Exodus 13:9

And it shall be for a sign unto thee upon thine hand, and for a memorial between thine eyes,.... These are not the words of God or of Moses to the children of Israel, but of an lsraelitish parent to

And it shall be for a sign unto thee upon thine hand, and for a memorial between thine eyes, that the LORD's law may be in thy mouth: for with a strong hand hath the LORD brought thee out of Egypt.

The celebration of this feast shall be to thee instead of a mark which a man makes, or a ring, or any thing else which he puts upon his hand or arm, to bring any thing to his remembrance; for such things his eye is most frequently fixed upon. Compare . A memorial between thine eyes; instead of any monument or memorial, which is placed between, and therefore directly before a man’ s eyes, which he can scarcely overlook, and therefore must needs bring to remembrance the thing which he would not forget. Such proverbial phrases are usual in Scripture, as 6:21 7:3; and are not to be understood literally, as the superstitious Jews understood them, who hence derive their custom of wearing scrolls of parchment upon their foreheads, and arms, and garments, which they call phylacteries, wherein they wrote certain portions of Scripture. But they might as well have added parcels of God’ s law to be kept in their mouths, because it follows, that the Lord’ s law may be in thy mouth; from whence we may better infer that neither mouth, nor hand, nor eyes are to be properly understood, for then, it had been an improper method to fasten a parchment between their eyes, that it might be in their mouths; but figuratively, as they are commonly understood in Scripture.

Exodus 13:9 And it shall be for a sign unto thee upon thine hand, and for a memorial between thine eyes, that the LORD’ S law may be in thy mouth: for with a strong hand hath the LORD brought thee out of Egypt.Ver. 9. And for a memorial]

(9) It shall be for a sign unto thee upon thine hand, and for a memorial between thine eyes.—The practice of wearing tephillin, or “phylacteries,” is referred by the Jews themselves to the time of the Exodus, and regarded by them as resting on the present passage, together with Deuteronomy 6:8; Deuteronomy 11:18. These phylacteries consist of small strips of parchment, on which are written certain passages from the Law—viz., Exodus 13:2-10; Deuteronomy 6:4-9, and Deuteronomy 11:13-21—and which are then folded tight, placed in small boxes, and attached by bands to the left wrist and the forehead at the hours of prayer. It is well known that a similar custom prevailed in Egypt (Wilkinson, Ancient Egyptians, vol. iii., p. 364); and this has been made an objection to the Mosaic institution of phylacteries, since Moses, it has been thought, would not have encouraged an Egyptian superstition. But the adoption of Egyptian customs, purged from their superstition, is quite in the spirit of the Mosaic institutions, and in no way reprehensible. If the Israelites were addicted to wearing amulets, like the Egyptians, it would have been a wise proviso to substitute for the magic charms of sorcerers the solemn words of the Law, and in this way to turn a current superstition to a good account. The Law was thereby honoured, and the special passages selected would come to be generally known to those who wore them, and to be “in their mouth” and “in their heart” (Deuteronomy 11:18). [Dean Plumptre notices, in his Commentary on the Temptation (St. Matt.), that our Blessed Lord used against the adversary quotations from the Scriptures forming these very Tephillin.]

