When God redeemed the Israelites out of Egypt, He gave them the great command to keep their ways from sin. He said in Deuteronomy 6:5, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength.” Strength in this verse is translated from the Hebrew word, ‘meod.’ But, surprisingly, meod does not mean strength alone. Once we discover its full meaning, we receive a new perspective in loving the Lord.
Meod or Strength
Modern translators had translated meod to ‘strength’ or ‘might’ because Jewish scholars translated the Hebrew Bible to Greek. They interpreted meod into the Greek word, “dunamis,”‘ which means power or strength. But, meod means much more.
The Hebrew word “Meod” is found over 300 times in the Bible. But, they don’t mean strength. In fact, meod is translated as ‘very’ or ‘much.’
Very or Much
We see this in Genesis chapter 1, where God saw all He has created and called them good. But, after the man and woman were made, He regarded it as ‘meod’ good.
In the story of Cain and Abel (Genesis 4:5), Cain wasn’t just angry at Abel. But, he was ‘meod’ angry.
Later. in the story of Noah (Genesis 7:18), the floodwaters were constantly rising, making it ‘meod’ powerful over the land.
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Basically, meod is used in Hebrew to intensify the meaning of other words.
So, when we apply this meaning to God’s command, we can read it as “Love the Lord your God with all your meod, or with all of your ‘muchness.'”
Loving God with all your ‘meod’ means devoting every possibility, opportunity, and capacity that you have to honoring God and loving your neighbors as yourself. It is a call to love the One who made you with all the number of ways you can show to Him.
Reference: Youtube | Bible Project