Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 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.
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. Pro 1:9; Pro 3:3; Pro 6:21; Pro 7:3): on Deu 6:8; Deu 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. 871 b ): cf. Hdt. ii. 113 ( on a person taking asylum, as a mark of dedication to the deity), 1Ki 20:41, Lucian, de Dea Syria, 59 ( on the neck and wrists of the priests), 3Ma 2:29 ; and expressions suggested by the same custom in Isa 44:5 (RVm.), Isa 49:16 a, Eze 9:4; Eze 9:6 (hence Psalms of Sol. 15:8, 10), Gal 6:7 ( ), Rev 7:3 f., Exo 13:16 f.: see further Cuttings in the Flesh (Lev 19:28; Lev 21:5) in DB. or EB. In Israel the regular observance of Maoth 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 Deu 14:1). The word is often used of an object employed to preserve a religious relation in remembrance: Exo 28:12; Exo 28:29, Exo 30:16, Num 10:10; Num 16:40 (|| ‘sign,’ v. 38), Isa 57:8.
in thy mouth ] that thou mayest be ever talking of it (cf. for the thought Deu 6:7; Deu 11:19, Jos 1:8 [D 2 [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.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
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 agreed that it is to be understood metaphorically. The words appear to be put into the mouths of the parents. They were to keep all the facts of the Passover constantly in mind, and, referring to a custom prevalent ages before Moses in Egypt, to have them present as though they were inscribed on papyrus or parchment fastened on the wrists, or on the face between the eyes. If, as may be inferred from Deu 6:7-8, Moses adopted this custom, he would take care to warn the people against the Egyptian superstition of amulets. Modern Israelites generally allege this precept as a justification for the use of phylacteries.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 9. And it shall be for a sign – upon thine hand] This direction, repeated and enlarged Ex 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 Ex 13:2-10 inclusive. And it shall be, when the Lord shall bring thee into the land, Exod. xiii., from verse 11 to 16 Ex 13:11-16 inclusive. Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord, Deut. vi., from verse 4 to 9 De 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, De 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 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. This was the original design, as the institution itself sufficiently proves.
2. To procure reverence and respect in the sight of the heathen. This reason is given in the Gemara, Berachoth, chap. i: “Whence is it proved that the phylacteries or tephillin are the strength of Israel? Ans. From what is written, De 28:10: All the people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the LORD ( Yehovah) and they shall be afraid of thee.”
3. They used them as amulets or charms, to drive away evil spirits. This appears from the Targum on Canticles viii. 3 Son 8:3: His left hand is under my head, c. “The congregation of Israel hath said, I am elect above all people, because I bind my phylacteries on my left hand and on my head, and the scroll is fixed to the right side of my gate, the third part of which looks to my bed-chamber, that demons may not be permitted to injure me.
One of the original phylacteries or tephillin now lies before me it is a piece of fine vellum, about eighteen inches long, and an inch and quarter broad. It is divided into four unequal compartments; the letters are very well formed, but written with many apices, after the manner of the German Jews. In the first compartment is written the portion taken from Ex 13:2-10; in the second, Ex 13:11-16; in the third, De 6:4-9; in the fourth, De 11:13-21, as before related. This had originally served for the hand or arm.
These passages seem to be chosen in vindication of the use of the phylactery itself, as the reader may see on consulting them at large. Bind them for a SIGN upon thy HAND; and for FRONTLETS between thy EYES; write them upon the POSTS of thy HOUSE and upon thy GATES; all which commands the Jews take in the most literal sense. To acquire the reputation of extraordinary sanctity they wore the fringes of their garments of an uncommon length. Moses had commanded them, Nu 15:38-39, to put fringes to the borders of their garments, that when they looked upon even these distinct threads they might remember, not only the law in general but also the very minutiae or smaller parts of all the precepts, rites, and ceremonies belonging to it. As those hypocrites (for such our Lord proves them to be) were destitute of all the life and power of religion within, they endeavoured to supply its place with phylacteries and fringes without. The same principles distinguish hypocrites every where, and multitudes of them may be found among those termed Christians as well as among the Jews. It is probably to this institution relative to the phylactery that the words, Re 14:1, allude: And I looked, and, lo, a hundred and forty-four thousand having his Father’s name written on their foreheads. “That is,” says Mr. Ainsworth, “as a sign of the profession of God’s law; for that which in the Gospel is called his NAME, (Mt 12:21,) in the prophets is called his LAW, (Isa 42:4).” So again antichrist exacts the obedience to his precepts by a mark on men’s right hands or on their foreheads, Re 13:16.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
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 Son 8:6; Isa 49:16; Jer 22:24; Hag 2:23.
