Deuteronomy 6:8
And thou shalt bind them as a sign on thy hand, and they shall be and shall move between thy eyes.
Open Deuteronomy 6:8 in the Motif Searcher, word by word across all five texts →Show on the spiral →The verse in its languages
- Vulgate (Clementine)
- Et ligabis ea quasi signum in manu tua, eruntque et movebuntur inter oculos tuos,
- Septuagint (Swete)
- καὶ ἀφάψεις αὐτὰ εἰς σημεῖον ἐπὶ τῆς χειρός σου, καὶ ἔσται ἀσάλευτον πρὸ ὀφθαλμῶν σου·
- Hebrew (WLC)
- וּקְשַׁרְתָּ֥ם לְא֖וֹת עַל יָדֶ֑ךָ וְהָי֥וּ לְטֹטָפֹ֖ת בֵּ֥ין עֵינֶֽיךָ
Haydock's commentary
Sign, or seal, (Canticle of Canticles viii. 6.; Calmet) attached to the ring which the Jews wore on their fingers, (Haydock) to seal their letters, after they were enveloped and tied with linen. The Jews have bandages of vellum on their hand, with sentences of the law inscribed upon them, (Calmet) as well as others upon their forehead; while many get the whole law, particularly the Book of Deuteronomy, by heart: for which purpose, the Rabbins inform us, there were above 400 schools and synagogues at Jerusalem, where the law of God was learnt and explained. The design of this injunction was not, however, to enforce the wearing of such bandages, as the Pharisees imagined, (Matthew xxiii. 5,) but to put all in mind that they ought to meditate frequently upon the commandments, (Tirinus) and regulate their lives by their direction.
Shall move. Septuagint adds a negation, but to the same import, "it (the sign) shall not be removed from before thy eyes." (Haydock)
Hebrew, "they shall be as totaphoth, frontlets," ornaments hanging between the eyes. (Exodus xiii. 9.; Calmet) "Tephilim," (Chaldean) or "spectacles." (Grotius)
From Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary, 1859, in the transcription made by Todd Easton and kept online by John Paul Wohlschied at johnblood.gitlab.io/haydock.
The Fathers on this verse
St John Chrysostom The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Epistle to the Hebrews, Hebrews 7.11-14
What is, “of a carnal commandment”? Circumcise the flesh, it says; anoint the flesh; wash the flesh; purify the flesh; shave the flesh; bind upon the flesh; cherish the flesh; rest as to the flesh. And again its blessings, what are they? Long life for the flesh; milk and honey for the flesh; peace for the flesh; luxury for the flesh. From this law Aaron received the priesthood; Melchisedec however not so.