Deuteronomy 6:9

9 And ye shall write them on the lintels of your houses and of 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.

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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 And thou shalt teach them to thy children, and thou shalt speak of them sitting in the house, and walking by the way, and lying down, and rising up.

8 And thou shalt fasten them for a sign upon thy hand, and it shall be immoveable before thine eyes.

9 And ye shall write them on the lintels of your houses and of your gates.

10 And it shall come to pass when the Lord thy God shall have brought thee into the land which he sware to thy fathers, to Abraam, and to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give thee great and beautiful cities which thou didst not build,

11 houses full of all good things which thou didst not fill, wells dug in the rock which thou didst not dig, vineyards and oliveyards which thou didst not plant, then having eaten and been filled,