Numbers 15:39

Translations

Modern

These will serve as tassels for you to look at, so that you may remember all the commandments of the LORD, that you may obey them and not prostitute yourselves by following your own heart and your own eyes.

Traditional

And it shall be unto you for a fringe, that ye may look upon it, and remember all the commandments of the Lord, and do them; and that ye seek not after your own heart and your own eyes, after which ye use to go a whoring:

Literal

And you shall have the tassel, that you may look upon it and remember all the commandments of YHWH and do them, and that you do not follow after your own heart and your own eyes, after them to which you are inclined to prostitute yourselves.

Latin

…quas cum viderint, recordentur omnium mandatorum Domini, nec sequantur cogitationes suas et oculos per res varias fornicantes,

Original

Hebrew

English

These will serve as tassels for you to look at, so that you may remember all the commandments of the LORD, that you may obey them and not prostitute yourselves by following your own heart and your own eyes.

Notes

Numbers 15:37–41

If the Hebrews had remembered their special relationship with the Lord, they might have avoided the problems in Numbers. The tassels reminded Israel of their unique bond with a holy God and his expectations. He had freed his people from Egypt. Consistent with his call to a covenant relationship, he expected them to observe the law (see Deuteronomy 6:6–9; Matthew 9:20; 14:36; 23:5).
The color blue was a sign of royalty, which means kingship or rule. It also reminded the people of God’s holiness.

Numbers 15:1–41

Chapters 1–14 cover a short time period, but chapter 15 marks the start of a long period. This is the main part of the forty years in the wilderness, about which little is known. There are references to events during this time (for example, Deuteronomy 8:2–6; 29:5–6; Joshua 5:4–8; Ezekiel 20:10–26; Amos 5:25–26; Acts 7:42–43).

During this period, Moses continued to give laws to guide Israel’s life as a nation. These laws would be especially important in the future. They were meant for the day when the people who survived the wilderness would enter the promised land.

This chapter addresses three main types of laws. Numbers 15 is in the middle of stories about a stubborn and disobedient Israel. It offers hope that the promised land still waited for the next generation of Israel’s people.

Related verses

Psalm 106:39
They defiled themselves by their actions and prostituted themselves by their deeds.
Psalm 73:27
Those far from You will surely perish; You destroy all who are unfaithful to You.
Proverbs 28:26
He who trusts in himself is a fool, but one who walks in wisdom will be safe.
Ezekiel 6:9
Then in the nations to which they have been carried captive, your survivors will remember Me—how I have been grieved by their adulterous hearts that turned away from Me, and by their eyes that lusted after idols. So they will loathe themselves for the evil they have done and for all their abominations.
Proverbs 3:1
My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments;
Exodus 13:9
It shall be a sign for you on your hand and a reminder on your forehead that the Law of the LORD is to be on your lips. For with a mighty hand the LORD brought you out of Egypt.
Ecclesiastes 11:9
Rejoice, O young man, while you are young, and let your heart be glad in the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and in the sight of your eyes, but know that for all these things God will bring you to judgment.
Job 31:7
If my steps have turned from the path, if my heart has followed my eyes, or if impurity has stuck to my hands,
Deuteronomy 4:23
Be careful that you do not forget the covenant of the LORD your God that He made with you; do not make an idol for yourselves in the form of anything He has forbidden you.
Deuteronomy 29:19
…because when such a person hears the words of this oath, he invokes a blessing on himself, saying, ‘I will have peace, even though I walk in the stubbornness of my own heart.’ This will bring disaster on the watered land as well as the dry.
James 4:4
You adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever chooses to be a friend of the world renders himself an enemy of God.
Exodus 34:15–16
Do not make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, for when they prostitute themselves to their gods and sacrifice to them, they will invite you, and you will eat their sacrifices.

Glossary

Biblical Concept of Law Deuteronomy, Book of Judaism Numbers, Book of Synagogue Wilderness Wanderings

Topics

Colors: Blue: Symbol of Deity Fringes: Prescribed for the Vesture Worn by the Israelites Instruction by Object Lessons: Fringes on the Borders of Garments Instruction in Religion Obedience: Enjoined The Color Blue Token: A Fringe

Numbers 15:39

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