You shall tell your son in that day, saying, ‘It is because of that which Yahweh did for me when I came out of Egypt.’ It shall be for a sign to you on your hand, and for a memorial between your eyes, that Yahweh’s law may be in your mouth; for with a strong hand Yahweh has brought you out of Egypt. You shall therefore keep this ordinance in its season from year to year.
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Exodus 13:8-10 sits inside this longer paragraph.
Moses said to the people, “Remember this day, in which you came out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage; for by strength of hand Yahweh brought you out from this place. No leavened bread shall be eaten. Today you go out in the month Abib. It shall be, when Yahweh brings you into the land of the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Amorite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite, which he swore to your fathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, that you shall keep this service in this month. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, and in the seventh day shall be a feast to Yahweh. Unleavened bread shall be eaten throughout the seven days; and no leavened bread shall be seen with you. No yeast shall be seen with you, within all your borders. You shall tell your son in that day, saying, ‘It is because of that which Yahweh did for me when I came out of Egypt.’ It shall be for a sign to you on your hand, and for a memorial between your eyes, that Yahweh’s law may be in your mouth; for with a strong hand Yahweh has brought you out of Egypt. You shall therefore keep this ordinance in its season from year to year.
Parallel Translations
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You shall tell your son in that day, saying, ‘It is because of that which Yahweh did for me when I came out of Egypt.’
It shall be for a sign to you on your hand, and for a memorial between your eyes, that Yahweh’s law may be in your mouth; for with a strong hand Yahweh has brought you out of Egypt.
You shall therefore keep this ordinance in its season from year to year.
-
And thou shalt shew thy son in that day, saying, This is done because of that which the LORD did unto me when I came forth out of Egypt.
And it shall be for a sign unto thee upon thine hand, and for a memorial between thine eyes, that the LORD’s law may be in thy mouth: for with a strong hand hath the LORD brought thee out of Egypt.
Thou shalt therefore keep this ordinance in his season from year to year.
Show all 3 translations
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And thou shalt tell thy son in that day, saying: It is because of that which the LORD did for me when I came forth out of Egypt.
And it shall be for a sign unto thee upon thy hand, and for a memorial between thine eyes, that the law of the LORD may be in thy mouth; for with a strong hand hath the LORD brought thee out of Egypt.
Thou shalt therefore keep this ordinance in its season from year to year.
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Commandments (1)
The laws of the Torah, each cited and shown as a primary source.
Cross-references (40)
- Deuteronomy 6:8 (v9) You shall bind them for a sign on your hand, and they shall be for frontlets between your eyes.
- Deuteronomy 11:18-19 (v9) Therefore you shall lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul. You shall bind them for a sign on your hand, and they shall…
- Exodus 13:16 (v9) It shall be for a sign on your hand, and for symbols between your eyes; for by strength of hand Yahweh brought us out of Egypt.”
- Numbers 15:39 (v9) It shall be to you for a fringe, that you may see it, and remember all Yahweh’s commandments, and do them; and that you don’t follow your…
- Exodus 12:14 (vv9–10) This day shall be a memorial for you. You shall keep it as a feast to Yahweh. You shall keep it as a feast throughout your generations by…
Show all 39 cross-references
- Exodus 13:14 (v8) It shall be, when your son asks you in time to come, saying, ‘What is this?’ that you shall tell him, ‘By strength of hand Yahweh brought…
- Proverbs 6:20-23 (v9) My son, keep your father’s commandment, and don’t forsake your mother’s teaching. Bind them continually on your heart. Tie them around your…
- Isaiah 59:21 (v9) “As for me, this is my covenant with them,” says Yahweh. “My Spirit who is on you, and my words which I have put in your mouth shall not…
- Matthew 23:5 (v9) But they do all their works to be seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad, enlarge the fringes of their garments,
- Romans 10:8 (v9) But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth, and in your heart;” that is, the word of faith which we preach:
- Exodus 12:26-27 (v8) It will happen, when your children ask you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’ that you shall say, ‘It is the sacrifice of Yahweh’s…
- Exodus 13:3 (v9) Moses said to the people, “Remember this day, in which you came out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage; for by strength of hand Yahweh…
- Deuteronomy 30:14 (v9) But the word is very near to you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it.
