Deuteronomy 6:8

8 Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them be a symbol^[a] on your forehead.^{[b] [c]}

Deuteronomy 6:8 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 6:8

And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand
As a man ties anything to his hand for a token, that he may remember somewhat he is desirous of; though the Jews understand this literally, of binding a scroll of parchment, with this section and others written in it, upon their left hand, as the Targum of Jonathan here interprets the hand:

and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes;
and which the same Targum interprets of the Tephilim, or phylacteries, which the Jews wear upon their foreheads, and on their arms, and so Jarchi; of which (See Gill on Matthew 23:5).

Deuteronomy 6:8 In-Context

6 These words that I am giving you today are to be in your heart.

7 Repeat them to your children. Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.

8 Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them be a symbol on your forehead.

9 Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

10 "When the Lord your God brings you into the land He swore to your fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that He would give you-a [land with] large and beautiful cities that you did not build,

Footnotes

• [a]. Or phylactery; Mt 23:5
• [b]. Lit symbol between your eyes
• [c]. Dt 11:18; Ex 13:16