Verse 9. And it shall be for a sign - upon thine hand] This direction, repeated and enlarged Exodus 13:16, gave rise to phylacteries or tephillin, and this is one of the passages which the Jews write upon them to the present day. The manner in which the Jews understood and kept these commands may appear in their practice. They wrote the following four portions of the law upon slips of parchment or vellum: Sanctify unto me the first-born, Exod. xiii., from verse 2 to 10 Exodus 13:2-10 inclusive. And it shall be, when the Lord shall bring thee into the land, Exod. xiii., from verse 11 to 16 Exodus 13:11-16 inclusive. Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord, Deut. vi., from verse 4 to 9 Deuteronomy 6:4-9 inclusive. And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently, Deut. xi., from verse 13 to 21 De 9:13-21 inclusive. These four portions, making in all 30 verses, written as mentioned above, and covered with leather, they tied to the forehead and to the hand or arm. Those which were for the HEAD (the frontlets) they wrote on four slips of parchment, and rolled up each by itself, and placed them in four compartments, joined together in one piece of skin or leather. Those which were designed for the hand were formed of one piece of parchment, the four portions being written upon it in four columns, and rolled up from one end to the other. These were all correct transcripts from the Mosaic text, without one redundant or deficient letter, otherwise they were not lawful to be worn. Those for the head were tied on so as to rest on the forehead. Those for the hand or arm were usually tied on the left arm, a little above the elbow, on the inside, that they might be near the heart, according to the command, Deuteronomy 6:6: And these words which I command thee this day shall be in thine heart. These phylacteries formed no inconsiderable part of a Jew's religion; they wore them as a sign of their obligation to God, and as representing some future blessedness. Hence they did not wear them on feast days nor on the Sabbath, because these things were in themselves signs; but they wore them always when they read the law, or when they prayed, and hence they called them תפלין tephillin, prayer, ornaments, oratories, or incitements to prayer. In process of time the spirit of this law was lost in the letter, and when the word was not in their mouth, nor the law in their heart, they had their phylacteries on their heads and on their hands. And the Pharisees, who in our Lord's time affected extraordinary piety, made their phylacteries very broad, that they might have many sentences written upon them, or the ordinary portions in very large and observable letters. It appears that the Jews wore these for three different purposes: - 1. As signs or remembrancers.

9. It is to have the same value as a religious mark branded or tattooed upon the hand, or as a memorial-token marked (or worn) upon the forehead, to keep Jehovah’s law in Israel’s continual remembrance, and remind Israel of its duty towards Him; cf. v. 16. The reference here and v. 16 being to observances, the expressions cannot be meant literally (cf. Proverbs 1:9; Proverbs 3:3; Proverbs 6:21; Proverbs 7:3): on Deuteronomy 6:8; Deuteronomy 11:18, see below, on v. 16. sign] The allusion is doubtless to the practice, not uncommon among primitive races, of ‘tattooing or branding various parts of the body with the name or symbol of the deity to whom one wishes to dedicate oneself, and whose protection it is desired to secure’ (DB. iii. 871b): cf. Hdt. ii. 113 (στίγματαἱερὰ on a person taking asylum, as a mark of dedication to the deity), 1 Kings 20:41, Lucian, de Dea Syria, 59 (στίγματα on the neck and wrists of the priests), 3Ma 2:29; and expressions suggested by the same custom in Isaiah 44:5 (RVm.), Isaiah 49:16 a, Ezekiel 9:4; Ezekiel 9:6 (hence Psalms of Sol. 15:8, 10), Galatians 6:7 (στίγματα), Revelation 7:3 f., Exodus 13:16 f.: see further Cuttings in the Flesh (Leviticus 19:28; Leviticus 21:5) in DB. or EB. In Israel the regular observance of Maẓ ?ẓ ?oth is to serve the same purpose as such a religious mark in other ancient cults: it is to be an outward and visible token of the connexion subsisting between Israel and its God. memorial] This might either be a synonym of ‘sign,’ or denote some sacred badge worn upon the forehead (‘between the eyes,’ as Deuteronomy 14:1). The word is often used of an object employed to preserve a religious relation in remembrance: Exodus 28:12; Exodus 28:29, Exodus 30:16, Numbers 10:10; Numbers 16:40 (|| ‘sign,’ v. 38), Isaiah 57:8. in thy mouth] that thou mayest be ever talking of it (cf. for the thought Deuteronomy 6:7; Deuteronomy 11:19, Joshua 1:8 [D2[136]]). The passage cannot refer simply to vv. 6, 7, but must have been written at a time when a considerable body of ‘Jehovah’s law,’ or ‘direction’ (see p. 161 f.), existed. [136] Deuteronomic passages in Josh., Jud., Kings.for &c.] and consequently has the strongest claims upon thy obedience.

Hebrew writers have generally regarded this as a formal injunction to write the precepts on slips of parchment, and to fasten them on the wrists and forehead; but other commentators are generally

9, 10. Moses here repeats to Israel the ordinance concerning the feast of unleavened bread. See notes on Exodus 12:8; Exodus 12:15-20.