Texts in Conversation
The Letter of Aristeas describes Jews putting sayings of God on doors and gates and fastening a sign on their hands. Josephus describes the same customs in Antiquities of the Jews, the other main written evidence for them in this period.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Letter of Aristeas 1:158
Letter of Aristeas to Philocrates
Pseudepigrapha, Hebrew Bible Expansions
time and place so that we may continually remember the God who rules and preserves (us). For in the matter of food and drink he tells us to first of all offer part as a sacrifice and then at once enjoy our meal. Moreover, on our garments he has given us a symbol of remembrance, and in like manner he has ordered us to put the divine oracles on our gates and doors as a remembrance of God. And on our hands, too, he expressly orders the symbol to be fastened, clearly showing that we ought to perform every act in righteousness, remembering (our own creation), and above all the
Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews 4.8.13
Classical
12 “Every seventh year, at the Feast of Tabernacles, when the entire multitude comes to the holy city, let the High Priest stand on a high platform and read the laws to all—women, children, and servants included—so that these commands may be etched in their souls and not forgotten. Knowing God’s laws curbs wrongdoing and fosters reverence, reminding them of the blessings gained by obedience and the disasters arising from disobedience. The children should first learn God’s laws above all else, as the key to their future happiness. 13 “Remember God’s great mercy in delivering you from Egypt, proclaiming it each morning and evening. Gratitude is both just and a path to further kindness. Write on your doorposts the main wonders God did for you, and likewise bind them on your foreheads and arms, so that God’s power and care are never out of sight.
Date: 93-94 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
“... A practice related to the wearing of phylacteries is the affixing of mezuzot to the door posts and gates of a house (Deut 6:9 and 11:20). The word, mezuzah (plural: mezzuzot), means ‘door post’ and in the biblical text Israelites are enjoined to inscribe the divine instructions on it. As the tradition developed, the mezuzah itself (but not the ‘gate’) came to refer to the parchment of biblical excerpts to be attached to door posts. In rabbinic tradition these mezuzot are excerpted texts that include the first paragraph of the shema in its parallel passages of Deuteronomy 6:4-9 and 11:13-21. In the Second Temple Period, the practice was attested by Pseudo-Aristeas (Aristeas to Philocrates 158) and Josephus (Jewish Antiquities 4.213). The discoveries in the Judaean Desert have brought to light nine mezuzot: 7 from Cave 4 (4Q149-155), 1 from Cave 8 (8Q4); and 1 from Wadi Murabba’at (Mur 5). As with the phylacteries, these mezuzot contain additional passages from the Decalogue (Exod 20) and Deuteronomy 6:6-18 and its text is likely to have been cited from memory. ...”
Lim, Timothy H.
"Deuteronomy in the Judaism of the Second Temple Period" in Maarten J. J. Menken and Steve Moyise (eds.), Deuteronomy in the New Testament
(p. 18) T&T Clark International, 2007
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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