Frontlets

A leather band worn on the forehead, containing certain commandments. The image appears at the close of the exodus instruction and at the heart of the Shema, where the words of Yahweh are to be bound on the hand and set between the eyes as a perpetual reminder.

A Sign on the Hand and Between the Eyes

The frontlet first appears as the seal of the firstborn ordinance. After the slaying of Egypt's firstborn and the redemption of Israel's, Moses tells the people: "And it will be for a sign on your hand, and for frontlets between your eyes: for by strength of hand Yahweh brought us forth out of Egypt" (Ex 13:16). The hand-and-forehead pairing is given a few verses earlier in lighter form — "for a sign to you on your hand, and for a memorial between your eyes" — joined to the purpose "that the law of Yahweh may be in your mouth" (Ex 13:9).

The Words of the Shema

The same hand-and-forehead figure carries the commandments themselves in Deuteronomy. After the confession "Hear, O Israel: Yahweh our God, Yahweh is one" and the charge to love Yahweh with all the heart, soul, and might (De 6:4-5), the words just spoken are to be laid on the heart, taught to the sons, and talked of in house and way, lying down and rising up. Then: "And you will bind them for a sign on your hand, and they will be for frontlets between your eyes" (De 6:8).

Laid Up in Heart and Soul

The instruction is repeated in the second discourse, with the plural-you addressed to the whole congregation: "Therefore you⁺ will lay up these words of mine in your⁺ heart and in your⁺ soul; and you⁺ will bind them for a sign on your⁺ hand, and they will be for frontlets between your⁺ eyes" (De 11:18). The frontlet is thus tied at every appearance to remembrance — of the deliverance from Egypt and of the words Yahweh has commanded.