“They make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long”
Matthew 23:5–7
Cultural referenceSettledJesus
All their deeds are done for men to see. They broaden their phylacteries and lengthen their tassels. They love the places of honor at banquets, the chief seats in the synagogues, the greetings in the marketplaces, and the title of 'Rabbi' by which they are addressed. (Matthew 23:5–7 BSB)
* Greek: phylakteria; the Hebrew tefillin, small boxes of Scripture bound on arm and forehead.
What it sounds like today
'Phylacteries' is a mystery word to most modern readers.
The cultural key
Phylacteries are tefillin: small leather boxes containing Scripture passages, bound to forehead and arm at prayer, a literal enactment of Deuteronomy 6:8 ('bind them as a sign on your hand'). Making them broad turns a devotion into a billboard; likewise lengthening the tzitzit fringes (the same tassels the sick woman touched, Numbers 15:38). The 'best seats' faced the congregation; marketplace greetings were graded honor rituals; 'rabbi' means 'my great one.'
Recovered meaning
Each item is a genuinely good practice inflated into costume, piety cut for the audience. The critique is sizing, not the practices: devotion worn a size larger than the devotion it contains.
Parallels: Mark 12:38–39; Luke 20:46