[Note 1]
"One"
By far, the most common meaning of
echad (600+x) is the simple
cardinal number "one."
Let the waters below the heavens be gathered into
one place
[maqom echad]. (Gen 1:9)
He took
one of the man's ribs [achat mitzalotayv]. (Gen 2:21)
The man has become like
one of Us [ke-achad mimmennu]. (Gen 3:22)
We are all sons of
one man [ish echad]. (Gen 42:11)
The youngest is with our father today and
one is no more. (Gen 42:13)
"First"
In its first appearance in the Bible
echad is an
ordinal number and means "first":
And there was evening and there was morning, the
first day
[yom echad]. (Gen 1:5b)
Some expositors say "yom echad" alludes to the
composite nature of the day, since it consists of an evening and morning. Yet subsequent days here in chapter 1 are also made of an
evening and a
morning, and they are numbered the "second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth" days of the week (Gen 1:8, 13, 19, 23, 31). This pattern shows that
echad in v. 5b means "first," not "compound (day)."
The ordinal
echad occurs elsewhere in Genesis:
The name of the
first [ha-echad] is Pishon. (2:11)
On the
first day [be-echad] of the month, the tops of the mountains became visible. (8:5b)
In the six hundred and
first year, in the
first month, on the
first of the month, the water was dried up. (8:13)
[
Top]
"Same"
Echad can signify "the same" or "one and the same."
Behold, they are
one people [am echad] and they all have the
same language [safah achat, fem.]. (Gen 11:6)
They both had a dream the
same night [layelah echad]. (Gen 40:5)
Pharaoh's dreams are
one and the same [halom echad hu]. (Gen 41:25)
"Singularity"
Echad can denote oneness as "singleness." [The Passover] is to be eaten in a
single house [bayit echad].
(Exod 12:46a)
The [menorah] was a
single [achat] hammered work of pure gold. (Exod 37:22b)
They...cut down a branch with a
single cluster of grapes
[eshkol anavim echad]. (Num 13:23)
Not a
single word [davar echad] has failed of all He promised,
which He promised through Moses His servant. (1 Kgs 8:56b)
Look to Abraham your father,
And to Sarah who gave birth to you in pain;
When he was
one [single man] I called him,
Then I blessed him and multipled him. (Isa 51:2)
I will remove the iniquity of that Land in
a single day [yom echad; same as Gen 1:5b] (Zech 3:9)
[
Top]
"Undivided Oneness"
At times,
echad denotes a unity of purpose or effort, or a shared condition.
The people answered with
one voice [kol echad]. (Exod 24:3)
Then I will give to the peoples purified lips,
That all of them may call on the name of YHVH,
To serve him with
one shoulder [shechem echad]. (Zeph 3:9)
The Hand of God was also on Judah to give them
one heart[lev echad].
(2 Chron 30:12)
Genesis 2:24
This passage is a common focus of attention in discussions of the Shema.[Adam and Eve] shall become
one flesh. (Gen 2:24)Some expositors propose that our First Parents' oneness of flesh is a
compound unity consisting of each other's physical being. But the verse points to the opposite. Before her creation, Eve was "in" Adam (Gen 2:22). Upon creation, she became a separated, though obviously related, distinct person.
Then God reversed the operation and rejoined them in a new way, in
marriage. They are no longer apart: they are one single body. Eve is not now "in" Adam, but "with" him as his counterpart [kenegdo, v. 20b]. Their unity is not composite, but singularly whole. The two, as male and female, are now one Human—one, single "Adam" (Gen 3:22, 24).
Ezekiel 37
Similarly, in Ezekiel 37 God plans one day to bring together the two rebellion-split houses of Israel and Judah. There will not be a king in the Northern Kingdom Israel and a king in the Southern Kingdom Judah. God will take their two "sticks" or "rods" (symbols of their authority) and rejoin them as one scepter under "David," the future Messiah.
I will make them
an undivided nation [goy echad] in the Land . . .
One single King [melech echad] will be king for all of them,
And they will no longer be two nations,
And they will no longer be divided into two kingdoms. (Ezek 37:22)
Some believe this union of the two kingdoms is also a compound or composite unity of two parts. But that's precisely
not the point here. Their once individual, self-willed identities will disappear; they will become one nation, indivisible, under God.
As originally intended, the one people will be ruled by Messiah,
The One King [melech echad].
[
Top]
"Uniqueness"
Finally,
echad has another nuance of meaning that sheds light on the Shema.
We saw above that
echad usually denotes the number "one" (as opposed to two, three, or 10 million). There is something about one thing that is like no other — a solitary "one-ity" that highlights
uniqueness, one-of-a-kind-ness. Several things are unique in the Bible.
King David, in overwhelmed prayer, after being given the privilege of leading God's redemptive program on earth, asks the Lord:
Who is like Your people Israel,
a
unique nation [goy echad] on earth? (2 Sam 7:23)In the future, God will return to Har Zetim with his armies and radically change Jerusalem's geography. And that will be a
unique day [yom echad; same as Gen 1:5b]
which is known only to the LORD.... (Zech 14:7)
And on that Yom Echad, Unique Day . . .
YHVH will be king over all the earth;
in that day YHVH will be
Echad [the only one],
and his name
Echad [the only one]. (Zech 14:9)
In the Song of Songs, the young man describes his singularly peerless, inimitable, incomparable beloved:
My dove, my perfect one, is
unique [achat; fem.] (Song 6:9a)
Yachad — The Real Word for Unity
When commentators declare (without making qualifications) that "echad
means compound, composite unity," they haven't done the thorough lexical study. For example, the standard Hebrew word to denote joining, unity or togetherness is
yachad, not
echad.
He was King in Yeshurun,
When the heads of the people were gathered,
The tribes of Israel
together [yachad]. (Deut 33:5)
My heart is turned over within Me,
All together [yachad] my compassions are kindled. (Hosea 11:8b)
Behold, how good and how pleasant it is
For brethren to dwell
together in unity [gam yachad]! (Ps 133:1)
In the Dead Sea Scrolls document
The Community Rule (1QS, The Manual of Disciple), the group of priests and their disciples abiding at Qumran is called
The Yachad: the Union, the Comm-Unity.
This is the rule for the men of
the Yachad... (5:1)
...
the Yachad of the eternal covenant (5:5)
Whoever enters the council of
the Yachad enters the covenant of God (5:7-8)
[
Top]
How to Translate the Shema
In light of these multiple uses of
echad, we must be open to reading the Shema with an open mind about what it denotes. What are our options? What makes most sense, within the Bible?
The LORD is first.
The LORD is one [God].
The LORD is the same [as whom?]
The LORD alone.
The LORD is a single [Being, Deity, Elohim].
The LORD is a unified [Being, Deity, Elohim].
The LORD is unique, the one and only [God].
Given the theme of YHVH's centrality in Deuteronomy (see below), and given the command aspect of the Shema ("and you shall love YHVH your God"), the sense of
uniqueness seems most appropriate in this verse.
Here is how some Jewish versions render the Shema:
Isaac Leeser: Hear, O Israel! The Lord, our God, is the One Eternal Being.
Jewish Publication Society (1917): Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.
Joseph Hertz: Hear, O Israel, The LORD is our God, the LORD is one.
Jewish Publication Society (1985): Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone.
