Deuteronomy 6:5

Love goes deeper than fear. It is the fulfilling of all law, and includes obedience. Both in the OT. and in the New it is the effect of God's greatest love in redemption. 'We love Him because He first loved us.'

8, 9. Cp. Deuteronomy 11:18. From early times the Jews understood this injunction literally; and in the time of our Lord a great importance was attached to three 'memorials,' or visible reminders of this obligation to keep the Law of Jehovah. One was the 'zizith' or 'fringe' which was worn on the corners of the outer garment: see on Numbers 15:37. The others were the 'tephillin' and the 'mezuza,' the use of which was founded on this passage of Deuteronomy. The 'tephillin' were two small boxes, about a cubic in. in size, containing each a piece of parchment, on which were written in a special form of handwriting the four passages, Exodus 13:1; Exodus 13:11; Deuteronomy 6:4; Deuteronomy 11:13. One was fastened inside the left forearm and the other on the forehead, to be a sign upon the hand and a frontlet between the eyes. They were worn at prayer on week days, and sometimes enlarged, as by the Pharisees of our Lord's time, to suggest particular devotion to the Law (Matthew 23:5). The Hebrew name 'tephillin' means 'prayers'; but they were also called in Gk. 'phylacteries' or 'protectors,' from their supposed power to ward off evil spirits. The 'mezuza' was a small oblong box containing the passage Deuteronomy 6:4 and was affixed to the right-hand door-post of the house and of each inhabited room, in accordance with the injunction in Deuteronomy 6:9. It had a beautiful significance as a reminder of the presence of God in the house, and the obligation of all the inmates to keep His holy law, but has also been degraded into a mere charm to keep off evil spirits during the night.

10-13. Cp. Deuteronomy 8:10 and see on Deuteronomy 4:25.