- Joshua 1:8-9 (v9) This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, that you may observe to do according to…
- Psalms 44:1 (v8) We have heard with our ears, God; our fathers have told us what work you did in their days, in the days of old.
- Exodus 6:1-30 (v9) Yahweh said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh, for by a strong hand he shall let them go, and by a strong hand he…
- Exodus 10:2 (v8) and that you may tell in the hearing of your son, and of your son’s son, what things I have done to Egypt, and my signs which I have done…
- Exodus 12:24-25 (v10) You shall observe this thing for an ordinance to you and to your sons forever. It shall happen when you have come to the land which Yahweh…
- Exodus 23:15 (v10) You shall observe the feast of unleavened bread. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the time appointed in…
- Leviticus 23:6 (v10) On the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread to Yahweh. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread.
- Deuteronomy 6:6 (v9) These words, which I command you today, shall be on your heart;
- Deuteronomy 16:3-4 (v10) You shall eat no leavened bread with it. You shall eat unleavened bread with it seven days, even the bread of affliction (for you came out…
- Nehemiah 1:10 (v9) “Now these are your servants and your people, whom you have redeemed by your great power, and by your strong hand.
- Psalms 78:3-8 (v8) Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, telling to the generation to come…
- Psalms 89:13 (v9) You have a mighty arm. Your hand is strong, and your right hand is exalted.
- Proverbs 1:9 (v9) for they will be a garland to grace your head, and chains around your neck.
- Proverbs 3:21 (v9) My son, let them not depart from your eyes. Keep sound wisdom and discretion:
- Isaiah 27:1 (v9) In that day, Yahweh with his hard and great and strong sword will punish leviathan, the fleeing serpent, and leviathan the twisted serpent;…
- Isaiah 38:19 (v8) The living, the living, he shall praise you, as I do today. The father shall make known your truth to the children.
- Isaiah 40:10 (v9) Behold, the Lord Yahweh will come as a mighty one, and his arm will rule for him. Behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before…
- Isaiah 49:16 (v9) Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands. Your walls are continually before me.
- Isaiah 51:9 (v9) Awake, awake, put on strength, arm of Yahweh! Awake, as in the days of old, the generations of ancient times. Isn’t it you who cut Rahab in…
- Jeremiah 22:24 (v9) “As I live,” says Yahweh, “though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were the signet on my right hand, I would still pluck you from…
- Joel 2:11 (v9) Yahweh thunders his voice before his army; for his forces are very great; for he is strong who obeys his command; for the day of Yahweh is…
- Revelation 18:8 (v9) Therefore in one day her plagues will come: death, mourning, and famine; and she will be utterly burned with fire; for the Lord God who has…
- Deuteronomy 4:9-10 (v8) Only be careful, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things which your eyes saw, and lest they depart from your heart all…
- Proverbs 7:23 (v9) Until an arrow strikes through his liver, as a bird hurries to the snare, and doesn’t know that it will cost his life.
- Song of Solomon 8:6 (v9) Set me as a seal on your heart, as a seal on your arm; for love is strong as death. Jealousy is as cruel as Sheol. Its flashes are flashes…
- Ephesians 6:4 (v8) You fathers, don’t provoke your children to wrath, but nurture them in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
39 distinct cross-references across this passage (40 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (18 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv8–9 When thou dost celebrate the feast of unleavened bread.
When thou dost celebrate the feast of unleavened bread.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv8–10 Exo 13:8 And thou shalt shew thy son in…
Exo 13:8 And thou shalt shew thy son in that day, saying, [This is done] because of that [which] the LORD did unto me when I came forth out of Egypt.
