translation_id: net-engnet

book_id: DEU

label: NET study note

text: For NT variations on the Shema see Matt 22:37-39 ; Mark 12:29-30 ; Luke 10:27 .


text: Tie them as a sign on your forearm . Later Jewish tradition referred to the little leather containers tied to the forearms and foreheads as tefillin . They were to contain the following passages from the Torah: Exod 13:1-10, 11-16 ; Deut 6:5-9; 11:13-21 . The purpose was to serve as a “sign” of covenant relationship and obedience.


text: Fasten them as symbols on your forehead . These were also known later as tefillin (see previous note) or phylacteries (from the Greek term). These box-like containers, like those on the forearms, held the same scraps of the Torah. It was the hypocritical practice of wearing these without heartfelt sincerity that caused Jesus to speak scathingly about them (cf. Matt 23:5 ).


text: The Hebrew term מְזוּזֹת ( mÿzuzot ) refers both to the door frames and to small cases attached on them containing scripture texts (always Deut 6:4-9 and 11:13-21 ; and sometimes the decalogue; Exod 13:1-10, 11-16 ; and Num 10:35-36 ). See J. H. Tigay, Deuteronomy (JPSTC), 443-44.


text: The place name Massah ( מַסָּה , massah ) derives from a root ( נָסָה , nasah ) meaning “to test; to try.” The reference here is to the experience in the Sinai desert when Moses struck the rock to obtain water ( Exod 17:1-2 ). The complaining Israelites had, thus, “tested” the Lord , a wickedness that gave rise to the naming of the place ( Exod 17:7 ; cf. Deut 9:22; 33:8 ).