Numbers 15:39

Numbers 15:39 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)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:
• New International Version (NIV)You will have these tassels to look at and so you will remember all the commands of the Lord, that you may obey them and not prostitute yourselves by chasing after the lusts of your own hearts and eyes.
• English Standard Version (ESV)And it shall be a tassel for you to look at and remember all the commandments of the Lord, to do them, not to follow after your own heart and your own eyes, which you are inclined to whore after.
• New Living Translation (NLT)When you see the tassels, you will remember and obey all the commands of the Lord instead of following your own desires and defiling yourselves, as you are prone to do.

Context of Numbers 15:39

37Again the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 38“Speak to the children of Israel: Tell them to make tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and to put a blue thread in the tassels of the corners. And you shall have the tassel, that you may look upon it and remember all the commandments of the Lord and do them, and that you may not follow the harlotry to which your own heart and your own eyes are inclined, 40and that you may remember and do all My commandments, and be holy for your God. 41I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the Lord your God.”

Numbers 15:39 word by word

וְהָיָ֣ה לָכֶם֮ לְצִיצִת֒ וּרְאִיתֶ֣ם אֹת֗וֹ וּזְכַרְתֶּם֙ אֶת־כָּל־מִצְוֹ֣ת יְהוָ֔ה וַעֲשִׂיתֶ֖ם אֹתָ֑ם וְלֹֽא־תָתֻ֜רוּ אַחֲרֵ֤י לְבַבְכֶם֙ וְאַחֲרֵ֣י עֵֽינֵיכֶ֔ם אֲשֶׁר־אַתֶּ֥ם זֹנִ֖ים אַחֲרֵיהֶֽם׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• And it shall be unto you for a fringeצִיצִתtsîytsith · tasselH6734
• that ye may lookרָאָהrâ'âh · to see: seeH7200
• upon it, and rememberזָכַרzâkar · to rememberH2142
• all the commandmentsמִצְוָהmitsvâh · commandmentH4687
• of the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
• and doעָשָׂה‛âώâh · to makeH6213
• them; and that ye seekתּוּרtûr · to spyH8446
• not afterאַחַר'achar · afterH310
• your own heartלֵבָבlêbâb · heartH3824
• and your own eyesעַ֫יִן‛ayin · eyeH5869
• which ye use to go a whoringזָנָהzânâh · to fornicateH2181

Cross-references for Numbers 15:39

• Exodus 13:9It shall be as a sign to you on your hand and as a memorial between your eyes, that the Lord’s law may be in your mouth; for with a strong hand the Lord has brought you out of Egypt.
• Deuteronomy 6:6“And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart.
• Deuteronomy 11:18“Therefore you shall lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.
• