All translations are interpretations. There is no way to capture every contextual or metric or alliterative or musical connotation of a letter, word, phrase or section in a different language. If you doubt me, try to translate any ditty – say, “The Itsy Bitsy Spider,” — into a foreign language and ask yourself: does that listener absorb precisely the same message that a native English speaker hears?
As a result, we have to be very careful about simplistic translations, especially those that merely swap one word for another. “Love” to an Italian is not the same thing as “Love” is to a Russian. The Greeks went so far as to classify different kinds of love, spilling copious amounts of ink seeking to explain the differences.
Similarly, we find ourselves challenged when people translate the Torah in a simplistic manner. For example, there is a verse that refers to putting signs as a symbol upon our heads, which observant Jewish men wear as sacred texts inside black boxes daily during morning prayers.
These are called tefillin in Hebrew, and “phylacteries” in English (from the Greek). In the text, they are called totafot or zikaron (“for remembering”). And variations of the commandment to wear tefilin appear four times in the Torah (E. 3:16, 19, D. 6:8, 11:18).
Here is the conventional “literal” translation of those phrases: “They shall be … as a symbol between (bein) your eyes (einechem).” This verse is conventionally understood as the written text telling us that the tefillin should be in the middle, between your eyes (this understanding is then adjusted by the Oral Law, resulting in the tefillin worn higher on the forehead, and not directly between the eyes).
This translation is, however, woefully deceptive. It is deceptive because it fails to take into account what the words actually mean, as defined by their use elsewhere in the Torah.
Getting the meaning right is very important – otherwise how can we understand the purpose of a commandment? So let’s briefly examine what the words mean elsewhere in the text.
Here goes…
Bein – Not “Between”
First off, the word bein. It does not mean “between” in the sense of “in the middle” – we have other words in the Torah that do that: b’soch בְּת֣וֹךְ (Gen 2:9, 37:7, 23:10, 9:21, N 17:12) or tavech, תָּוֶךְ (G. 15:10, N. 35:5).
No, the word bein, found 119 times in the Torah, is a word that consistently governs the separation between two things. For example, the word is used four times when Jacob separates from Lavan. Bein defines the gap between them.
Earlier in the text, in Genesis 1: God saw that the light was good, and God separated bein the light and bein the darkness. … God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the water, that it may separate water bein water.”… to separate light bein darkness.
We can see that bein is used to create a contrast, to divide things so they are not unified, to maintain that counterbalance. Bein defines the relationship between disparate elements (light/dark, water below/above, man/G-d) going forward.
The division of bein is not merely physical separation. The text frequently refers to covenants or agreements bein parties. For example: G-d further said, “This is the sign that I set for the covenant bein Me and you, and every living creature with you, for all ages to come. … I have set My bow in the clouds, and it shall serve as a sign of the covenant bein Me and the earth.
A covenant is clearly not “in the middle.” It is instead a glue that constrains and guides the parties going forward. Covenants form irrevocable bonds and mutual obligations and enduring connections. In the case of covenants, this word, bein, tells us that tefillin create an inextricable linkage of two different things.
And what two things do tefillin bind together? First is the Torah, which is contained within the tefillin.
And is the second our eyes? Not exactly!
Einecha/Einechem – not “your eyes.”
This word for eyes appears 53 times in the Torah, and almost every single one of them does not refer to physical eyes. The vast majority are generally translated as “if it pleases you” or “your favor.” Instead of physical eyes, the Torah uses this word to mean “your perception” or “your understanding.”
A few examples will suffice. Avram tells his wife, “Deal with [Hagar] as you think right.” (G. 16:6). And Abimelech said, “Here, my land is before you; settle wherever you please.” (G. 20:15) But take utmost care and watch yourselves scrupulously, so that you do not forget the things that you saw with your own eyes and so that they do not fade from your mind as long as you live. And make them known to your children and to your children’s children. (D. 4:9)
Even in the last example, the most literal phrase, the word “eyes” refers to comprehension and understanding, not physical eyeballs. It even refers to an enduring memory – harkening back to tefillin being called a zikaron – a remembrance.
Putting it Together: Guide your Understanding with Torah
The tefillin are thus readily explained and understood. The text does not tell us to “put these words between your eyes.” Instead, the text is telling us to synthesize the Torah with our comprehension of the world!
We are to use the Torah to guide what we perceive and understand. In other words, tefillin are there to remind us to try to always see things through the specific prism of Torah, to filter all that we see through G-d’s words and try to comprehend and make sense of the gap between Torah and our perceptions.
The Torah, by its own description, is there to guide mankind toward holy relationships between ourselves, and between mankind and G-d. The tefillin, commanded four separate times in the text, thus form a central plank in that guidebook.
This makes not only much more literal sense, but also helps explain the fundamental purpose of the commandment of tefillin in the first place!