Phylacteries
This Service
העבדה הזאת
Ha-avodah Ha-zot
Gd commands his people to:
1) remember the day of their deliverance from Egypt and
2) keep the service of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
Ex. 13:3-8 And Moses said unto the people, Remember this day, in which ye came out from Egypt, out of the house of bondage; for by strength of hand the Lrd brought you out from this place: there shall no leavened bread be eaten. This day ye go forth in the month Abib. And it shall be, when the Lrd shall bring thee into the land of the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Amorite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite, which he sware unto thy fathers to give thee, a land flowing with milk and honey, that thou shalt keep this service in this month. Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, and in the seventh day shall be a feast to the Lrd. Unleavened bread shall be eaten throughout the seven days; and there shall no leavened bread be seen with thee, neither shall there be leaven seen with thee, in all thy borders. And thou shalt tell thy son in that day, saying, It is because of that which the Lrd did for me when I came forth out of Egypt.
Because he brought them out of Egypt with a strong hand, Gd commands his people to put this service on their hand so that they will:
1) remember their deliverance from Egypt and
2) speak about his Law,
Ex. 13:9-10 And it shall be for a sign unto thee upon thy hand, and for a remembrance between thine eyes, that the law of the Lrd may be in thy mouth: for with a strong hand hath the Lrd brought thee out of Egypt. Thou shalt therefore keep this ordinance in its season from year to year.
Gd commands his people to:
1) sacrifice their firstborn male animals and
2) redeem their firstborn sons.
Ex. 13:11-15 And it shall be, when the Lrd shall bring thee into the land of the Canaanite, as he sware unto thee and to thy fathers, and shall give it thee, that thou shalt set apart unto the Lrd all that openeth the womb, and every firstling which thou hast that cometh of a beast; the males shall be the Lrd’s. And every firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb; and if thou wilt not redeem it, then thou shalt break its neck: and all the first-born of man among thy sons shalt thou redeem. And it shall be, when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, What is this? that thou shalt say unto him, By strength of hand the Lrd brought us out from Egypt, from the house of bondage: and it came to pass, when Pharaoh would hardly let us go, that the Lrd slew all the first-born in the land of Egypt, both the first-born of man, and the first-born of beast: therefore I sacrifice to the Lrd all that openeth the womb, being males; but all the first-born of my sons I redeem.
Gd commands his people to put this service on their hand because Gd brought them out of Egypt with a strong hand.
Ex. 13:16 And it shall be for a sign upon thy hand, and unmovable before thine eyes: for by strength of hand the Lrd brought us forth out of Egypt.
These Words
הדברים האלה
Ha-dvarim Ha-eyleh
Gd commands his people to bind these words on their hand.
Deut. 6:6-9 And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be upon thy heart; and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thy house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thy hand, and they shall be unmovable before thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the door-posts of thy house, and upon thy gates.
Deut. 11:18 Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul; and ye shall bind them for a sign upon your hand, and they shall be unmovable before your eyes.
Phylacteries
The ancient Jews called what they bound upon their hand “phylacteries.”
Jsus accused the Pharisees of making their phylacteries wider.
Jsus never hesitated to accuse the Pharisees when they were adding to Gd’s commandments.
However, Jsus did not accuse the Pharisees for wearing phylacteries, but he accused them that they made them wider so that they would be seen by others.
If wearing phylacteries was a false interpretation of Moses, then Jsus would have accused the Pharisees for the act of wearing phylacteries, not just for making them wider.
Matt. 23:1-5 Then spake Jsus to the multitudes and to his disciples, saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat: all things therefore whatsoever they bid you, these do and observe: but do not ye after their works; for they say, and do not. Yea, they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with their finger. But all their works they do to be seen of men: for they make their phylacteries wider, and they enlarge their tassels.
Sign Upon Hand Before Christianity
Hundreds of years before Jsus, the ancient Jews obeyed the command to bind the sign upon their hands.
Letter of Aristeas (3rd-2nd century BC) And indeed upon our garments he has given us a symbol of remembrance, and also likewise he has ordered us to put the divine oracles upon our gates and doors as a remembrance of Gd. And also he explicitly commands the sign to be fastened upon our hands.
Modern-day Jews place a box upon their arm and also their forehead only during prayer. However, Gd did not command the sign on the hand to only be worn during prayer.
The sign was placed on the hand because Gd brought them out of Egypt with a strong hand.
A person wearing a box on their forehead is not able to see the box and therefore be called into remembrance.
The Letter of Aristeas above only mentions that the ancient Jews wore the sign upon their hand, not their forehead.
The Hebrew Masoretic text reads “they shall be for frontlets between your eyes,” but the Greek Septuagint translates the text as “they shall be unmovable before your eyes.”
The Hebrew word “frontlets” only occurs in these verses.
The Greek Septuagint may also be translated, “they shall be for an unmovable thing before your eyes.”
The Hebrew Masoretic text likely retains the original Hebrew words. However, the Greek Septuagint provides ancient Jewish insight into the meaning of the uncommon Hebrew word for “frontlets.”
The first command in Exodus 13:9 does not mention “frontlets” but says in the Hebrew text that “they shall be for a remembrance between your eyes.”
The Greek Septuagint translates this verse as “they shall be for a remembrance before your eyes.”