This section contains instructions for remembering and teaching these great truths to the following generations.
"In the psychology of the Old Testament the heart is not the center of emotional life and response but the seat of the intellect or rational side of humankind. To be upon the heart' is to be in one's constant, conscious reflection."106
"The reason for this emphasis on the children is clear. Deuteronomy is always aimed at the next generation. It takes the present (next) generation back to the past and brings the past afresh into the present. The children are now the ones before whom all the choices are laid, and some day their children will be there and the divine instruction will confront them (e.g., 30:2). Can they learn afresh what it means to love the Lord wholeheartedly?"107
Note the emphasis in verses 6-9 on the importance of parents diligently using opportunities, as they arise daily, to equip their children to live dependently on God.
God gave the command in figurative language. The point is that the Israelites were to meditate on these words without ceasing. The fact that they sought to fulfill this command literally with Scripture holders on their bodies (phylacteries) and on their door frames (mezuzahs) was commendable. The Lord Jesus later condemned their pride in these physical objects and their reliance on them to produce godliness (Matt. 23:5).
Observant Jews still often mount little holders on the frames of their front doors into which they place a small parchment scroll. Deuteronomy 6:4-9 and 11:13-21 and the name Shaddai appear on these papers as a sign and reminder of their faith. They call the scroll and its holder a mezuzah (lit. door-post).
The fact that God commanded the Israelites to "write"(v. 9) reveals that literacy was widespread in Israel.
"Ancient Hebrew written documents, recovered by archaeology, demonstrate both that there were readers and writers in ancient Israel, and that they were by no means rare. Few places would have been without someone who could write, and few Israelites could have been unaware of writing."108
