Reference: Frontlets, Or Phylacteries
Smith
Frontlets, or Phylacteries.
Ex 13:16; De 6:8; 11:18; Mt 23:5
These "frontlets" or "phylacteries" were strips of parchment, on which were written four passages of Scripture,
Ex 13:2-10,11-17; De 6:4-9,13-23
in an ink prepared for the purpose. They were then rolled up in a case of black calfskin, which was attached to a stiffer piece of leather, having a thong one finger broad and one and a half cubits long. They were placed at the bend of the left arm. Those worn on the forehead were written on four strips of parchment, and put into four little cells within a square case on which the letter was written. The square had two thongs, on which Hebrew letters were inscribed. That phylacteries were used as amulets is certain, and was very natural. The expression "they make broad their phylacteries,"
refers not so much to the phylactery itself, which seems to have been of a prescribed breadth, as to the case in which the parchment was kept, which the Pharisees, among their other pretentious customs,
Mr 7:3-4; Lu 5:33
etc., made as conspicuous as they could. It is said that the Pharisees wore them always, whereas the common people only used them at prayers.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
Let the first male child of every mother among the children of Israel be kept holy for me, even the first male birth among man or beast; for it is mine. And Moses said to the people, Let this day, on which you came out of Egypt, out of your prison-house, be kept for ever in memory; for by the strength of his hand the Lord has taken you out from this place; let no leavened bread be used. read more. On this day, in the month Abib, you are going out. And it will be that, when the Lord takes you into the land of the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Amorite and the Hivite and the Jebusite, the land which he made an oath to your fathers that he would give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, you will do this act of worship in this month. For seven days let your food be unleavened cakes; and on the seventh day there is to be a feast to the Lord. Unleavened cakes are to be your food through all the seven days; let no leavened bread be seen among you, or any leaven, in any part of your land. And you will say to your son in that day, It is because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt. And this will be for a sign to you on your hand and for a mark on your brow, so that the law of the Lord may be in your mouth: for with a strong hand the Lord took you out of Egypt. So let this order be kept, at the right time, from year to year. And when the Lord takes you into the land of Canaan, as he made his oath to you and to your fathers, and gives it to you, You are to put on one side for the Lord every mother's first male child, the first-fruit of her body, and the first young one of every beast; every male is holy to the Lord. And for the young of an ass you may give a lamb in payment, or if you will not make payment for it, its neck is to be broken; but for all the first sons among your children, let payment be made. And when your son says to you in time to come, What is the reason for this? say to him, By the strength of his hand the Lord took us out of Egypt, out of the prison-house: And when Pharaoh made his heart hard and would not let us go, the Lord sent death on all the first sons in Egypt, of man and of beast: and so every first male who comes to birth is offered to the Lord; but for all the first of my sons I give a price. And this will be for a sign on your hand and for a mark on your brow: for by the strength of his hand the Lord took us out of Egypt.
And this will be for a sign on your hand and for a mark on your brow: for by the strength of his hand the Lord took us out of Egypt. Now after Pharaoh had let the people go, God did not take them through the land of the Philistines, though that was near: for God said, If the people see war, they may have a change of heart and go back to Egypt.
Give ear, O Israel: the Lord our God is one Lord: And the Lord your God is to be loved with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. read more. Keep these words, which I say to you this day, deep in your hearts; Teaching them to your children with all care, talking of them when you are at rest in your house or walking by the way, when you go to sleep and when you get up. Let them be fixed as a sign on your hand, and marked on your brow;
Let them be fixed as a sign on your hand, and marked on your brow; Have them lettered on the pillars of your houses and over the doors of your towns.
Let the fear of the Lord your God be in your hearts, and be his servants, taking your oaths by his name. Do not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples round about you; read more. For the Lord your God who is with you is a God who will not let his honour be given to another; or the wrath of the Lord will be burning against you, causing your destruction from the face of the earth. Do not put the Lord your God to the test as you did in Massah. Keep with care the orders of the Lord your God, and his rules and his laws which he has given you; And do what is upright and good in the eyes of the Lord your God, so that it may be well for you and you may go in and take for your heritage that good land from which the Lord undertook by an oath to your fathers, To send out from before you all those who are against you. And when your son says to you in time to come, What is the reason for these rules and laws and decisions which the Lord our God has given you? Then you will say to your son, We were servants under Pharaoh's yoke in Egypt; and the Lord took us out of Egypt with a strong hand: And the Lord did great signs and wonders against Egypt, and against Pharaoh and all his house, before our eyes: And he took us out from that place, guiding us here to give us this land, as he said in his oath to our fathers.
So keep these words deep in your heart and in your soul, and have them fixed on your hand for a sign and marked on your brow;
But all their works they do so as to be seen by men: for they make wide their phylacteries, and the edges of their robes,
But all their works they do so as to be seen by men: for they make wide their phylacteries, and the edges of their robes,
Now the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not take food without washing their hands with care, keeping the old rule which has been handed down to them: And when they come from the market-place, they take no food till their hands are washed; and a number of other orders there are, which have been handed down to them to keep--washings of cups and pots and brass vessels.
And they said to him, The disciples of John frequently go without food, and make prayers, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees; but your disciples take food and drink.