Ver. 8. And thou shalt show.] {See Trapp on "Exo 12:26"}
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv9–10 The celebration of this feast shall be to thee…
The celebration of this feast shall be to thee instead of a mark which a man makes, or a ring, or any thing else which he puts upon his hand or arm, to bring any thing to his remembrance; for such things his eye is most frequently fixed upon. Compare Son 8:6; Isa 49:16; Jer 22:24; Hag 2:23.
A memorial between thine eyes; instead of any monument or memorial, which is placed between, and therefore directly before a man’s eyes, which he can scarcely overlook, and therefore must needs bring to remembrance the thing which he would not forget. Such proverbial phrases are usual in Scripture, as Deu 6:8; Pro 3:3; 6:21; 7:3; and are not to be understood literally, as the superstitious Jews understood them, who hence derive their custom of wearing scrolls of parchment upon their foreheads, and arms, and garments, which they call phylacteries, wherein they wrote certain portions of Scripture. But they might as well have added parcels of God’s law to be kept in their mouths, because it follows,
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that the Lord’s law may be in thy mouth; from whence we may better infer that neither mouth, nor hand, nor eyes are to be properly understood, for then, it had been an improper method to fasten a parchment between their eyes, that it might be in their mouths; but figuratively, as they are commonly understood in Scripture.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv8–10 And thou shall show thy son in that day,....…
And thou shall show thy son in that day,.... On the first of the days of the feast of unleavened bread, the reason of eating it; and this is to be shown not to a son or single child only, but by parents to all their children, sons and daughters, and even unasked, as Maimonides (b) interprets it; and so Jarchi's note is, to a son that knows not how to ask or what to ask about; see Gill on Exo 12:26, Exo 12:27,
saying, this is done because of that which the Lord did unto me, when I came forth out of Egypt: that is, this unleavened bread is eaten because of the quick and speedy deliverance of Israel out of Egypt, so that they had not time to leaven their dough.
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(b) Hilchot Chametz Umetzah, c. 7. sect. 2, 3.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On v9 Upon thy hand, between thine eyes - Proverbial expressions;…
Upon thy hand, between thine eyes - Proverbial expressions; denoting things which are never out of our thoughts.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On v9 Verse 9. And it shall be for a sign…
Verse 9. And it shall be for a sign - upon thine hand] This direction, repeated and enlarged Ex 13:16, gave rise to phylacteries or tephillin, and this is one of the passages which the Jews write upon them to the present day. The manner in which the Jews understood and kept these commands may appear in their practice. They wrote the following four portions of the law upon slips of parchment or vellum: Sanctify unto me the first-born, Exod. xiii., from verse 2 to 10 Ex 13:2-10 inclusive. And it shall be, when the Lord shall bring thee into the land, Exod. xiii., from verse 11 to 16 Ex 13:11-16 inclusive. Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord, Deut. vi., from verse 4 to 9 De 6:4-9 inclusive. And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently, Deut. xi., from verse 13 to 21 De 9:13-21 inclusive. These four portions, making in all 30 verses, written as mentioned above, and covered with leather, they tied to the forehead and to the hand or arm.
Those which were for the HEAD (the frontlets) they wrote on four slips of parchment, and rolled up each by itself, and placed them in four compartments, joined together in one piece of skin or leather. Those which were designed for the hand were formed of one piece of parchment, the four portions being written upon it in four columns, and rolled up from one end to the other. These were all correct transcripts from the Mosaic text, without one redundant or deficient letter, otherwise they were not lawful to be worn. Those for the head were tied on so as to rest on the forehead. Those for the hand or arm were usually tied on the left arm, a little above the elbow, on the inside, that they might be near the heart, according to the command, De 6:6: And these words which I command thee this day shall be in thine heart. These phylacteries formed no inconsiderable part of a Jew's religion; they wore them as a sign of their obligation to God, and as representing some future blessedness. Hence they did not wear them on feast days nor on the Sabbath, because these things were in themselves signs; but they wore them always when they read the law, or when they prayed, and hence they called them תפלין tephillin, prayer, ornaments, oratories, or incitements to prayer. In process of time the spirit of this law was lost in the letter, and when 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 our Lord's time affected extraordinary piety, made their phylacteries very broad, that they might have many sentences written upon them, or the ordinary portions in very large and observable letters.
