College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
Deuteronomy 6:20-25
3. TEACHING THE LAW (Deuteronomy 6:7-9; Deuteronomy 20-25)
20 When thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, What mean the testimonies, and the statutes, and the ordinances, which Jehovah our God hath commanded you? 21 then thou shalt say unto thy son, We were Pharaoh's bondmen in Egypt: and Jehovah brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand; 22 and Jehovah showed signs and wonders, great and sore, upon Egypt, upon Pharaoh, and upon all his house, before our eyes; 23 and he brought us out from thence, that he might bring us in, to give us the land which he sware unto our fathers. 24 And Jehovah commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear Jehovah our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as at this day. 25 And it shall be righteousness unto us, if we observe to do all this commandment before Jehovah our God, as he hath commanded us.
THOUGHT QUESTIONS 6:20-25
138.
Read Psalms 119:97; Psalms 148 and examine your love for His law.
139.
Why emphasize the deliverance from Egyptian bondage?
140.
What relation did the signs and wonders have to the truthfulness of God's word?
141.
Please notice the purpose of the law of God as stated in Deuteronomy 6:24.
142.
How does Satan use the law of God to slay us? Cf. Romans 7:7-9.
AMPLIFIED TRANSLATION 6:20-25
20 When your son asks you in time to come, What is the meaning of the testimonies and statutes and precepts, which the Lord our God has commanded you?
21 Then you shall say to your son, We were Pharaoh's bondmen in Egypt, and the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand;
22 And the Lord showed signs and wonders, great and evil, against Egypt, against Pharaoh and all his household, before our eyes;
23 And He brought us out from there, that He might bring us in, to give us the land which He swore to give our fathers.
24 And the Lord commanded us to do all these statutes, to (reverently) fear the Lord our God, for our good always, that He might preserve us alive, as at this day.
25 And it will be accounted as righteousness [conformity to God's will in word, thought, and action] for us, if we are watchful to do all this commandment before the Lord our God, as He has commanded us.
COMMENT 6:20-25
ALL THESE WORDS, WHICH I COMMAND THEE THIS DAY, SHALL BE UPON THY HEART (Deuteronomy 6:6) See also Deuteronomy 11:18i.e. shall be the express object of meditation and thought (See Joshua 1:8). David, perhaps more than any other Old Testament character, caught the essence of this command. He could say,
Oh how I love thy law!
It is my meditation all the day.
Mine eyes anticipated the night watches,
That I might meditate on thy word.
And their children were to grow up tutored and continually exhorted from the pages of God's Book:
AND THOU SHALT TEACH THEM DILIGENTLY UNTO THY CHILDREN, AND SHALT TALK OF THEM WHEN THOU SITTEST IN THY HOUSE, AND WHEN THOU WALKEST BY THE WAY, AND WHEN THOU LIEST DOWN, AND WHEN THOU RISEST UP (Deuteronomy 6:7)That is, be teaching and applying the word of God to your children continually. Let them not for a moment forget their responsibility toward the Lord, his word, and his work. Today, it is certainly needful that we have family altarsa time when the family gathers together specifically for prayer, praise, and study. But these words would take us far beyond that phase of teaching. They take us to the daily life of the family! How many hundreds of times throughout a child's life does a parent have opportunity to show him how God's word applies to this case or that, why it teaches this, how it condemns that, how God's work is seen in nature, etc., etc.
I feel compelled, here, to insert the pointed and worthy remarks of Adam Clarke on this important subject;
If a man know the worth of his own soul, he will feel the importance of the salvation of the souls of his family. Those who neglect family religion neglect personal religion; if more attention were paid to the former, even among those called religious people, we should soon have a better state of civil society. On family religion God lays much stress; and no head of a family can neglect it without endangering the final salvation of his own soul. (pp. 747, 748)
A most injurious and destructive maxim has lately [and still is!] advanced by a few individuals. though the authors affect to be thought Christians and rational ones, too; the sum of the maxim is this: -Children ought not to be taught religion for fear of having their minds biased to some particular creed, but they should be left to themselves till they are capable of making a choice, and choose to make one. This maxim is in flat opposition to the command of God, and those who teach it show how little they are affected by the religion they profess. If they felt it to be good for any thing, they would certainly wish their children to possess it; but they do not teach religion to their children because they feel it to be of no use to themselves.. But what can be said to those parents who, possessing a better faith, equally neglect the instruction of their children in the things of God! They are highly criminal; and if their children perish through neglect, which is very probable, what a dreadful account must they give in the great day! PARENTS! Hear what the Lord saith unto you: Ye must diligently teach your children that there is one Lord, Jehovah, Elohim; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost: and that they must love him with all their heart, and with all their soul, and with all their might. And as children are heedless, apt to forget, liable to be carried away by sensible things, repeat and re-peat the instruction, and add line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little, carefully studying time, place, and circumstances, that your labour be not in vain: show it in its amiableness, excite attention by exciting interest; show how good, how useful, how blessed, how ennobling, how glorious it is. Whet these things on their hearts till the keenest edge is raised on the strongest desire, till they can say, Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth I desire besides thee!-' [Psalms 73:25] p. 757.
