The Mezuzah and Messianic Israel - NCCG.ORG Ning Network Archive 2008-10

Did the Ancient Hebrews use a Mezuzah similar to those used today?

The modern Mezuzah is a piece of paper or parchment with Deuteronomy 6:4-9 and 11:13-21 written on it and placed in a box. This box is then attached to the doorpost of the house. This 'Mezuzah' is to fulfill the Torah requirement of Deuteronomy 6:6-9:

"And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates."

The first question that needs to be answered is "What are "these words" that are to be taught and written?" According to modern Judaism it is Deuteronomy 6 as they are what is written on the Mezuzah, but I contend that it is the commands given prior to Deuteronomy 6 – the '10 commandments' found in Deuteronomy 5.

The second question is "Is the modern Mezuzah the correct application of the command in Deuteronomy 6?" If you read the passage above literally, it says that you are to write "these words' on the "doorposts." The Hebrew word for a doorpost is "mezuzah" (literally a mezuzah is 'not' the paper or the box which are today identified as a mezuzah). The command is not stating that a Mezuzah is to be placed on a doorpost but that "these words" are to be written on the doorpost (the mezuzah).

I am of the opinion that the Ancient Hebrews wrote the 10 commandments directly on their doorposts (Mezuzah).

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