Tassels (Fringes)

Biblical Text

Tassels are bundles of thread attached to the four corners of an outer garment. In Numbers 15:37-41, God commands the children of Israel through Moses to make fringes in the borders of their garments throughout their generations and to put upon them a ribband of blue. The passage also states the purpose of the command: whenever they looked upon the fringe, they were to remember all the commandments of the LORD and do them, not to follow after their own heart and their own eyes, and to be holy unto their God (Numbers 15:39-40). Deuteronomy 22:12 likewise gives a brief command: "Thou shalt make thee fringes upon the four quarters of thy vesture, wherewith thou coverest thyself."

In the New Testament, the term appears in Matthew 23:5, where Jesus rebukes the scribes and Pharisees because they "make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments" to be seen of men. The same Greek word is used in other passages as well. Examples include the account of the woman with the issue of blood, who touched the border of Jesus' garment and was healed (Matthew 9:20; Luke 8:44), and the scenes in which the sick sought to touch even the hem of His garment (Matthew 14:36; Mark 6:56). The New Korean Revised Version renders the word in these passages as "edge of the garment" or "hem." In the same account of the woman with the issue of blood, Mark 5:27 says only that she touched "his garment."

Background and Original Languages

The word for "fringe" in Numbers is the Hebrew tzitzit. Deuteronomy uses gedilim, meaning "twisted threads." The word rendered "borders" or "quarters," kanaf, originally means "wing" and can also refer to the hem or corner of a garment. The outer garment worn by men at the time was roughly a square piece of cloth, and the tassels were attached to its four corners. Blue was also used for the robe of the high priest (Exodus 28:31) and the curtains of the tabernacle (Exodus 26:1). Blue dye is known to have been expensive.

The Greek word in the New Testament, kraspedon, can mean either "the edge of a garment" or "tassel." The Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament) also uses this word to render tzitzit in Numbers 15:38.

In later Judaism, this command developed into the custom of attaching tassels to the prayer shawl (tallit) or to a small four-cornered garment worn daily. Specific methods for tying the knots were also prescribed. The explanation that the number of threads and knots in the tassel corresponds to 613, the number of commandments in the Law, is an interpretation from later rabbinic tradition and is not found in the Bible.

Significance in Scripture as a Whole

Tassels were a sign by which the commandments were carried on the body, seen with the eyes, and remembered. They belong to the same context as the command to bind God's words upon the hand and between the eyes and to write them upon the doorposts (Deuteronomy 6:6-9). The Gospel passages suggest that Jesus, a Jew "made under the law" (Galatians 4:4), likely also wore an outer garment with tassels. Jesus' criticism in Matthew 23:5 is understood to be directed not at the tassels themselves but at the attitude of displaying one's piety before others.

Interpretations and Points of Discussion

• What the woman with the issue of blood touched: Because the original word can mean both "edge" and "tassel," some interpreters hold that the woman grasped a tassel, while others hold that she touched the edge of the garment. Translations variously render it "edge of the garment," "hem," or "tassel."
• Where the power resided: The text states that virtue went out of Jesus (Mark 5:30), and Jesus says, "thy faith hath made thee whole" (Matthew 9:22). For this reason, Protestant interpreters generally focus on Jesus and on faith rather than on the garment or the tassel itself.
• Connection with Malachi: In Malachi 4:2, "with healing in his wings," the Hebrew word for "wings" is kanaf (rendered "rays" in the New Korean Revised Version). On this basis, some sermons interpret the account of the woman with the issue of blood as a fulfillment of this prophecy. However, since the text does not directly link the two passages, this should be recognized as a connection drawn by interpreters.
• Present-day application: Most Protestant denominations regard the regulation on tassels as one of the ceremonial laws (regulations concerning worship and purity) fulfilled in Christ. They understand it as among the regulations not imposed on Gentile believers (Acts 15:28-29) and do not observe it in practice. By contrast, some Jewish believers who accept Jesus as the Messiah wear tassels in keeping with Jewish tradition. The question is tied to how one understands the relationship between Law and Gospel.

In the Korean Church

In the Korean church, sermons on the account of the woman with the issue of blood often emphasize "faith that touches even the hem of the Lord's garment." In such sermons, the regulation on tassels in Numbers is sometimes introduced as background for the hem of the garment.