Numbers 15:38Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

To help them recall His blessings, God instructed His people, much like children, to adopt practices common among many to prevent forgetfulness. This involved attaching linen or thread to their fingers, signifying the sewing of blue tassels on the corners of their garments down to their feet. These tassels were meant to serve as reminders of the commandments, referred to as "wings." They took special care to create wide bands for these tassels, significantly expanding the wings of their robes, revealing their great pride. Why do you take pride in enlarging them? Is this what you consider true righteousness? Will these embellishments benefit you if you do not heed their reminders? God does not ask you to increase or augment them; He desires that you remember His grace. If acts of charity and fasting, which require effort from us and are manifestations of our good deeds, are not to be glorified, then how can you, O Jew, elevate yourself in practices that highlight your negligence?

Consequently, after wisely instructing us to internalize the law within our hearts, and recognizing the profound distress of the spirit, it is ordained that the commandments should be engraved, in a manner, upon a tablet, at the doorways; further, it is proposed that the writings of the law, complemented by the revelation, be placed upon the right hand. Additionally, it is seen as beneficial for the garments themselves to be adorned with tassels and threads dyed the color of jachon.

It is instructed to create tassels on the edges of the garments, so that when they see them, they may remember the commandments of God.

Why did God instruct the Israelites to attach blue thread to their garments (Num. 15:38)? This blue thread is symbolic of the color of the heavens, serving as a reminder of the Lawgiver who encompasses all creation yet seems to reside in the celestial realm. As it is written, “Heaven is heaven unto the Lord” (Psalms 113:24), and “He that dwelleth in heaven shall laugh at them” (Psalms 2:4). The law also conveys this message, as it states, “Ye shall see the heavens, and remember the commandments of the Lord, which ye shall do, and ye shall not return into the track of your thoughts and... of their thoughts, and of their hairs, and by them ye shall wander in their tracks” (Num. 15:39).

Let them create for themselves a garment with tzitzit on its borders. Disregarding the legends of the Jews, who, based on this command, fashioned a distinctive and unconventional attire, it should be noted that God's directive required the Jews to place threads of blue on the edges of their everyday clothing, as stated in Deut. 22:12. The command does not instruct the formation of a unique garment, but rather the attachment of tzitzit to the edges of an existing one. Some attribute a moral significance to this command, suggesting that by pulling the threads from their garments, which were slit on both sides, the Jews would cover the areas of the body that nature itself indicates should be covered.