---
title: Deuteronomy 6:4
url: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/deuteronomy-6-4/
markdown: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/deuteronomy-6-4.md
type: verse
perspective: Protestant (historic Nicene) response to Jehovah's Witness teaching
reference: Deuteronomy 6:4
testament: OT
section: Law
index: https://jw-apologetics.app/llms.txt
---

# Deuteronomy 6:4

## Text (Berean Standard Bible)

> Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is One.

## JW Usage

The Shema is the bedrock of JW unitarianism. JWs cite Deuteronomy 6:4 as the cleanest possible refutation of the Trinity: "Jehovah our God is one Jehovah." Where Trinitarians see plurality, JWs hear strict numerical oneness. The verse anchors the Watchtower's case that Jesus cannot be Jehovah and that the Holy Spirit is an impersonal force, since "one Jehovah" leaves no room for additional divine persons. It is also routinely paired with Exodus 20:3 to argue that the NWT's "a god" rendering at John 1:1 cannot mean Jesus is a real god — that would break the Shema by introducing a second divine being.

## Protestant Usage

The Shema is not a numerical claim about how many divine persons exist; it is a covenantal claim about which God Israel belongs to. The Hebrew word echad ("one") is the same word used at Genesis 2:24 of husband and wife becoming "one flesh" — a unity that includes plurality. More decisively, Paul takes the Shema and reformulates it around Christ in 1 Corinthians 8:6: "for us there is one God, the Father… and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things." Every key term from the LXX Shema (heis, theos, kyrios) appears, distributed between Father and Son. A first-century Jewish monotheist could not conceivably place a creature in the Shema slot without committing blasphemy — yet Paul does it deliberately. This reformulation is unintelligible unless Jesus is included within the divine identity of YHWH. The Shema is not violated by the Trinity; the Trinity is the apostolic exposition of the Shema. The argument also lands inside the JW polytheism trilemma: if the NWT's "a god" Jesus is a real god, the Shema and Isaiah 43:10 ("before me no god was formed") are broken; the only way out is for Jesus to be Jehovah himself.

## Arguments Using This Verse

- ['A God' = Polytheism](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/john1-polytheism.md) — John 1:1 + Exodus 20:3 + Isaiah 43:10 [Deity of Christ]
- [The Jehovah/Adam Name Analogy](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/jehovah-adam-analogy.md) — Genesis 5:2 — One Name, Two Persons [Deity of Christ]
- [Let Us Make Man — The Isaiah 44:24 Trap](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/genesis1-26-let-us.md) — Genesis 1:26 / Isaiah 44:24 / Job 33:4 [Deity of Christ]
- [The Christian Shema — Paul Splits the Shema to Include Jesus](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/christian-shema.md) — 1 Corinthians 8:6 / Deuteronomy 6:4 / Isaiah 44:24 [Deity of Christ]
- ['The Trinity Is Pagan' — Genetic Fallacy And The Wrong Question](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/trinity-pagan-deflection.md) — Matthew 28:19 / 2 Corinthians 13:14 [Deity of Christ]
- [Paul's Greeting Puts Jesus Beside the Father](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/pauline-greeting-formula.md) — Galatians 1:1-3 — Co-Source of Grace and Peace [Deity of Christ]
- [Answering "1+1+1=1" — The Math Mockery Defused](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/trinity-math-mockery-response.md) — Units, essence, and persons — why the math objection is a category error [Deity of Christ]
- [Three "I"s in One Divine Mind — Why the Trinity Isn't a Body-Count Problem](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/trinity-three-centres-of-consciousness.md) — Person and being are different categories — and God is spirit [Deity of Christ]
- [You're Not God — Why Your Model Isn't the Standard](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/epistemic-humility-trinity-objection.md) — An incomprehensible Creator and the limits of created reason [Deity of Christ]
- [We Didn't Invent the Trinity — We Summarised What God Revealed](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/trinity-from-revelation-not-deduction.md) — A summary of three biblical revelations, not a philosophical speculation [Deity of Christ]