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It appears that the Jews wore these for three different purposes: -
1. As signs or remembrancers. This was the original design, as the institution itself sufficiently proves.
2. To procure reverence and respect in the sight of the heathen. This reason is given in the Gemara, Berachoth, chap. i: "Whence is it proved that the phylacteries or תפלין tephillin are the strength of Israel? Ans. From what is written, De 28:10: All the people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the LORD (יהוה Yehovah) and they shall be afraid of thee."
3. They used them as amulets or charms, to drive away evil spirits. This appears from the Targum on Canticles viii. 3 Son 8:3: His left hand is under my head, c. "The congregation of Israel hath said, I am elect above all people, because I bind my phylacteries on my left hand and on my head, and the scroll is fixed to the right side of my gate, the third part of which looks to my bed-chamber, that demons may not be permitted to injure me.
One of the original phylacteries or tephillin now lies before me it is a piece of fine vellum, about eighteen inches long, and an inch and quarter broad. It is divided into four unequal compartments; the letters are very well formed, but written with many apices, after the manner of the German Jews. In the first compartment is written the portion taken from Ex 13:2-10; in the second, Ex 13:11-16; in the third, De 6:4-9; in the fourth, De 11:13-21, as before related. This had originally served for the hand or arm.
These passages seem to be chosen in vindication of the use of the phylactery itself, as the reader may see on consulting them at large. Bind them for a SIGN upon thy HAND; and for FRONTLETS between thy EYES; write them upon the POSTS of thy HOUSE and upon thy GATES; all which commands the Jews take in the most literal sense. To acquire the reputation of extraordinary sanctity they wore the fringes of their garments of an uncommon length. Moses had commanded them, Nu 15:38-39, to put fringes to the borders of their garments, that when they looked upon even these distinct threads they might remember, not only the law in general but also the very minutiae or smaller parts of all the precepts, rites, and ceremonies belonging to it. As those hypocrites (for such our Lord proves them to be) were destitute of all the life and power of religion within, they endeavoured to supply its place with phylacteries and fringes without. The same principles distinguish hypocrites every where, and multitudes of them may be found among those termed Christians as well as among the Jews. It is probably to this institution relative to the phylactery that the words, Re 14:1, allude: And I looked, and, lo, a hundred and forty-four thousand having his Father's name written on their foreheads. "That is," says Mr. Ainsworth, "as a sign of the profession of God's law; for that which in the Gospel is called his NAME, (Mt 12:21,) in the prophets is called his LAW, (Isa 42:4)." So again antichrist exacts the obedience to his precepts by a mark on men's right hands or on their foreheads, Re 13:16.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv8–9 Exo 13:8. Thou shalt show thy son — When…
Exo 13:8. Thou shalt show thy son — When you shall be come into the land of Canaan, you shall instruct your children in the meaning of your killing the lamb, and abstaining from leaven, that so you and they may be excited to gratitude to God for his goodness. This was evidently the design of the institution.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On v9 Hebrew writers have generally regarded this as a formal…
Hebrew writers have generally regarded this as a formal injunction to write the precepts on slips of parchment, and to fasten them on the wrists and forehead; but other commentators are generally agreed that it is to be understood metaphorically. The words appear to be put into the mouths of the parents. They were to keep all the facts of the Passover constantly in mind, and, referring to a custom prevalent ages before Moses in Egypt, to have them present as though they were inscribed on papyrus or parchment fastened on the wrists, or on the face between the eyes. If, as may be inferred from Deu 6:7-8, Moses adopted this custom, he would take care to warn the people against the Egyptian superstition of amulets. Modern Israelites generally allege this precept as a justification for the use of phylacteries.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On v9 And it, &c. The festivals appointed by God and…
