The Shema‘ Yisrael
Monotheistic Jewish amulet discovered near Carnuntum
According to a BAR article, the Shema‘ Yisrael on this Jewish amulet discovered near Carnuntum is one of the earliest monotheistic readings of Deuteronomy.
However, in the Second Temple period, the Shema‘ Yisrael text in Deuteronomy would have been read “Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone.” The Shema‘ Yisrael was originally a monolatric statement; it stated that Israel had an exclusive relationship with its God, but it did not deny the existence of other national deities for other peoples.
When did Deuteronomy’s Shema‘ Yisrael become a monotheistic statement? When did Jews begin to recognize their deity as the only deity existing in the universe? In the May/June 2013 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review, Armin Lange and Esther Eshel discuss the discovery of a Jewish amulet near the city of Carnuntum that “marks an early pinnacle of this monotheistic interpretation of the Shema‘ Yisrael in Deuteronomy 6:4.”
The Jewish amulet was discovered in a third-century C.E. child’s grave near the Roman frontier city Carnuntum (close to modern Halbturn, Austria). The amulet is formed out of a silver capsule and small gold leaf, inscribed with a Hebrew Shema‘ Yisrael written in Greek letters. Lange and Eshel state that “the Jewish amulet reads the last clause of the Shema‘ Yisrael as ΑΔΩΝ Α ‘the Lord is 1.’ That is, it replaces the Hebrew word אחד, which meant originally ‘alone,’ with ‘one’ (a Greek A). The letter in ancient Greek represents the numeral 1.”
What is an early monotheistic Shema‘ Yisrael doing near Carnuntum? Lange and Eshel illustrate that Carnuntum had a well-integrated Jewish population that stated their religion openly. The Jewish population would have known how to recite the Shema‘ Yisrael, but most likely did not know how to write in Hebrew.
Lange and Eshel conclude:
To our knowledge the Halbturn amulet is the first text that renders the Hebrew word ehad (אחד) with the number “1.” This numerical representation of the final word of the Shema‘leaves no doubt about how the Jewish craftsman who made the Halbturn amulet understood the Shema‘ Yisrael —as a monotheistic statement! Only the Lord is God; there is no other God. Though the Jews of Carnuntum were open to the multi-religious culture of their city, this openness clearly had defined limits. For them, no other god existed but the Lord.
Armin Lange and Esther Eshel’s full article “‘The Lord Is One’: How Its Meaning Changed” explores the Jewish amulet and its Shema‘ Yisrael inscription in light of ancient Jewish magic, the evolution of monotheism and the local Jewish population.
BAS Library Members: Read the full article “‘The Lord Is One’: How Its Meaning Changed” as it appears in the May/June 2013 issue of BAR.
Not a BAS Library member yet? Sign up today.
This Bible History Daily feature was originally published in April 2013.
Related reading in Bible History Daily:
Ancient Amulets with Incipits by Joseph E. Sanzo
The blurred line between magic and religion
Word Play by Glenn J. Corbett
The power of the written word in ancient Israel
Miniature Writing on Ancient Amulets
Ketef Hinnom inscriptions reveal the power of hidden writing
Related reading in the BAS Library:
Paula Fredricksen, “Gods and the One God,” Bible Review, February 2003.
The BAS Library now includes the full book Aspects of Monotheism: How God Is One, edited by Hershel Shanks and Jack Meinhardt, featuring chapters written by Donald B. Redford, William G. Dever, P. Kyle McCarter Jr. and John J. Collins.
Not a BAS Library member yet? Sign up today.
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I don’t know what Hebrew phrase they think was “original” in that “the Lord alone.” Is was it “hashem l’vad” instead of “hashem ekhad?” As an Orthodox Jew, I think this is rubbish, but even so, why would hashem l’vad mean we worship hashem but there’s other gods around? In our liturgy we constantly say l’vado hu (he is alone). If there’s only one god, it’s lonely at the top. Really not getting this.
As an aside the use of the alpha is really interesting. It shows that maybe the Jews didn’t use our modern system of using Hebrew letters for numbers (alef in this case, which also happens to be the first letter of ekhad). Also unclear why this text shows Jews could speak but not read Hebrew. Shouldn’t the whole thing be in Greek transliteration then? Why just the alpha? I imagine instead that they could read Hebrew but that to save space this would be the modern equivalent of an Israeli writing “hashem 1” instead of “hashem ekhad.”
