Deuteronomy 6:8

Summary

Deuteronomy 6:8 instructs that certain words (referred back to by the pronominal suffix "them") are to be tied as a sign on the hand and to function as totafot ("marks/frontlets") between the eyes. The verse uses two parallel clauses joined by the sequential perfect construction, continuing directives given in the preceding verses.

Key words

• qesharTam ("you will tie them", H7194) — qal sequential perfect (also called weqatal), continuing a chain of instructions; the attached suffix "them" (H9038) points back to an antecedent from earlier verses.
• 'ot ("a sign", H0226H) — feminine singular noun, introduced by the preposition le ("for"), marking the purpose of the tying.
• yadekha ("your hand", H3027G + H9021) — construct form of "hand" with second-person suffix, syntactically bound to the preceding preposition 'al ("on").
• totafot ("marks", H2903) — feminine plural noun of uncertain etymology, appearing only here and in two parallel passages in the Torah; its exact referent (bands, plaques, ornaments) is not specified by the grammar itself.
• 'eineikha ("your eyes", H5869A + H9021) — dual construct form (eyes naturally occurring in pairs) with second-person suffix, governed by bein ("between", H0996G).

What the text says

The verse is built from two clauses linked by the narrative vav (H9001), both employing the sequential perfect tense-form, which continues a sequence of commands rather than introducing an independent new statement. The first clause — qesharTam le'ot 'al yadekha — places the object ("them," referring to prior words) as something to be tied "for a sign" upon "your hand," with yad in construct state binding tightly to the possessive suffix. The second clause — ve-hayu le-totafot bein 'eineikha — uses the verb hayu ("they will be," H1961) rather than a tying verb, indicating a state or function ("to be for totafot") rather than a physical action, paralleling but not repeating the verb of the first clause. The noun totafot is grammatically plural and feminine, but its semantic content is not further defined by the morphology; the Hebrew simply says these things will be totafot located "between your eyes," using the construct dual 'einei to place them in the space bounded by the two eyes.

Differences between versions

The LXX (Swete) does not render a tying verb in this clip of text; it reads "and them for a sign upon your hand," treating the pronoun as if already implied, and translates the second clause with "before your eyes" (πρὸ ὀφθαλμῶν σου) rather than "between your eyes," and does not translate totafot with a distinct lexical equivalent. The Vulgate renders the first clause with ligabis ea quasi signum ("you will bind them as a sign") and adds movebuntur ("they will be moved") in the second clause, a verb with no corresponding form in the Hebrew text given. The BSB rendering "bind them on your foreheads" supplies "foreheads" as an interpretive gloss for bein 'eineikha ("between your eyes"), a specification not present in the Hebrew wording itself.