This sheet on Exodus 13 was written by Yehudah Cohn for 929 and can also be found here
Exodus 13 contains some strange imagery, with our chapter including two passages (in reality one extended passage) that are among the texts inside both head and arm Tefillin. “In four places the Torah mentions Tefillin”, says the Midrash Mekhilta Derabbi Yishma’el, referring to Exodus 13:1-10, Exodus 13:11-16, Deuteronomy 6:4-9 and Deuteronomy 11:13-21. The two Deuteronomy passages cited are the first and second paragraphs of the Shema prayer, but the Exodus verses are not recited as prayers, being only encountered in the liturgy during the Torah reading of Parashat Bo. Their mention of Tefillin is taken for granted by the rabbis, resulting from a parallel in the language of Exodus 13 to that of the Shema, both of whose first two passages talk of tying words as a sign on one’s hand and having them as Totafot (a very rare Hebrew word of uncertain derivation) on one’s forehead.
The Hebrew word rendered as “symbol” in Exodus 13:16 is the same Totafot on one’s forehead known from Deuteronomy, and the “reminder” in Exodus 13:9 is also on the forehead. In addition, both these Exodus verses mention a sign on the hand. Here then is a connection to the Shema, and by extension to Tefillin, although unlike the Shema these verses include no mention of tying, nor of words.
The Exodus verses state clearly what it is that the sign / reminder (or symbol) signify – namely the Lord’s “mighty hand” that freed the people from Egyptian slavery. (The Shema verses, in contrast, do not make clear what it is that the signs they mention are supposed to signify). Whereas in the Shema words themselves constitute signs, the signs in Exodus are rituals that are described in some detail. Exodus 13:3-8 talk of eating no leavened bread on the day of the Exodus from Egypt, and of a commemorative week of eating only unleavened bread, ending with a festival. It is these practices, combined with their evocation of the Exodus to one’s children, that “shall serve you as a sign on your hand and as a reminder on your forehead” in verse 9.
In the following section verses 11-13 discuss the rituals of consecrating, or alternatively redeeming, human and animal first-born males. Verses 14-15 specify that a child asking for an explanation of these practices be told of their connection to the slaying of the Egyptian first-born. In verse 16, in a parallel to verse 9, this “shall be as a sign upon your hand and as a symbol on your forehead.”
What is meant by holiday and first-born rituals becoming a sign / reminder / symbol on hands and foreheads? To Rashi’s grandson Rashbam (Rabbi Samuel ben Meir) it is all plainly metaphorical. He explains as follows, in his commentary to verse 9: “‘As a sign on your hand’: According to the fundamental meaning – it should be a permanent reminder for you, as though written on your hand …’On your forehead’: Like a piece of ornamental jewelry or gold band, customarily placed on the forehead.”
The Hebrew word rendered as “symbol” in Exodus 13:16 is the same Totafot on one’s forehead known from Deuteronomy, and the “reminder” in Exodus 13:9 is also on the forehead. In addition, both these Exodus verses mention a sign on the hand. Here then is a connection to the Shema, and by extension to Tefillin, although unlike the Shema these verses include no mention of tying, nor of words.
The Exodus verses state clearly what it is that the sign / reminder (or symbol) signify – namely the Lord’s “mighty hand” that freed the people from Egyptian slavery. (The Shema verses, in contrast, do not make clear what it is that the signs they mention are supposed to signify). Whereas in the Shema words themselves constitute signs, the signs in Exodus are rituals that are described in some detail. Exodus 13:3-8 talk of eating no leavened bread on the day of the Exodus from Egypt, and of a commemorative week of eating only unleavened bread, ending with a festival. It is these practices, combined with their evocation of the Exodus to one’s children, that “shall serve you as a sign on your hand and as a reminder on your forehead” in verse 9.
In the following section verses 11-13 discuss the rituals of consecrating, or alternatively redeeming, human and animal first-born males. Verses 14-15 specify that a child asking for an explanation of these practices be told of their connection to the slaying of the Egyptian first-born. In verse 16, in a parallel to verse 9, this “shall be as a sign upon your hand and as a symbol on your forehead.”
What is meant by holiday and first-born rituals becoming a sign / reminder / symbol on hands and foreheads? To Rashi’s grandson Rashbam (Rabbi Samuel ben Meir) it is all plainly metaphorical. He explains as follows, in his commentary to verse 9: “‘As a sign on your hand’: According to the fundamental meaning – it should be a permanent reminder for you, as though written on your hand …’On your forehead’: Like a piece of ornamental jewelry or gold band, customarily placed on the forehead.”
Dr. Yehudah Cohn is currently a research associate at New York University’s Institute for the Study of the Ancient World.
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