A memorial between thine eyes; instead of any monument or memorial, which is placed between, and therefore directly before a mans 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 Deu 6:8; Pro 3:3; 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 Gods law to be kept in their mouths, because it follows,
that the Lords 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.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
9. it shall be for a sign unto theeupon thine hand, &c.There is no reason to believe that theOriental tattooingthe custom of staining the hands with the powderof Hennah, as Eastern females now dois here referred to. Nor is itprobable that either this practice or the phylacteries of thePhariseesparchment scrolls, which were worn on their wrists andforeheadshad so early an existence. The words are to be consideredonly as a figurative mode of expression.
that the Lord’s law may be inthy mouth, &c.that is, that it may be the subject offrequent conversation and familiar knowledge among the people.
Ex13:11-16. FIRSTLINGS OFBEASTS.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
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 his son, telling him that this feast of unleavened bread would serve the same purpose to refresh his memory with what God did for his people of old, as the tying of a thing on the hand, or placing it before the eye, is to a person to bring anything to his remembrance, to which the allusion is; the like figurative phrases may be observed in Pr 1:9, the Jews understand this literally, and hence the use of phylacteries among them, which they bind upon their left hand, and place upon their foreheads between their eyes, of which
[See comments on Mt 23:5], but such a practice could be of no use to answer the end next mentioned:
that the Lord’s law may be in thy mouth; for surely this cannot be taken literally, but the sense is, that being instructed by the observance of the above feast, and being taught the meaning of it, they might be able to speak of it to their children, and so transmit it from age to age to their latest posterity:
for with a strong hand hath the Lord brought thee out of Egypt;
[See comments on Ex 13:3].
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(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 Deu. 6:8; Deu. 11:18. These phylacteries consist of small strips of parchment, on which are written certain passages from the Lawviz., Exo. 13:2-10; Deu. 6:4-9, and Deu. 11:13-21and 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 (Deu. 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.]
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
9, 10. Moses here repeats to Israel the ordinance concerning the feast of unleavened bread . See notes on Exo 12:8; Exo 12:15-20.
A sign unto thee upon thine hand, and for a memorial between thine eyes In verse sixteen it is said for frontlets between thine eyes That is, This command shall ever be before thee, in thy sight, and in the sight of all men, like the bracelet clasped upon the hand, or the fillet bound about the forehead. The law of Jehovah is to be the perpetual ornament and adornment of Israel. Thus is it to be kept in thy mouth, the constant theme of thought and word. In later and degenerate days, when the law had died out of the heart of Israel, a literal and carnal interpretation was given to this command, and portions of this chapter and of Deuteronomy vi were written out on strips of parchment which were bound by leathern thongs upon the forehead and arm. These were the phylacteries; see illustration in note on Mat 23:5. Thus, as has often been the case, punctilious obedience to the letter of the law totally annulled its spirit .
