The etymology of the word "obey" comes from the Latin words meaning "to listen" or "pay attention to." While many dictionaries define obey as submitting to authority, the original Hebrew word used in the Bible, "shema," does not mean obey but rather means "to listen," "to hear," "to internalize," "to understand," and "to respond." The document discusses how Judaism focuses on listening to God rather than obeying commands. It also explores the importance of listening to one's conscience, which is seen as more important than any other authority, as the conscience acts as a guide from God and knows one's every thought and action.

1. Obedience and conscience

2. Etymology of ‘obey’
• The English word ‘obey’ appeared in the late
13th century and comes from the Old French
obeir which is in turn comes from the Latin
oboedire which means, “pay attention to, give
ear, obey.” Oboedire literally means, “listen to”
as it is a combination of the prefix ob meaning
"to" as in “towards” and audire “listen or
hear” which gives us words such as audience.

3. Dictionary definition
• “to give ear to”, to execute the commands of; to
yield submission to; to comply with the orders of;
to submit to the authority of; to be ruled by; to
yield to the impulse, power, or operation of; to
give obedience; to adapt, conform, adjust; to
receive and be expected to follow directions or
commands; to submit to, surrender to, give way
to, succumb to, bow to, give in to, yield to, be
ruled by, serve, defer to, cave in to; take orders
from and ‘do what you are told’

4. What changed?
• The meaning of the English word ‘obedient’
altered in the late 14th century to "bending or
prostration of the body as a gesture of
submission or respect" when it became confused
with abaisance which is derived from abase.
Abase is derived from the 14th century word
abaishen which comes from the Old French
abaissier which means to "diminish, make lower
in value or status; to humble or belittle oneself;
cause to feel shame; hurt the pride of."

5. Obedience in the Bible
• Judaism has many commands. You would have
thought that a religion with 613 commands had a
word that means 'obey'. The whole of Hebrew
does not have a word that means 'obey'. What is
the verb that the Bible uses instead of 'obey'?
Lishmoa, shema. Shema means not 'to obey': it
means 'to listen', 'to hear', 'to internalise', 'to
understand', 'to respond'. There is no English
word that means what the Hebrew word Shema
means.
Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks

6. Listening
• 'Shema Yisrael means something like: “Listen. Concentrate.
Give the word of God your most focused attention. Strive to
understand. Engage all your faculties, intellectual and
emotional. Make His will your own. For what He commands
you to do is not irrational or arbitrary but for your welfare,
the welfare of your people, and ultimately for the benefit
of all humanity.” In Judaism faith is a form of listening: to
the song creation sings to its Creator, and to the message
history delivers to those who strive to understand it. That is
what Moses says, time and again in Deuteronomy. Stop
looking: listen. Stop speaking: listen. Create a silence in the
soul. Still the clamour of instinct, desire, fear, anger. Strive
to listen to the still, small voice beneath the noise. Then
you will know that the universe is the work of the One
beyond the furthest star yet closer to you than you are to
yourself – and then you will love the Lord your God with all
your heart, all your soul and all your might.'
(Jonathan Sacks)

7. Father’s words on conscience
• We can recover our "original selves" only when
we submit absolutely to the commands of our
conscience. The conscience is more important to
us than our parents who gave us birth, more
important than any teacher, and more important
than the king of any country. Only when elevated
to such a position can the conscience become an
object of God’s love. The conscience needs no
education about right and wrong. We must give it
absolute honour and respect, just as we would
honour and listen to God. There is nothing I do
that my conscience does not know about; it sees
everything. The conscience objects whenever the
body schemes to do something wrong

8. The most elevated function of the conscience is its
role as our true parent, true teacher and true
owner. In other words, our conscience acts as a
true parent, true teacher and true owner on behalf
of God, guiding our lives and educating us from
the time we are born. Our conscience functions as
a guide, keeping watch over our every action at
every moment. It is aware of our every word,
thought and deed even before our parents, our
teachers or God are. God infused into the
conscience the fundamental function of guiding
and supervising our lives. Yet the conscience,
which should be clear as crystal, has been
clouded due to the Fall and is now unable to fully
manifest its original function amid all manner of sin
and spiritual sickness. That is why you must
become people who can listen to the voice of your
conscience.