פירוש על ברכות 46:2

The fear lest they will fall might disturb his ability to concentrate his mind on his prayer. Blau, Das altjudische Zauberwesen, p. 150 n. 7, suggests a different reason for the origin of this law. It is an allusion to a superstitious practice whereby these sacred objects were held in the hand as amulets while reciting incantations. Similarly, passages from the New Testament were used as charms by Christians ; see Grenfell and Hunt, Oxyrhyncus Papyri, Part viii.