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Exo_23:13; Exo_23:15
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Exo 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 ] See Trapp on “ Mat 23:5 “
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Exodus
THOUGHT, DEED, WORD
Exo 13:9
The question may be asked, whether this command is to be taken metaphorically or literally. No doubt the remembrance of the great deliverance was intrusted to acts. Besides the annual Passover feasts, inscriptions on the door-posts and fringes on the dress were appointed for this purpose. And the Jews from a very early period, certainly before our Lord’s time, wore phylacteries fastened, as this and other places prescribe, on the left arm and on the forehead, and alleged these words as the commandment which they therein obeyed. But it seems more probable that the meaning is metaphorical, and that what is enjoined is rather a constant remembrance of the great deliverance, and a constant regulation of the practical life by it. For what is it that is to be ‘a sign’? It is the Passover feast. And the ‘therefore’ of the next verse seems to say that keeping this ordinance in its season is the fulfilment of this precept. Besides, the expression ‘for a sign,’ ‘for a memorial,’ may just as well mean ‘it shall serve as,’ or ‘it shall be like,’ as ‘you shall wear.’ So I think we must say that this is a figure, not a fact; the enjoining of an object for thought and a motive for life, not of a formal observance. And it is very characteristic of the Jew, and of the universal tendency to harden and lower religion into outward rites, that a command so wide and profound was supposed to be kept by fastening little boxes with four slips of parchment containing extracts from the Pentateuch on arm and forehead. Jewish rabbis are not the only people who treat God’s law like that. Even if literal, the injunction is for the purpose of remembering. Taking that meaning, then, the text sets forth principles that apply quite as much to us. You will observe ‘hand,’ ‘eyes,’ ‘mouth’; the symbols of practice, knowledge, expression; work, thought, and word. Observe also that there is a slight change in construction in the three clauses; the two former are to be done in order that the latter may come to pass. Then the memorial of the great deliverance is to be ‘on the hand’ and ‘before the eyes,’ in order that ‘the Lord’s law’ may be ‘in the mouth.’ Keeping these points in view-
I. God’s great deliverance should be constantly before our thoughts.
Notice the peculiarity of both the Jewish and the Christian rite, that the centre point of both is a historical fact, a redeeming act. Judaism and Christianity are the only religions in regard to which this is true to anything like the same extent or in the same way. Christianity as a revelation is not so much the utterance in words of great religious thoughts as the history of a life and a death, a fact wrought upon the earth, which is at once the means of revelation and the means of redemption. This is a feature unshared by other religions.
This characteristic determines the principal object of our religious thought. The true object for religious thought is Christ, and His life and death.
All religious truth flows from and is wrapped up in that: e.g. theology, or the nature of God; anthropology, or the nature of man; soteriology, morality, etc. All truth for the individual and for the race has its source in God’s great redeeming act. Religious emotion is best fed at this source, e.g. thankfulness, wonder, love: all these transcendent feelings which are melted together in adoration. Here is where they are kindled. You cannot pump them up, or bring them into existence by willing, or scourge yourself into them, any more than you can make a seed grow by pulling at the germ with a pair of pincers, but this gives the warmth and moisture which make it germinate.
The clear perception of this truth is valuable, as correcting false tendencies in religion, e.g. the tendency to be much occupied with the derived truths, and to think of them almost to the exclusion of the great fact from which they come; the tendency to substitute melancholy self-inspection for objective facts; the tendency to run out into mere feeling.
The command requires of us a habitual occupation of mind with the great deliverance.
And the habitual presence of this thought will be best secured by specific times of occupation with it. Let every Christian practise the habit of meditation, which in an age of so many books, newspapers, and the distractions of our busy modern life, is apt to become obsolete.
II. The great deliverance is to be ever present in practical life.
How it is fitted to do so.
a It gives the law for all our activity.
The pattern. The death as well as the life of Christ teaches us what we ought to be.
The motive. He died for me! Shall I not serve Him who redeemed me?
b That remembered deliverance arms us against temptations, and lifts us above sinking into sin.
How blessed such a life would be! How victorious over the small motives that rule one’s life, the deadening influence of routine, the duties that are felt to be overwhelmingly great and those that are felt to be wearisomely and monotonously small! How this unity of motive would give unity to life and simplify its problems! How it would free us from many a perplexity! There are so many things that seem doubtful because we do not bring the test of the highest motive to bear on them. Complications would fall away when we only wished to know and be like Christ. Many a tempting amusement, or occupation, or speculation would start up in its own shape when this Ithuriel spear touched it. How it would save from distractions! How strong it would make us, like a belt round the waist bracing the muscles tighter! ‘This one thing I do’ is always a strengthening principle.
