Proverbs 6:21

6:21 Bind them ¹  on your heart continually;

fasten them around your neck.

Proverbs 7:3

7:3 Bind them on your forearm; ² 

write them on the tablet of your heart. ³ 

Exodus 13:9

13:9 ⁴  It ⁵  will be a sign ⁶  for you on your hand and a memorial ⁷  on your forehead, ⁸  so that the law of the Lord may be ⁹  in your mouth, ¹⁰  for ¹¹  with a mighty hand the Lord brought you out of Egypt.

Deuteronomy 6:8

6:8 You should tie them as a reminder on your forearm ¹²  and fasten them as symbols ¹³  on your forehead.

Deuteronomy 11:18-21

11:18 Fix these words of mine into your mind and being, ¹⁴  and tie them as a reminder on your hands and let them be symbols ¹⁵  on your forehead. 11:19 Teach them to your children and speak of them as you sit in your house, as you walk along the road, ¹⁶  as you lie down, and as you get up. 11:20 Inscribe them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates 11:21 so that your days and those of your descendants may be extended in the land which the Lord promised to give to your ancestors, like the days of heaven itself. ¹⁷ 

Psalms 119:11

119:11 In my heart I store up ¹⁸  your words, ¹⁹ 

so I might not sin against you.

[6:21]  ¹ sn The figures used here are hypocatastases (implied comparisons). There may also be an allusion to Deut 6 where the people were told to bind the law on their foreheads and arms. The point here is that the disciple will never be without these instructions. See further, P. W. Skehan, Studies in Israelite Poetry and Wisdom (CBQMS), 1-8.

[7:3]  ² tn Heb “fingers” (so KJV and many other English versions). In light of Deut 6:8, “fingers” appears to be a metonymy for the lower part of the arm.

[7:3]  ³ sn This is an allusion to Deut 6:8. Binding the teachings on the fingers and writing them on the tablets here are implied comparisons for preserving the teaching in memory so that it can be recalled and used with ease.

[13:9]  ⁴ sn This passage has, of course, been taken literally by many devout Jews, and portions of the text have been encased in phylacteries and bound on the arm and forehead. B. Jacob (Exodus, 368), weighing the pros and cons of the literal or the figurative meaning, says that those who took it literally should not be looked down on for their symbolic work. In many cases, he continues, it is the spirit that kills and the letter makes alive – because people who argue against a literal usage do so to excuse lack of action. This is a rather interesting twist in the discussion. The point of the teaching was obviously meant to keep the Law of Yahweh in the minds of the people, to remind them of their duties.

[13:9]  ⁵ tn That is, this ceremony.

[13:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “for a sign.”

[13:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “for a memorial.”

[13:9]  ⁸ tn Heb “between your eyes” (KJV and ASV both similar); the same expression occurs in v. 16.

[13:9]  ⁹ tn The purpose of using this ceremony as a sign and a memorial is that the Law might be in their mouth. The imperfect tense, then, receives the classification of final imperfect in the purpose clause.

[13:9]  ¹⁰ sn “Mouth” is a metonymy of cause; the point is that they should be ever talking about the Law as their guide as they go about their duties (see Deut 6:7; 11:19; Josh 1:8).

[13:9]  ¹¹ tn This causal clause gives the reason for what has just been instructed. Because Yahweh delivered them from bondage, he has the strongest claims on their life.

[6:8]  ¹² sn Tie them as a sign on your forearm. Later Jewish tradition referred to the little leather containers tied to the forearms and foreheads as tefillin. They were to contain the following passages from the Torah: Exod 13:1-10, 11-16; Deut 6:5-9; 11:13-21. The purpose was to serve as a “sign” of covenant relationship and obedience.

[6:8]  ¹³ sn Fasten them as symbols on your forehead. These were also known later as tefillin (see previous note) or phylacteries (from the Greek term). These box-like containers, like those on the forearms, held the same scraps of the Torah. It was the hypocritical practice of wearing these without heartfelt sincerity that caused Jesus to speak scathingly about them (cf. Matt 23:5).

[11:18]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “heart and soul” or “heart and being.” See note on the word “being” in Deut 6:5.

[11:18]  ¹⁵ tn On the Hebrew term טוֹטָפֹת (totafot, “reminders”), cf. Deut 6:4-9.

[11:19]  ¹⁶ tn Or “as you are away on a journey” (cf. NRSV, TEV, NLT); NAB “at home and abroad.”

[11:21]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “like the days of the heavens upon the earth,” that is, forever.

[119:11]  ¹⁸ tn Or “hide.”

[119:11]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “your word.” Some medieval Hebrew mss as well as the LXX read the plural, “your words.”