Deuteronomy 6:6-9

Exhortation to Teach the Covenant Principles

6 These words I am commanding you today must be kept in mind, 7and you must teach
Heb “repeat” (so NLT). If from the root I שָׁנַן (shanan), the verb means essentially to “engrave,” that is, “to teach incisively” (Piel); note NAB “Drill them into your children.” Cf. BDB 1041-42 s.v.
them to your children and speak of them as you sit in your house, as you walk along the road,
Or “as you are away on a journey” (cf. NRSV, TEV, NLT); NAB “at home and abroad.”
as you lie down, and as you get up.
8You should tie them as a reminder on your forearm
Tie them as a sign on your forearm. Later Jewish tradition referred to the little leather containers tied to the forearms and foreheads as tefillin. They were to contain the following passages from the Torah: Exod 13:1–10, 11–16; Deut 6:5–9; 11:13–21. The purpose was to serve as a “sign” of covenant relationship and obedience.
and fasten them as symbols
Fasten them as symbols on your forehead. These were also known later as tefillin (see previous note) or phylacteries (from the Greek term). These box-like containers, like those on the forearms, held the same scraps of the Torah. It was the hypocritical practice of wearing these without heartfelt sincerity that caused Jesus to speak scathingly about them (cf. Matt 23:5).
on your forehead.
9Inscribe them on the doorframes of your houses and gates.
The Hebrew term מְזוּזֹת (mezuzot) refers both to the door frames and to small cases attached on them containing scripture texts (always Deut 6:4–9 and 11:13–21; and sometimes the decalogue; Exod 13:1–10, 11–16; and Num 10:35–36). See J. H. Tigay, Deuteronomy (JPSTC), 443–44.


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