How far is this possible? Not absolutely, but we may approximate very closely and indefinitely towards it. For there is the possibility of such thought blending with common motives, like a finer perfume in the scentless air, or some richer elixir in a cup. There is the possibility of its doing to other motives what light does to landscape when a sudden sunbeam gleams across the plain, and everything leaps into increased depth of colour. Let us try more and more to rescue life from the slavery of habit and the distractions of all these smaller forces, and to bring it into the greatness and power of submission to the dominion of this sovereign, unifying motive. Our lives would thus be greatened and strengthened, even as Germany and Italy have been, by being delivered from a rabble of petty dukes and brought under the sway of one emperor or king. Let us try to approach nearer and nearer to the fusion of action and contemplation, and to the blending with all other motives of this supreme one.
This command supplies us with an easily applied and effective test. Is there any place where you cannot take it, any act which you feel it would be impossible to do for His sake? Avoid such. Where the safety-lamp burns blue and goes out, is no place for you.
It is a beautiful thought that Jesus does for us what we are thus commanded to do for Him. The high priest bore the names of the tribes on his shoulders and in his heart. ‘I have graven thee on the palms of my hands.’ We bear Him in our hands and in our hearts. ‘I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.’
III. The great deliverance is to be ever on our lips.
1. The purpose of the deliverance is to make ‘prophets of His law.’ Such was the divine intention as to Israel. Such is God’s purpose as to all Christians. The very meaning of redemption is there. He has ‘opened our lips’ that we ‘should show forth His praise.’ He has regard to ‘His own name.’ He desires to make us vocal, for the same purpose for which a man strings a harp, to bring sweet music out of it. Words of testimony are a form of love.
2. The other two are incomplete without this vocal testimony.
3. The utterance of the lips, to be worth anything, must rest on and follow the other two. How noble, then, and blessed, how strong and calm and simple our lives would be, if we had this for the one great object of our thoughts, of our practical endeavour, of our words, if all our being was sustained, impelled, made vocal, by one thought, one love!
O my brother, see to it that you give yourself to Him. That great Light will gladden your eyes, will guide your activity, and, like the sunrise striking Memnon’s voiceless, stony lips, will bring music. Thought will have one boundless home of ‘many mansions.’ Work will have one law, one motive, its consecration and strength; and as in some solemn procession, all our steps and all our movements will keep time to the music of our praise to ‘Him who loved us.’
Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren
a sign: This expression, says Michaelis, alludes to the custom of the Orientals, of burning in their right hand all kinds of marks with the ashes of henna, which gives an indelible colour; and this is done even to this day. They were likewise accustomed to write all kinds of sayings, and frequently superstitious words, on slips or pieces of linen, which they wore as ornaments on their foreheads. Exo 13:16, Exo 12:14, Num 15:39, Deu 6:6, Deu 6:8, Deu 11:18, Deu 11:19, Pro 1:9, Pro 3:21, Pro 6:20-23, Pro 7:23, Son 8:6, Isa 49:16, Jer 22:24, Mat 23:5
may be: Deu 30:14, Jos 1:8, Isa 59:21, Rom 10:8
strong hand: Exo 13:3, Exo 6:1-30, Jos 1:9, Neh 1:10, Psa 89:13, Isa 27:1, Isa 40:10, Isa 51:9, Joe 2:11, Rev 18:8
Reciprocal: Exo 10:2 – And that Exo 12:26 – your children Exo 14:8 – with an high hand Exo 17:14 – memorial Exo 28:12 – for a memorial Lev 24:7 – a memorial Deu 4:9 – teach them Deu 4:37 – and brought Jos 4:6 – a sign Est 9:28 – the memorial Psa 74:9 – We see Psa 78:42 – remembered Psa 81:5 – for a Psa 105:2 – talk ye Pro 3:3 – bind Jer 32:21 – with a strong Luk 8:38 – saying Rev 13:16 – or
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Exo 13:9. Upon thy hand, between thine eyes Proverbial expressions, denoting that these things were never to be out of their minds. The Jews, however, understood this literally, and hence the use of phylacteries among them, pieces of parchment inscribed with sentences of their law, which they bound upon their left hand, and placed upon their foreheads between their eyes.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
13:9 And it shall be for a sign unto thee {f} 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.
(f) You will constantly remember it, as you would of a thing that is in your hand, or before your eyes.