Deuteronomy 6:6-9

Deuteronomy 6:6-9

[6] And these words,  which I command  thee this day,  shall be in thine heart:  [7] And thou shalt teach them diligently  unto thy children,  and shalt talk  of them when thou sittest  in thine house,  by the way,  and when thou liest down,  and when thou risest up.  [8] And thou shalt bind  them for a sign  upon thine hand,  and they shall be as frontlets  between thine eyes.  [9] And thou shalt write  them upon the posts  of thy house,  and on thy gates. 

What does Deuteronomy 6:6-9 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

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." [1]
"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, Deuteronomy 30:2). Can they learn afresh what it means to love the Lord wholeheartedly?" [2]
Note the emphasis in Deuteronomy 6:6-9 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 (Heb. tefillin; Gr. phulakterion, phylacteries) and on their doorframes (Heb. mezuzot, mezuzahs) was commendable. The Lord Jesus later condemned their pride in these physical objects and their reliance on them to produce godliness ( Matthew 23:5), not their use of them.
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; Deuteronomy 11:13-21 and the name Shaddai appear on these papers as a sign and reminder of their faith. In addition, sometimes Jews place the Decalogue and or Exodus 13:1-16 and or Numbers 10:35-36 in these holders. They call the scroll and its holder a mezuzah (lit. doorpost).
The fact that God commanded the Israelites to "write" ( Deuteronomy 6:9) 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." [3]
Israel"s king was to write his own copy of the Torah, but at this time most kings in the ancient Near East were virtually illiterate. [4] Thus there seems to have been a higher level of literacy in Israel compared to her neighbor nations.