And it, &c. The festivals appointed by God and his Church, naturally remind us of the favours which we have received, and help us to meditate on the law. (Haydock) --- The Jews, understanding the precept literally, write verses taken from this chapter, and Deuteronomy vi. and xi., upon parchment, and bind these tephilins, or phylacteries, on their forehead. But if these scrolls were requisite, why do they not also put them in their mouth and in their heart? Jesus Christ condemns the vanity of the Pharisees, who wore these bandages extremely large, Matthew xxiii. 5. The Mahometans teach their scholars, by writing the Coran upon a tablet, and exposing it to their view: (Calmet) a plan lately introduced in England with great success by Mr. Lancaster.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv8–9 thou shalt show thy son in that day, saying--The…
thou shalt show thy son in that day, saying--The establishment of this and the other sacred festivals presented the best opportunities of instructing the young in a knowledge of His gracious doings to their ancestors in Egypt.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On v9 9, 10. Moses here repeats to Israel the ordinance…
9, 10. Moses here repeats to Israel the ordinance concerning the feast of unleavened bread. See notes on Exo_12:8; Exo_12:15-20.
A sign unto thee upon thine hand, and for a memorial between thine eyes — In verse sixteen it is said for frontlets between thine eyes — That is, This command shall ever be before thee, in thy sight, and in the sight of all men, like the bracelet clasped upon the hand, or the fillet bound about the forehead. The law of Jehovah is to be the perpetual ornament and adornment of Israel. Thus is it to be kept in thy mouth, the constant theme of thought and word. In later and degenerate days, when the law had died out of the heart of Israel, a literal and carnal interpretation was given to this command, and portions of this chapter and of Deuteronomy vi were written out on strips of parchment which were bound by leathern thongs upon the forehead and arm. These were the phylacteries; see illustration in note on Mat_23:5. Thus, as has often been the case, punctilious obedience to the letter of the law totally annulled its spirit.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv8–10 8. The children to be instructed (cf. on Exo_12:26)…
8. The children to be instructed (cf. on Exo_12:26) on the meaning of the festival: it is to remind Israel in perpetuity of the duties which it owes to Jehovah, in gratitude for its deliverance out of Egypt.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On v9 (9) It shall be for a sign unto thee…
(9) It shall be for a sign unto thee upon thine hand, and for a memorial between thine eyes.—The practice of wearing tephillin, or “phylacteries,” is referred by the Jews themselves to the time of the Exodus, and regarded by them as resting on the present passage, together with Deu_6:8; Deu_11:18. These phylacteries consist of small strips of parchment, on which are written certain passages from the Law—viz., Exo_13:2-10; Deu_6:4-9, and Deu_11:13-21—and which are then folded tight, placed in small boxes, and attached by bands to the left wrist and the forehead at the hours of prayer. It is well known that a similar custom prevailed in Egypt (Wilkinson, Ancient Egyptians, vol. iii., p. 364); and this has been made an objection to the Mosaic institution of phylacteries, since Moses, it has been thought, would not have encouraged an Egyptian superstition. But the adoption of Egyptian customs, purged from their superstition, is quite in the spirit of the Mosaic institutions, and in no way reprehensible. If the Israelites were addicted to wearing amulets, like the Egyptians, it would have been a wise proviso to substitute for the magic charms of sorcerers the solemn words of the Law, and in this way to turn a current superstition to a good account. The Law was thereby honoured, and the special passages selected would come to be generally known to those who wore them, and to be “in their mouth” and “in their heart” (Deu_11:18). [Dean Plumptre notices, in his Commentary on the Temptation (St. Matt.), that our Blessed Lord used against the adversary quotations from the Scriptures forming these very Tephillin.]
