BIBLE DICTIONARY
Frontlets or phylacteries

Strips of parchment on which were written four passages of scriptures (Ex. 13: 1-10, 11-16; Deut. 6: 5-9; Deut. 11: 13-21), and which were rolled up and attached to bands of leather worn (as an act of obedience to Ex. 13: 9, 16; Deut. 6: 8; Deut. 11: 18) around the forehead or around the arm. The Jews called them tephillin. The Pharisees wore them broader than other people, in order to make them as conspicuous as possible (Matt. 23: 5).