De 6:1-25.
MOSES
EXHORTS
ISRAEL TO
HEAR
GOD AND TO
KEEP
HIS
COMMANDMENTS.
1-9. Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments,
which the Lord your God commanded to teach you, that ye might do
them . . . whither ye go to possess it--The grand design of all the
institutions prescribed to Israel was to form a religious people, whose
national character should be distinguished by that fear of the Lord
their God which would ensure their divine observance of His worship and
their steadfast obedience to His will. The basis of their religion was
an acknowledgment of the unity of God with the understanding and the
love of God in the heart
(De 6:4, 5).
Compared with the religious creed of all their contemporaries, how
sound in principle, how elevated in character, how unlimited in the
extent of its moral influence on the heart and habits of the people!
Indeed, it is precisely the same basis on which rests the purer and
more spiritual form of it which Christianity exhibits
(Mt 22:37;
Mr 12:30;
Lu 10:27).
Moreover, to help in keeping a sense of religion in their minds, it was
commanded that its great principles should be carried about with them
wherever they went, as well as meet their eyes every time they entered
their homes. A further provision was made for the earnest inculcation
of them on the minds of the young by a system of parental training,
which was designed to associate religion with all the most familiar and
oft-recurring scenes of domestic life. It is probable that Moses used
the phraseology in
De 6:7
merely in a figurative way, to signify assiduous, earnest, and frequent
instruction; and perhaps he meant the metaphorical language in
De 6:8
to be taken in the same sense also. But as the Israelites interpreted
it literally, many writers suppose that a reference was made to a
superstitious custom borrowed from the Egyptians, who wore jewels and
ornamental trinkets on the forehead and arm, inscribed with certain
words and sentences, as amulets to protect them from danger. These, it
has been conjectured, Moses intended to supersede by substituting
sentences of the law; and so the Hebrews understood him, for they have
always considered the wearing of the Tephilim, or frontlets, a
permanent obligation. The form was as follows: Four pieces of
parchment, inscribed, the first with
Ex 13:2-10;
the second with
Ex 13:11-16;
the third with
De 6:1-8;
and the fourth with
De 11:18-21,
were enclosed in a square case or box of tough skin, on the side of
which was placed the Hebrew letter (shin), and bound round the
forehead with a thong or ribbon. When designed for the arms, those four
texts were written on one slip of parchment, which, as well as the ink,
was carefully prepared for the purpose. With regard to the other usage
supposed to be alluded to, the ancient Egyptians had the lintels and
imposts of their doors and gates inscribed with sentences indicative of
a favorable omen [WILKINSON]; and this is still
the case, for in Egypt and other Mohammedan countries, the front doors
of houses (in Cairo, for instance) are painted red, white, and green,
bearing conspicuously inscribed upon them such sentences from the
Koran, as "God is the Creator," "God is one, and Mohammed is his
prophet." Moses designed to turn this ancient and favorite custom to a
better account and ordered that, instead of the former superstitious
inscriptions, there should be written the words of God, persuading and
enjoining the people to hold the laws in perpetual remembrance.
20-25. when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying--The
directions given for the instruction of their children form only an
extension of the preceding counsels.
Deuteronomy 6 Bible Commentary
Jamieson, Faussett, and Brown
De 6:1-25. MOSES EXHORTS ISRAEL TO HEAR GOD AND TO KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS.
1-9. Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments, which the Lord your God commanded to teach you, that ye might do them . . . whither ye go to possess it--The grand design of all the institutions prescribed to Israel was to form a religious people, whose national character should be distinguished by that fear of the Lord their God which would ensure their divine observance of His worship and their steadfast obedience to His will. The basis of their religion was an acknowledgment of the unity of God with the understanding and the love of God in the heart (De 6:4, 5). Compared with the religious creed of all their contemporaries, how sound in principle, how elevated in character, how unlimited in the extent of its moral influence on the heart and habits of the people! Indeed, it is precisely the same basis on which rests the purer and more spiritual form of it which Christianity exhibits (Mt 22:37; Mr 12:30; Lu 10:27). Moreover, to help in keeping a sense of religion in their minds, it was commanded that its great principles should be carried about with them wherever they went, as well as meet their eyes every time they entered their homes. A further provision was made for the earnest inculcation of them on the minds of the young by a system of parental training, which was designed to associate religion with all the most familiar and oft-recurring scenes of domestic life. It is probable that Moses used the phraseology in De 6:7 merely in a figurative way, to signify assiduous, earnest, and frequent instruction; and perhaps he meant the metaphorical language in De 6:8 to be taken in the same sense also. But as the Israelites interpreted it literally, many writers suppose that a reference was made to a superstitious custom borrowed from the Egyptians, who wore jewels and ornamental trinkets on the forehead and arm, inscribed with certain words and sentences, as amulets to protect them from danger. These, it has been conjectured, Moses intended to supersede by substituting sentences of the law; and so the Hebrews understood him, for they have always considered the wearing of the Tephilim, or frontlets, a permanent obligation. The form was as follows: Four pieces of parchment, inscribed, the first with Ex 13:2-10; the second with Ex 13:11-16; the third with De 6:1-8; and the fourth with De 11:18-21, were enclosed in a square case or box of tough skin, on the side of which was placed the Hebrew letter (shin), and bound round the forehead with a thong or ribbon. When designed for the arms, those four texts were written on one slip of parchment, which, as well as the ink, was carefully prepared for the purpose. With regard to the other usage supposed to be alluded to, the ancient Egyptians had the lintels and imposts of their doors and gates inscribed with sentences indicative of a favorable omen [WILKINSON]; and this is still the case, for in Egypt and other Mohammedan countries, the front doors of houses (in Cairo, for instance) are painted red, white, and green, bearing conspicuously inscribed upon them such sentences from the Koran, as "God is the Creator," "God is one, and Mohammed is his prophet." Moses designed to turn this ancient and favorite custom to a better account and ordered that, instead of the former superstitious inscriptions, there should be written the words of God, persuading and enjoining the people to hold the laws in perpetual remembrance.
20-25. when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying--The directions given for the instruction of their children form only an extension of the preceding counsels.