🔢WEB · Numbers 15:38
What does Numbers 15:38 mean?
"“Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them that they should 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:"
— Numbers 15:38 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
Yahweh said to Moses, “The man shall surely be put to death. All the congregation shall stone him with stones outside of the camp.”
All the congregation brought him outside of the camp, and stoned him to death with stones, as Yahweh commanded Moses.
Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
“Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them that they should 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 shall be to you for a fringe, that you may look on it, and remember all Yahweh’s commandments, and do them; and that you don’ t follow your own heart and your own eyes, after which you use to play the prostitute;
so 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.”
Explanation
Numbers 15:38 records a command that God gave to Moses to relay to the people of Israel: they were to make tassels or fringes on the corners of their garments, and to weave a blue (or violet-blue) cord into each fringe. In plain language, this was an instruction for ordinary Israelites to attach a specific, visible marker to the clothes they wore every day, generation after generation, so that this practice would become a lasting, defining feature of their national and religious identity.
The context is important for understanding why this command was given. Numbers 15 comes shortly after the account in Numbers 13–14, where the Israelites, having heard the fearful report of the ten spies, rebelled against God and refused to trust him to bring them into the promised land. As a result, that generation was condemned to wander in the wilderness for forty years. In the aftermath of this failure of faith, God gives a series of instructions in Numbers 15, including this one about fringes, which serve as a corrective and a reminder. The immediate audience was Moses, who was to speak this word to "the children of Israel" — the whole community, not just priests or leaders, meaning this was meant to shape the daily life of every Israelite household.
Theologically, the fringe and blue cord functioned as a visual and physical aid to memory and obedience. The verse that follows (Numbers 15:39) explains the purpose explicitly: the Israelites were to look at the fringe and remember all the commandments of the Lord, so that they would not go about following the impulses of their own hearts and eyes, as they had just done in trusting the fearful sp
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