Deuteronomy 6:9

Deu 6:9 And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.

Ver. 9. And on thy gates.] In a foolish imitation whereof, the English Jesuits beyond sea have written on their church and college doors in great golden letters, Iesu, Iesu, converte Angliam. Fiat, Fiat. Habent et vespae favos; Wasps also have their honeycombs. There was within a mile of Prague a famous monastery, in the walls whereof the whole Bible was most exquisitely written in letters of gold.

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.

6:9 Write them on the doorposts: In later Judaism, people placed portions of Deuteronomy in a small metal case (a mezuzah) attached to the doorframes of houses or other buildings. It was customary to touch the mezuzah when passing through the doorway to show respect for and dependence upon the Scripture.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

That when thou entrest in, thou mayest remember them.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 9. Write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.] The Jews, forgetting the spirit and design of this precept, used these things as superstitious people do amulets and charms, and supposed, if they had these passages of Scripture written upon slips of pure parchment, wrapped round their foreheads, tied to their arm, or nailed to their door-posts, that they should then be delivered from every evil! And how much better are many Christians, who keep a Bible in their house merely that it may keep the devil out; and will have it in their rooms, or under their pillows, to ward off spirits and ghosts in the night? How ingenious is the heart of man to find out every wrong way, and to miss the right!

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

9. door posts] It was the custom of the ancient Egyptians to inscribe on lintels and door-posts sentences of good omen (Wilkinson-Birch, Anc. Egyptians2, i. 361 f.); but we are not to infer that it was thence derived by the Hebrews (Driver), for it was the custom too in the Semitic world (for two inscribed tablets from Assyria in Brit. Mus. see King, Z.A. 11:50) and prevails among modern Egyptians (Lane, Mod. Egypt. ed. 1896, 262 f.), and among the fellahin of Ḥauran, who in their belief in the magical efficacy of the written word will place the most inappropriate ancient Greek inscriptions (tombstones and the like) above or beside their doors, sometimes upside down! Later Jews have given the name mezuzah (= door-post) to the small metal box or skin-bag containing the above inscription and hung on the right-hand door-post inside. As he enters the pious Jew touches or salutes it (Driver, i. l.). It is not necessary to interpret even this verse in so literal a sense (Driver); even this the deuteronomist may have intended to be metaphorical (Marti in Kautzsch’s Heil. Schr. des A. T.).

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.

And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thine house, and on thy gates. To put them in mind of them when they went out and came in, that they might be careful to observe them; this the Jews take literally also, and write in a scroll of parchment this section with some passages; and, as the Targum of Jonathan here, fix them in three places, over against the bed chamber, upon the posts of the house, and on the gate at the right hand of it; and this is what they call the Mezuzah; and the account given of it is this. In a parchment prepared for the purpose, they write the words in Deu 6:4 and then roll up the parchment, and write on it "Shaddai"; and put it either into a cane (or reed), or else into a like hollow piece of wood, and so fasten it to the wall on the posts of the door at the right hand of entrance; and thus, as often as they go in and out, they make it a part of their devotion to touch this parchment, and kiss it (t).

(t) Buxtorf. Synag. Jud. c. 31. p. 582, &c. Leo Modena's History of the Rites and Customs of the Jews, par. 1. c. 2. p. 5, 6.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

9. Write them upon the posts of thy house — The Egyptians placed inscriptions on the lintels and doorposts of their dwellings for favourable omens. In Moslem countries, on gates and fountains and bridges, as well as houses, the traveller sees inscribed passages of the Koran or choice sentences from the poets. The mezuza was a cylindrical tube of tin or lead, on which were written two passages of Scripture — Deu_6:4-9; Deu_11:13-21. The word Shaddai (Almighty) was written on the outside of the parchment, and a section cut out of the tube, so that this word could be clearly seen. The mezuza was nailed to the doorpost on the right hand side. All who entered were thus to be reminded that the eyes of the Almighty were upon them. The Talmudists say that “Whoever has the phylacteries bound to his head and arm and the fringes thrown over his garments, and the mezuza fixed on his doorpost, is safe from sin, for these are excellent memorials, and the angels secure him from sin, as it is written, ‘The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.’ Psa_34:7.” — BARCLAY’S Talmud, p. 363. To the positive precepts which he has enjoined upon the people Moses now adds solemn admonitions. In their subsequent prosperity he sees their danger of forgetting Jehovah. Their possession of the Land of Promise will give them homes of abundance — vineyards and olive groves that they have not planted. Their prosperity will be their peril. How appropriate that these words of warning be impressed upon them! They are not to forget that Jehovah, their fathers’ God and their God, brought them out “from the house of bondage.”

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

מזזות ביתך THE DOORPOSTS OF THY HOUSE — The word is written מזזת, to indicate that it is necessary to fix only one מזוזה to a door (cf. Menachot 34a).

ובשעריך AND UPON THY GATES — the plural is used to include also the gates of courts and the gates of provinces and the gates of cities [in the requirement of mezuzah] (Yoma 11a).

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.