And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes.
Parallel translations
- WEB You shall bind them for a sign on your hand, and they shall be for frontlets between your eyes.
- BSB Tie them as reminders on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.
- NKJV You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.
- NASB You shall also tie them as a sign to your hand, and they shall be as frontlets on your forehead.
- NLT Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Israel is to bind God's words on hand and forehead as a constant reminder. God's word should govern thought and action.
Overview
The command to bind the words on hand and between the eyes calls for God's word to direct one's deeds and mind. Jews later observed this literally with phylacteries, while many read it as vivid imagery for total devotion. Either way, the point is that God's word should pervade the whole life, a devotion fulfilled in hearts captive to Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Prov 6:21Bind them continually upon thine heart, and tie them about thy neck.
- Deut 11:18Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes.
- Prov 3:3Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart:
- Prov 7:3Bind them upon thy fingers, write them upon the table of thine heart.
- Exod 13:9And it shall be for a sign unto thee upon thine hand, and for a memorial between thine eyes, that the LORD’s law may be in thy mouth: for with a strong hand hath the LORD brought thee out of Egypt.
- Num 15:38–39Speak unto the children of Israel, and bid them that they make them fringes in the borders of their garments throughout their generations, and that they put upon the fringe of the borders a ribband of blue:
- Exod 13:16And it shall be for a token upon thine hand, and for frontlets between thine eyes: for by strength of hand the LORD brought us forth out of Egypt.
- Matt 23:5But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments,
- Heb 2:1Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Moses promised a Prophet like himself to whom Israel must listen (18:15); Jesus is that Prophet, the one who keeps the covenant we broke and becomes the curse for us by hanging on a tree (Gal 3:13).
How Deuteronomy 6:8 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.