AND THOU SHALT BIND THEM FOR A SIGN UPON THY HAND, AND THEY SHALL BE FOR FRONTLETS BETWEEN THY EYES. AND THOU SHALT WRITE THEM UPON THE DOOR-POSTS OF THY HOUSE, AND UPON THY GATES (Deuteronomy 6:9-10)That is, every available means must be employed that the law of God might be firmly and indelibly impressed upon the mind. (And note here that adults, and not just children are now being addressed). The word of God was to be continually before themboth in the mind'S eye and the literal eye. Lange, noting that the expressions of this verse are precisely in accordance with oriental usage, states: to bind them upon thy hand is to keep them for a sign for thy conduct, as over to be regarded, and which must determine the manner of action. The brow, between the eyes, represents the chamber of thought, is as the door to the intellectual nature of man. The commandments, as frontlets or browbands, become therefore a badge or confession by which one may be known, and embrace the private life.
SIGN UPON THY HAND (Deuteronomy 6:8)The Hebrew word (OTH) is defined by Gesenius as a sign. [and specifically here] a sign of something past, which serves to keep it in memory, Exodus 13:9; Exodus 13:16; Deuteronomy 6:8. Baumgartner has sign:. reminding token.
FRONTLETS BETWEEN THINE EYES (Deuteronomy 6:8)The Hebrew word TOTAPHOTH signifies bands, fillets (Gesenius); appendage, phylacteries, mark (Baumgartner).
It is the belief of this writer that the two above phrases were not necessarily intended to be literali.e. God did not mean that the scripture should be printed on the hands or inscribed between the eyes. The idea of the command was that they were to be continually reminded of God's law. (Of course, in carrying out the command, it might be necessary to write the law in many places). In Exodus 13:9, with reference to the Passover feast, God said, and it shall be for a sign [Heb. oth]unto thee upon thy hand, and for a memorial [Heb. zikkaron, memorial, reminder, remembrance] between thine eyes, that the law of Jehovah may be in the mouth: for with a strong hand hath Jehovah brought thee out of Egypt. I do not understand this to mean PASSOVER or any other such words were to be printed on the hand or between the eyes, anymore than a parchment containing the law was to be in the mouth. Rather, the feast itself was to be a -memorial firmly planted in the memory. Continuing in Exodus, with reference to the consecration of the first-born, we are told in Deuteronomy 13:16 And it shall be for a sign [Heb., oth]upon thy hand, and for frontlets Heb. [totapheth]between thine eyes: for by strength of hand Jehovah brought us forth out of Egypt. Note how the latter passage is strikingly similar to that above, with the same Hebrew words for sign and frontlets. Thus the fact itself of the word of God being constantly and continually in the mind, heart, and memory, (and, of course, proceeding also from the mouth) causes it to be as it were, a token in the hand and a symbol on the forehead to all who know us.
In process of time, however, the spirit and purpose of the above law was lost in the letter, and even though the word was not in their mouth, nor the law in their heart, they had their phylacteries on their heads and on their hands. And the Pharisees, who in the days of Christ put on a great show of sanctimonious piety, made their phylacteries very broad to be seen of men (Matthew 23:5). The intent and purpose of this law had been totally bypassed for the letter, Reminders (of the kind mentioned here) or otherwise, were in order. But, like the command to have fringes on their garments (Numbers 15:37-41, Deuteronomy 22:12, Cf. Matthew 23:5) as reminders, the Jews degenerated into enlarging them to be seen of men. Such phylacteries as shown below were thus wornfar more elaborate than either the spirit or the letter of this law would endorse.
I.S.B.E. states, It is evident that the words in Exodus are beyond all question, used figuratively; a careful reading of the verses in Deuteronomy in close connection with their contexts [we have the same phrase in Deuteronomy 11:18], in which are other figures of speech not to be taken literally, is sufficient proof of their purely figurative intention also. Only the formalism of later ages could distort these figures into the gross and materialistic practice of the phylactery. Just when this practice began cannot accurately be determined. While the Talmud attempts to trace it back to the primitive, even Mosaic times, it probably did not long antedate the birth of Christ. In conservative Jewish circles it has been maintained through the centuries, and at present is faithfully followed by orthodox Judaism.