Shemot 13:9

9 And it shall be for an ot (sign) unto thee upon thine yad, and for a zikaron (reminder) between thine eyes, in order that the torat Hashem may be in thy mouth; because with a yad chazakah hath Hashem brought thee out of Mitzrayim.

Shemot 13:9 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 13:9

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 ( Proverbs 1:9 ) ( 3:3 ) , 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 Gill on Matthew 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 Gill on Exodus 13:3).

Shemot 13:9 In-Context

7 Matzot shall be eaten shivat hayamim; and there shall no chametz be seen with thee, neither shall there be se’or seen with thee within all thy borders.
8 And thou shalt show thy ben in that day, saying, This is because of what Hashem did for me when I came forth out of Mitzrayim.
9 And it shall be for an ot (sign) unto thee upon thine yad, and for a zikaron (reminder) between thine eyes, in order that the torat Hashem may be in thy mouth; because with a yad chazakah hath Hashem brought thee out of Mitzrayim.
10 Thou shalt therefore be shomer over this chukkah in its mo’ed (season, fixed time) perpetually.
11 And it shall be when Hashem shall bring thee into the land of the Kena’ani, as He swore unto thee and to thy avot, and shall give it thee,
The Orthodox Jewish Bible fourth edition, OJB. Copyright 2002,2003,2008,2010, 2011 by Artists for Israel International. All rights reserved.