ruler.

Deuteronomy speaks of Israel’s love for God in the context of the covenant established at Sinai, using terminology familiar from the political rhetoric of the culture.

Here the love that God commands from Israel is not primarily a matter of intimate affection, but is to be expressed by obedience to God’s commandments, serving God, showing reverence for God, and being loyal to God alone (10:12; 11:1, 22; 30:16).

Despite the demand formulation, however, the inclusion of love in this series of requirements probably highlights the willingness with which Israel should walk with God.

Sakenfeld, K. D. (1992).

Love: Old Testament.

In D. N. Freedman (Ed.),

The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary (Vol.

4, p. 376).

New York: Doubleday.

Dt 10:12; 11:1, 22; 30:16

A specialized and important nuance of love between human beings, not normal to English usage, is its connotation of political loyalty.

This usage is well illustrated in extra-biblical political texts of the 2d and 1st millennia from various parts of the ancient Near East outside of Israel (Moran 1963: 78–80), and is seen in the OT especially in the narratives concerning David, where we read that David is loved not only by Michal, but also by Saul (1 Sam 16:21), by Saul’s servants (1 Sam 18:22), by all Israel and Judah (18:16), by all Israel (18:28, following the LXX), and by Jonathan (18:1, 3; 20:17; 2 Sam 1:26).

This range of persons and groups who love David requires at least that the term be extended to include admiration of his special qualities, such as musical ability or military prowess.

More than that, there are clear political overtones.

Jonathan’s love for David “as [Jonathan] loved himself” involves committing himself not just to David personally, but also to David’s political cause (Fishbane 1970: 314); this love is the narrator’s cue to the reader that even the potential blood heir to Saul’s throne has cast his lot with God’s anointed successor David.

The references to the love of “all Israel” and of “all Israel and Judah” for David continue this nuance of political loyalty, and it is seen subsequently in the reference to Hiram of Tyre as David’s ʾōhēb (Qal part., “friend”), his political ally.

Sakenfeld, K. D. (1992).

Love: Old Testament.

In D. N. Freedman (Ed.),

The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary (Vol.

4, p. 376).

New York: Doubleday.We are to Love God with all our Heart

self ⇔ heart n. — the focus of a person’s thoughts (mind), volition, emotions, and knowledge of right from wrong (conscience).

The heart is part of the inner man.

It is the reflection of how we think and feel.

Feelings; freely; kindly; midst; man; bowel; seat of feeling and passion; inclination; desire;

We are to Love God with all our Soul

soul n. — the immaterial part of a person which is the actuating cause of an individual life; the site of all the psychological faculties (such as the heart, mind, and conscience).

life; lives; person; inner self; individual self; breath

We are to Love God with all our Mind

thought; intention; purpose; understanding; intelligence; way of thinking; be ready to learn; disposition; plan

The Mark and Luke accounts and the term strength.

to love (care) v. — to have a great affection or care for or loyalty towards.

take pleasure in...

The relationship of all the Old Testament to the double love commandment shows that there is a hierarchy of law that above all requires one’s heart attitude to be correct.

If this is absent, obedience to commandments degenerates into mere legalism.