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv8–10 And thou shalt shew thy son. Repeated from Exo_12:26,…
And thou shalt shew thy son. Repeated from Exo_12:26, Exo_12:27.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On v8 Show thy son in that day.
Exo_13:8-10
Show thy son in that day.
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Lessons
1. The instruction of children is a duty upon parents.
2. God commands continuance of ordinances for instruction of posterity.
3. The reason of Gods ordinances must be understood by parents and children (Exo_13:8).
4. Sacramental signs, and memorials of God, He is pleased to give His Church.
5. God would have these signal memorials at hand and before the eyes of His.
6. The Passover was a true sacramental sign and seal of Gods covenant.
7. By sacraments rightly used Gods covenant is confirmed on hearts and in profession.
8. Gods mighty gracious redemption is a just cause of such memorials (Exo_13:9).
9. Gods sacraments are His statutes and positive laws.
10. It is God s prerogative, to make anniversary memorials of His mercies (Exo_13:10). (G. Hughes, B. D.)
Truth embodied
As the soul is clothed in flesh, and only thus is able to perform its functions in this earth, where it is sent to live; as the thought must find a word before it can pass from mind to mind; so every great truth seeks some body, some outward form, in which to exhibit its powers. It appears in the world, and men lay hold of it, and represent it to themselves, in histories, in forms of words, in sacramental symbols; and these things, which in their proper nature are but illustrations, stiffen into essential fact, and become part of the reality. (J. A. Froude.)
Importance of commemorative days and ordinances
The following sentence is attributed to Voltaire:--I despair of destroying Christianity in any country, so long as millions of human beings meet on Sunday to worship God. Many things have been fathered on Voltaire of which he never heard, but if he really said or wrote this he uttered an unusually sensible thing. It is curious that sceptical writers have regarded so little the testimony of Christian rites to the facts with which they are indissolubly connected. How did the Lords Supper and the Lords Day come to be established institutions? Rites and observances do not establish and perpetuate themselves. The origin of these two Christian institutions can only be explained by their connection with the events they commemorate. If the written records of the apostolic age could be blotted from the memory of man, the Lords Supper would still bear testimony to Christs death for mans salvation, as the Lords Day would eloquently witness to His resurrection from the dead.
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain On v9
Exodus
THOUGHT, DEED, WORD
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Exo 13:9.
The question may be asked, whether this command is to be taken metaphorically or literally. No doubt the remembrance of the great deliverance was intrusted to acts. Besides the annual Passover feasts, inscriptions on the door-posts and fringes on the dress were appointed for this purpose. And the Jews from a very early period, certainly before our Lord’s time, wore phylacteries fastened, as this and other places prescribe, on the left arm and on the forehead, and alleged these words as the commandment which they therein obeyed. But it seems more probable that the meaning is metaphorical, and that what is enjoined is rather a constant remembrance of the great deliverance, and a constant regulation of the practical life by it. For what is it that is to be ‘a sign’? It is the Passover feast. And the ‘therefore’ of the next verse seems to say that keeping this ordinance in its season is the fulfilment of this precept. Besides, the expression ‘for a sign,’ ‘for a memorial,’ may just as well mean ‘it shall serve as,’ or ‘it shall be like,’ as ‘you shall wear.’ So I think we must say that this is a figure, not a fact; the enjoining of an object for thought and a motive for life, not of a formal observance. And it is very characteristic of the Jew, and of the universal tendency to harden and lower religion into outward rites, that a command so wide and profound was supposed to be kept by fastening little boxes with four slips of parchment containing extracts from the Pentateuch on arm and forehead. Jewish rabbis are not the only people who treat God’s law like that. Even if literal, the injunction is for the purpose of remembering. Taking that meaning, then, the text sets forth principles that apply quite as much to us. You will observe ‘hand,’ ‘eyes,’ ‘mouth’; the symbols of practice, knowledge, expression; work, thought, and word. Observe also that there is a slight change in construction in the three clauses; the two former are to be done in order that the latter may come to pass. Then the memorial of the great deliverance is to be ‘on the hand’ and ‘before the eyes,’ in order that ‘the Lord’s law’ may be ‘in the mouth.’ Keeping these points in view-
