Obviously, this observance could not be attached to one's body. However, by at least the Second Century
B.C., the biblical instructions to bind the commandments of YHWH to one's arm and forehead were
interpreted literally (Shmuel Safrai, The Jewish People in the First Century, 2:799).
The literal understanding of this commandment is an interpretation.
The word te·fi·LIN itself is not even found in the Bible.
Contemporaries of Y‘shua viewed the wearing of tefillin as a biblical commandment, and Y‘shua did not
reject the commandment as seen in Matt 23:5.
In the First Century, tefillin were part of ordinary and everyday Jewish dress.
Putting on tefillin only during morning weekday prayers, as normally practised today by observant Jews, is a
later custom.
In Y‘shua‘s time, they were worn throughout the day; and removed only when working or when entering a
place that was ritually unclean (Safrai, 2:798).
Fragments of tefillin dating from the time of Y‘shua have been found in the Judean Desert in caves near the
Dead Sea.
The most dramatic find, head tefillin dating from the first half of the First Century A.D. (with three of the four
parchment slips still folded and securely tied in their original compartments) was published by Israeli
archaeologist Yigael Yadin in Tefillin from Qumran (Israel Exploration Society, 1969).
The head tefillin, including the strap, was quite modest and would not have drawn attention to itself.
The capsule found at Qumran is rectangular and extremely small, approximately one-half by three-fourths of
an inch (13 by 20 mm.).
A small postage stamp would easily cover it.
In Matt 23:5, Y‘shua criticised those who ―make their phylacteries wide".
As with His criticism of the public display of almsgiving (Matt 6:2), one must not view Y‘shua‘s words as a
general condemnation of wearing tefillin.
Rather, Y‘shua was condemning religious hypocrisy that led to enlarging tefillin as a demonstration of "higher
spirituality".
Just as Y‘shua‘s faulted the ostentatious wearing of tzitzit (tassels) which He himself wore, He probably also
was wearing tefillin while criticising those who wore them hypocritically.
Had He not worn tefillin, it is unlikely that His criticism would have been directed only at the excesses.
Criticising the way they were worn implies Y‘shua‘s acceptance of the practice and the sages' literal
interpretation of this biblical command.
Later rabbis also criticised the exaggerating of these for ostentatious exhibitionism.
If Y‘shua did not wear the tefillin, He would have been guilty of breaking one of the 613 laws.
We know He did not break any of the laws, because He was sinless.
The other aspect mentioned in verse 5 is the tassels of the prayer shawl. The prayer shawl is called tallit in
Hebrew. The tassels are tzitzit or fringes. The tallit is comprised of two parts - the tzitzit and the garment. The
tassels were attached to the four corners of one's robe as commanded in Num 15:37–41 and Deut
22:12. The lengths and colours will vary with individual tastes and custom. It is to be worn well and
consciously.
Tallit are worn by married men in Orthodox congregations and by all males past the age of Bar Mitzvah in
Conservative and Reform Synagogues. Originally, women were not forbidden to wear the tallit, but were
exempt due to the duties of managing the household and raising the children. Over time, it became
understood they would not wear the tallit.
There was no fixed maximum length for the tzitzit, as the two major rabbinic schools in the half-century
before Y‘shua agreed:
―The elders of the School of Shammai and the School of Hillel gathered in the upper chambers of Jonathan
ben Bathyra and reached the decision that there is no prescribed length for the tsi·TSIT.‖ (Sifre Numbers
115, to 15:38)
It seems there were some who, in an attempt to observe this commandment more fully, wore very long tzitzit.
Shmuel Safrai has noted the wealthy Jerusalem resident mentioned in the Talmud in Gittin 56a, who
received his nickname, Ben Tzitzit Hakeset, because of his long tassels (The Jewish People in the First
Century, p. 798, note 3). He was remembered as being so devout that his tzitzit literally trailed behind him on
the ground. Naturally, there also were imitators, who wished to appear more pious than they were by wearing
longer-than-normal tzitzit. Y‘shua condemned those who pretended to be pious by wearing long tzitzit.