Phylactery

A phylactery is a small prayer case that holds Scripture passages. Pious Jews wear it at prayer. Orthodox Jewish males wear two small, black leather cubes or boxes, with Scripture inside, at the time of prayer.

In its original form the phylactery was probably not a box containing Scripture but a strip of parchment on which four passages from the OT were written in Hebrew. The passages were:

Exodus 13:1–10,

Exodus 11–16,

Deuteronomy 6:4–9, and

Deuteronomy 11:13–21.

The Deuteronomy 6:4–9 passage contains the “Shema,” the confession of God being one Lord. All four passages say that God commands his people to bind his laws on their hands and have them as "frontlets" between their eyes.

Some Jews interpreted this in a non-literal sense and forgo physical adornment. Others took the command literally. They began to wear portions of their Scriptures on their foreheads and hands. Exactly when they began to do this is not agreed upon by scholars. There is an explicit mention of the practice as early as 100 BC in a Jewish nonbiblical document. Some believe it began as early as the fourth century BC, if not earlier.

In Matthew 23:5, Jesus condemned the scribes and Pharisees for, among other things, their habit to "broaden their phylacteries." The context is the warning of Jesus against making a public display of religion. Large phylacteries could make the wearer appear especially devout. Jesus treated this as a sign of pride, false appearance, and hypocrisy.

See also Amulet; Frontlet.