Deuteronomy 6:9

9 1You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

Deuteronomy 6:9 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 6:9

And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thine house, and on
thy gates.
] To put them in mind of them when they went out and came in, that they might be careful to observe them; this the Jews take literally also, and write in a scroll of parchment this section with some passages; and, as the Targum of Jonathan here, fix them in three places, over against the bed chamber, upon the posts of the house, and on the gate at the right hand of it; and this is what they call the Mezuzah; and the account given of it is this. In a parchment prepared for the purpose, they write the words in ( Deuteronomy 6:4-9 ) ( 11:13-20 ) and then roll up the parchment, and write on it "Shaddai"; and put it either into a cane (or reed), or else into a like hollow piece of wood, and so fasten it to the wall on the posts of the door at the right hand of entrance; and thus, as often as they go in and out, they make it a part of their devotion to touch this parchment, and kiss it F20.


FOOTNOTES:

F20 Buxtorf. Synag. Jud. c. 31. p. 582 Leo Modena's History of the Rites and Customs of the Jews, par. 1. c. 2. p. 5, 6.

Deuteronomy 6:9 In-Context

7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.
8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.
9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
10 "And when the LORD your God brings you into the land that he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you--with great and good cities that you did not build,
11 and houses full of all good things that you did not fill, and cisterns that you did not dig, and vineyards and olive trees that you did not plant--and when you eat and are full,

Cross References 1

  • 1. Deuteronomy 11:20; [Isaiah 57:8]
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