Bible Strands
Deuteronomy 6:9
Write them on the doorposts of your houses and on your gates.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The speaker addresses the Israelites, commanding them to visibly mark their dwellings immediately after instructing them to bind the preceding words to their bodies.
The words — The Hebrew verb כְּתַבְתָּם (khe.tav.Ta/m) means "you will write them," applied to the preposition עַל (on) and the nouns מְזוּזֹת (doorposts) and בֵּיתֶךָ (your house).
The thread — The identical command to inscribe these words on house doorposts and gates appears in Deuteronomy 11:20, while Isaiah 30:8 commands writing on a tablet for future witness, and Isaiah 57:8 notes the doorpost as a site for an idolatrous memorial.
Why it lands — The text requires the commandments to be permanently inscribed on the entry points of homes and cities to ensure continuous, unavoidable remembrance.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.
Cross-references
- Deuteronomy 11:20 Write them on the doorposts of your houses and on your gates,
- Isaiah 30:8 Go now, write it on a tablet in their presence and inscribe it on a scroll; it will be for the days to come, a witness forever and ever.
- Isaiah 57:8 Behind the door and doorpost you have set up your memorial. Forsaking Me, you uncovered your bed; you climbed up and opened it wide. And you have made a pact with those whose bed you have loved; you have gazed upon their nakedness.
- Habakkuk 2:2 Then the LORD answered me: “Write down this vision and clearly inscribe it on tablets, so that a herald may run with it.
- Exodus 12:7 They are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs.
- Job 19:23 I wish that my words were recorded and inscribed in a book,