This custom was widely practiced in Yeshua’s day—in fact, it is very possible that He Himself wore these—and the Lord made reference to this custom when denouncing some of the hypocritical religious leaders: “Everything they do is done for men to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long” (Matthew 23:5).
Notice, however, that Jesus did not criticize them for wearing phylacteries, traditionally known as tefillin (literally “prayers”), but for doing so in an ostentatious way. In fact, wearing tassels on the garments was a Torah command (see #19), so the Lord was certainly not criticizing people for wearing tassels but rather for their excessive public use so as to be seen by people.
What exactly was Jesus describing? The phylacteries were “small leather or parchment boxes containing a piece of vellum inscribed with four texts from the law (Exodus 13:2–10, 11–16; Deuteronomy 6:4–9; 11:13–21) and were worn on the arm or tied to the forehead (cf. Exodus 13:9, 16; Deuteronomy 6:8; 11:18). To show their piety to the world, these leaders made large, showy phylacteries.”[78]
When did God command the Israelites to wear these boxes? Let us look at some of the Torah texts that were included within these leather boxes in Jesus’ day and in our day as well. In Deuteronomy 6:6–9, Moses said to the people of Israel,
These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.
Similar language is used in Exodus 13:16, with reference to the redemption of the firstborn. There God says, “And it will be like a sign on your hand and a symbol on your forehead that the Lord brought us out of Egypt with his mighty hand.”
What exactly did it mean to “tie [the commandments] as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads”? How was the deliverance from Egypt to be commemorated “like a sign on your hand and a symbol on your forehead”?
There is evidence that some ancient Jewish groups, such as the Samaritans (see #28), did not interpret these verses literally, while it is noteworthy that the Septuagint translators, working two to three centuries before the time of Jesus, understood the verses metaphorically. And Rashbam, a famous medieval rabbinic commentator, agreed that the verses should be interpreted figuratively (cf. Proverbs 1:9; 3:3; 4:9; 6:21; 7:3; note, however, that he also stated that the practice of putting on phylacteries should be followed because it was taught by tradition).
On the other hand, we know that by the second century b.c. at the latest it was common in a number of Jewish circles to interpret these verses literally, as evidenced by the discovery of phylacteries in the Dead Sea Scroll archives, and these phylacteries closely resemble those described in detail in the rabbinic writings and worn today by religious Jews in morning prayer (with the exception of the Sabbath and certain holy days).[79]
Can it be demonstrated that God wanted His people to wear black leather boxes on their arms and foreheads? The rabbinic traditions claim that God specifically communicated the details of this commandment to Moses on Mount Sinai (see Oral Law), as explained by Rabbi Nathan Cardozo:
Nowhere does the written Torah describe this sign and ornament. The tefillin we use today are the result of the tradition of the orally transmitted Torah. Yet not only are the fragments of tefillin found in the Qumran excavations similar to our own; the order of the biblical passages written on these fragments indicates that the difference of opinion between Rashi (eleventh century) and Rabbenu Tam (twelfth century) dates back to the earliest moments of Jewish history, for tefillin of both types were found! Centuries later, as well, “in Nehardea and Jerusalem they found two sets of tefillin: one according to the order of Rashi, and the other according to Rabbenu Tam” (Piskei Tosafot, Menachot 34b).[80]
The Talmud also contains some extremely far-fetched explanations as to how the specific details of the phylacteries can be deduced from the biblical text, especially in b. Sanhedrin 4b, where an impossible linguistic derivation is put forth by the famous Rabbi Akiva.
In any case, whether God originally intended for His people to wear these black boxes—be it all day, as was the practice in Talmudic times, or primarily during morning prayer—the putting on of the tefillin (or, as traditional Jews refer to it, “laying tefillin”) has become a much-loved traditional custom, the arm tefillin being close to the heart (since it is put on the left arm) and the head tefillin being close to the mind (since it is put on the forehead).
Although the evidence would strongly suggest that God did not literally command the ancient Israelites to make and wear phylacteries, contrary to the claims of traditional Judaism, it is clear that the wearing of phylacteries reflects a tradition more than two thousand years old, and this practice has taken on great meaning in the life of traditional Jews through the centuries, tying them in a very literal way to the Torah commands.