Deuteronomy 6:13

13 Thou shalt dread thy Lord God (Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God/Thou shalt revere the Lord thy God), and thou shalt serve him alone, and thou shalt swear by his name.

Deuteronomy 6:13 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 6:13

Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, and serve him
Serve him through fear; not through slavish fear, a fear of hell and damnation; but through filial fear, a reverential affection for that God that had brought them out of a state of bondage into great and glorious liberty, out of Egypt into Canaan's land, out of a place of misery into a land of plenty; and therefore should fear the Lord and his goodness, and from such a fear of him serve him, in every part of worship, public and private, enjoined; this passage Christ refers to ( Matthew 4:10 )

and shalt swear by his name;
when they made a covenant with any, or were called to bear a testimony for the decision of any controversy which could not be otherwise finished; or whenever they took an oath on any account, which should never be taken rashly or on any trivial account, and much less falsely; it should be taken not in the name of any idol, or of any other but the true and living God; the Targum of Jonathan is,

``in the name of the Word of the Lord, in truth ye shall swear.''

Deuteronomy 6:13 In-Context

11 houses full of all riches, which thou madest not, and cisterns, which thou diggedest not, (and) vineyards, and olive places, which thou plantedest not, and when thou hast eaten, and art full-filled (and art filled full),

12 beware diligently, lest thou forget the Lord, that led thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of servage. (be careful, lest thou forget the Lord, who led thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of servitude, or of slavery.)

13 Thou shalt dread thy Lord God (Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God/Thou shalt revere the Lord thy God), and thou shalt serve him alone, and thou shalt swear by his name.

14 Ye shall not go after alien gods, of all (the) heathen men that be in your compass/that be about you; (Ye shall not follow foreign, or other, gods, the gods of the heathen who be all around you;)

15 for God is a fervent lover, thy Lord God is in the midst of thee, lest any time the strong vengeance/the fierceness of thy Lord God be wroth against thee, and do away thee from the face of the earth. (for God is a jealous lover, the Lord thy God who is in the midst of thee, lest any time the Lord thy God be angry with thee, and in his strong vengeance he do thee away from off the face of the earth.)