I. God’s great deliverance should be constantly before our thoughts.
It is more than an accident that both Judaism and Christianity should begin with a great act of deliverance; that that act of deliverance should constitute a community, and that a memorial rite should be the centre of the ritual of both. The Lord’s Supper historically took the place of the Passover. It was instituted at the Passover and instead of it. It is precisely the same in design, a memorial feast appointed to keep up the vivid remembrance of the historical fact to which redemption is traced; and not only to keep up its remembrance, but to proclaim the importance of extending that remembrance through all life.
Notice the peculiarity of both the Jewish and the Christian rite, that the centre point of both is a historical fact, a redeeming act. Judaism and Christianity are the only religions in regard to which this is true to anything like the same extent or in the same way. Christianity as a revelation is not so much the utterance in words of great religious thoughts as the history of a life and a death, a fact wrought upon the earth, which is at once the means of revelation and the means of redemption. This is a feature unshared by other religions.
This characteristic determines the principal object of our religious thought. The true object for religious thought is Christ, and His life and death.
All religious truth flows from and is wrapped up in that: e.g. theology, or the nature of God; anthropology, or the nature of man; soteriology, morality, etc. All truth for the individual and for the race has its source in God’s great redeeming act. Religious emotion is best fed at this source, e.g. thankfulness, wonder, love: all these transcendent feelings which are melted together in adoration. Here is where they are kindled. You cannot pump them up, or bring them into existence by willing, or scourge yourself into them, any more than you can make a seed grow by pulling at the germ with a pair of pincers, but this gives the warmth and moisture which make it germinate.
The clear perception of this truth is valuable, as correcting false tendencies in religion, e.g. the tendency to be much occupied with the derived truths, and to think of them almost to the exclusion of the great fact from which they come; the tendency to substitute melancholy self-inspection for objective facts; the tendency to run out into mere feeling.
The command requires of us a habitual occupation of mind with the great deliverance.
And the habitual presence of this thought will be best secured by specific times of occupation with it. Let every Christian practise the habit of meditation, which in an age of so many books, newspapers, and the distractions of our busy modern life, is apt to become obsolete.
II. The great deliverance is to be ever present in practical life.
The ‘hand’ is clearly the seat and home of power and practical effort. So the remembrance is to be present and to preside over our practical work.
How it is fitted to do so.
{a} It gives the law for all our activity.
The pattern. The death as well as the life of Christ teaches us what we ought to be.
The motive. He died for me! Shall I not serve Him who redeemed me?
{b} That remembered deliverance arms us against temptations, and lifts us above sinking into sin.
How blessed such a life would be! How victorious over the small motives that rule one’s life, the deadening influence of routine, the duties that are felt to be overwhelmingly great and those that are felt to be wearisomely and monotonously small! How this unity of motive would give unity to life and simplify its problems! How it would free us from many a perplexity! There are so many things that seem doubtful because we do not bring the test of the highest motive to bear on them. Complications would fall away when we only wished to know and be like Christ. Many a tempting amusement, or occupation, or speculation would start up in its own shape when this Ithuriel spear touched it. How it would save from distractions! How strong it would make us, like a belt round the waist bracing the muscles tighter! ‘This one thing I do’ is always a strengthening principle.
