Fringes

Fringes are tassels prescribed for the four corners of Israelite garments — a visible reminder of Yahweh's commandments. The same garment-edge appears in the gospels under the term "border," touched by those seeking healing.

Prescribed in the wilderness

Yahweh commands the fringes through Moses, with their purpose explicitly named: "And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the sons of Israel, and bid them that they make themselves fringes in the borders of their garments throughout their generations, and that they put on the fringe of each border a cord of blue: and it will be to you⁺ for a fringe, that you⁺ may look at it, and remember all the commandments of Yahweh, and do them; and that you⁺ don't follow after your⁺ own heart and your⁺ own eyes, which you⁺ go whoring after; that you⁺ may remember and do all my commandments, and be holy to your⁺ God. I am Yahweh your⁺ God, who brought you⁺ out of the land of Egypt, to be your⁺ God: I am Yahweh your⁺ God" (Nu 15:37-41). The fringe is given as a memory aid: looking at it brings the commandments to mind and steadies the heart from straying.

Reaffirmed in Deuteronomy

The same instruction is repeated in Deuteronomy in shorter form: "You will make yourself fringes on the four borders of your vesture, with which you cover yourself" (De 22:12). The four corners of the outer garment are the locus.

The border of Jesus' garment

In the gospels the same garment-edge is the point sufferers reach for. The woman with the discharge of blood "came behind him, and touched the border of his garment: and immediately the discharge of her blood stopped" (Lu 8:44). The pattern recurs in the wider ministry: "And wherever he entered, into villages, or into cities, or into the country, they laid the sick in the marketplaces, and implored him that they might touch if it were but the border of his garment: and as many as touched him were made whole" (Mr 6:56).