Although I want to stay out of all this quoting kabala out of context, in response to Lorenzo, obviously we don’t believe in the Trinity, but there is no way you can say that G-d is solely male when the tora uses both male and female terms to refer to Him. He has aspects of both (and we use He and not She because that is more common). “hashem ekhad”
I believe the word intended in the first paragraph (monaltric) is monolatric.
So much to comment on. First, I don’t understand why some write G_d as if that were God’s name to keep from taking in vain. If Yah, who evidently was comfortable with such a thing as a nickname in the form of a shortening of His full name (or Their full name, as the case may be), then the point is not the use of His name (didn’t the First Testament use YHWH and Yah quite often?), but rather of the *mis*use of His name, calling upon Him as a witness to what was actually false to give it verisimilitude.
On the idea of the Trinity. Hmm. What can I say that hasn’t been said in the past 2k, give or take? Maybe I should just ask rather than state. Why is Elohim used instead of El in the creation story? Why is a singular verb used with the plural word for God in the creation story? Why does the Elohim then speak in terms of “Our image” rather than “My image”? Is there more to God than some might care to admit in this singularity of plurality?
Oh, on the number of times Yahweh (or whatever your preferred transliteration/pronunciation), it was used 6,519 times! And Yah, though translated as Yah only 2 times, is translated as LORD 47 times (equivalent to YHWH) in the NKJV. Only later did those who transcribed and added the reading LORD (Adonai) make it an issue. Clearly, invoking His name in an unholy way (for falsehood) is what the commandment forbids. Interesting that our God goes to the trouble of telling us His NAME and then we bury it under obscurity because of a lack of understanding of the plain meaning of the text.
“Though the revolutionary concept of an eternal, absolute, omnipotent and only God was first proposed by Pharaoh Akhenaton, and either adopted by the Hebrews, whom he seems to have protected, or re-invented by them, yet the name ‘ELOHIM’ (usually translated as ‘God’), found in Genesis 1, is the Hebrew variant of an ancient Semitic name for one god of many – ILU among the Assyrians and Babylonians; EL among the Hittites and in the Ugaritic texts; IL, or ILUM, among the South Arabians.” Hebrew Myths; The Book of Genesis”, by Robert Graves and Raphael Patai, p.27
@ Luis, The name of the God of Abraham,Issac and Jacob is YHVH (there is not w in hebrew) This is his name forever or I AM that I AM The blood relatives of the original Hebrews of Moses and Jesus used the name YHVH.
The people we refer to as jews today are not of the bloodline of Moses, they are largely Europeans who were taught not to use God’s name. The teaching of avoid God’s name is a horrible thing that came from…let’s keep it simple and say..man.
We are commanded to call on his name YHVH. We have generations of Christians who have no idea that God has a name. If you are a follower of I AM you better call on his name and avoid the teachings of man and tradition
When men began to increase upon the earth and daughters were born to them, the sons of Elohim saw how beautiful the daughters of men were and took wives from among those that pleased them. Genesis 6:1,
Immediately upon their descent they engaged in corruption with the daughters of man who were beautiful, and were unable to control their inclination. Shemhazai saw a girl, Istahar by name, desired her, and said to her; “Give in to me!” She said to him “I shall not, unless you teach me the Ineffable Name by pronouncing which you fly up to the firmament.” He taught her that Name, she uttered it, and flew up to the firmament, thus escaping defilement. The Holy One, blessed be He, said: “Since she removed herself from sin, go and set her among these seven stars so that she be remembered by them forever.” And she was set in the Pleides. Raphael Patai, “Gates to the Old City”, p.399
Como sou ignorante!!! Nunca vou conseguir entender que “um” é um plural!!! É muita confusão para minha limitada mente.
Russ Kicks book 100 Things You’re Not Suposed To Know, there is an error page 244, God has revealed his name to Moses on Mt. Sinai. The book says to look up Exodus 34:13 – actually it is the next verse, Exodus 34:14 “For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.” For some reason they don’t teach this in Sunday school. May be they don’t want kids saying the pledge of allegiance “One nation, under Jealous..”