How far is this possible? Not absolutely, but we may approximate very closely and indefinitely towards it. For there is the possibility of such thought blending with common motives, like a finer perfume in the scentless air, or some richer elixir in a cup. There is the possibility of its doing to other motives what light does to landscape when a sudden sunbeam gleams across the plain, and everything leaps into increased depth of colour. Let us try more and more to rescue life from the slavery of habit and the distractions of all these smaller forces, and to bring it into the greatness and power of submission to the dominion of this sovereign, unifying motive. Our lives would thus be greatened and strengthened, even as Germany and Italy have been, by being delivered from a rabble of petty dukes and brought under the sway of one emperor or king. Let us try to approach nearer and nearer to the fusion of action and contemplation, and to the blending with all other motives of this supreme one.
This command supplies us with an easily applied and effective test. Is there any place where you cannot take it, any act which you feel it would be impossible to do for His sake? Avoid such. Where the safety-lamp burns blue and goes out, is no place for you.
It is a beautiful thought that Jesus does for us what we are thus commanded to do for Him. The high priest bore the names of the tribes on his shoulders and in his heart. ‘I have graven thee on the palms of my hands.’ We bear Him in our hands and in our hearts. ‘I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.’
III. The great deliverance is to be ever on our lips.
The three regions here named are the inward thought, the outward practice, and the testimony of the lips. Note that that testimony is a consequence of thought and practice.
1. The purpose of the deliverance is to make ‘prophets of His law.’ Such was the divine intention as to Israel. Such is God’s purpose as to all Christians. The very meaning of redemption is there. He has ‘opened our lips’ that we ‘should show forth His praise.’ He has regard to ‘His own name.’ He desires to make us vocal, for the same purpose for which a man strings a harp, to bring sweet music out of it. Words of testimony are a form of love.
2. The other two are incomplete without this vocal testimony.
3. The utterance of the lips, to be worth anything, must rest on and follow the other two. How noble, then, and blessed, how strong and calm and simple our lives would be, if we had this for the one great object of our thoughts, of our practical endeavour, of our words, if all our being was sustained, impelled, made vocal, by one thought, one love!
O my brother, see to it that you give yourself to Him. That great Light will gladden your eyes, will guide your activity, and, like the sunrise striking Memnon’s voiceless, stony lips, will bring music. Thought will have one boundless home of ‘many mansions.’ Work will have one law, one motive, its consecration and strength; and as in some solemn procession, all our steps and all our movements will keep time to the music of our praise to ‘Him who loved us.’
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v8 On that day you are to say to your…
On that day you are to say to your children, 'This is because of what Yahweh did for me when I came out of Egypt.'
The quotation can be stated as an indirect quote. AT: "On that day you are to tell your children that this is because of what Yahweh did for you when you came out of Egypt" (See: Direct and Indirect Quotations)
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This will be a reminder for you on your hand, and a reminder on your forehead
These are two different types of physical reminders so people will not forget something important. (See: Parallelism)
a reminder for you on your hand
Moses speaks of celebrating the festival as if it were tying an object around their hands to remind them of what Yahweh had done. AT: "like something you tie around your hand as a reminder" (See: Metaphor)
a reminder on your forehead
Moses speaks of celebrating the festival as if it were tying an object around their foreheads to remind them of what Yahweh had done. AT: "like something you tie around your head as a reminder" (See: Metaphor)
so the law of Yahweh may be in your mouth
The words "in your mouth" here refers to the words that they speak. AT: "so you may always be speaking of the law of Yahweh" (See: Metonymy)
strong hand
The word "hand" here represents God's actions or works. See how you translated this in Exodus 6:1. AT: "the power I show in my works" (See: Metonymy)
translationWords
children
Yahweh
Egypt
sign
law
appoint
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v9 13:9 The annual celebration of the Passover was a…
13:9 The annual celebration of the Passover was a visible sign to identify oneself as the Lord’s possession. It was a mark of his ownership, the physical reinforcement of a spiritual reality. • Let it remind you always to recite this teaching of the Lord: The second part of the verse may be interpreted either as a statement to be recited (as in the NLT text) or simply as a description of the Lord’s work.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.