Numbers 15:37
in Numbers 15Later, the LORD said to Moses,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying,
KJV
And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
⋯
This verse in Numbers 15
Commentary
3 notes on this verseAnd the Lord spoke unto Moses,.... After the giving of the above laws, and the order for stoning the sabbath breaker; and the rather what follows is connected with them, because it was to put them in mind of these and all other commands; and of so much importance is the precept directed to, that the Jews say, and Jarchi particularly, that it is equivalent to all the commands, and which he makes to be the reason of its being placed here: saying; as follows.
This site's exposition
And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
on Numbers 15:37-41
The fringes come with their reason attached, that ye may look upon it and remember all the commandments, and Deuteronomy 22:12 repeats the command without repeating the reason. The verb behind seek not after your own heart and your own eyes in verse 39 is the verb used of the spies sent to search out the land at 13:2, which sets this rule two chapters from the search that ruined them. Matthew 9:20 has a woman touch the border of the Lord's garment and Matthew 23:5 has him charge the Pharisees with enlarging theirs. The chapter closes on the sentence that opened the ten commandments at Exodus 20:2, I am the Lord your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
21 Of the first of your dough ye shall give unto the L ORD an heave offering in your generations. Full instructions given concerning the meat-offerings and drink-offerings, which were appendages to all the sacrifices of animals. The beginning of this law is very encouraging: When you come into the land of your habitation which I give unto you, they you shall do so and so,
How the passage was read
On Numbers 15:37-41On Numbers 15:37-41
The tassels Jesus Himself wore
This passage commands tzitzit: tassels tied to the four corners of one's garment, with a thread of blue, “that you may look upon it and remember all the commandments of the LORD.” Observant Jews keep the command to this day on the tallit, the fringed prayer shawl worn in synagogue, and many wear a fringed undergarment daily. The Mishnah records that when the blue dye became unobtainable, the white threads alone still fulfill the command: the absence of the sky-blue “does not prevent” the white (Menachot 4:1), which is why most tassels today are all white.
Two Gospel moments turn on this passage. The woman who touched “the hem of his garment” (Matthew 9:20) took hold of the kraspedon, the tassel: she reached for the corner of Jesus' garment where the commandment hangs, which means Jesus wore tzitzit. And His woe against fringes “made long” (Matthew 23:5) targets enlarging the tassels for show; the practice itself was His own.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
The words behind it
5 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּ֥אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| יְהוָ֖ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| מֹשֶׁ֥ה | mosheh | Moses | H4872 → | 765 times |
| לֵּאמֹֽר׃ | lemor | <to> saying | H559 → | 5305 times |
וַיֹּ֥אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
יְהוָ֖הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
מֹשֶׁ֥הMoses
moshehH4872 →765 times
לֵּאמֹֽר׃<to> saying
lemorH559 →5305 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Numbers
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.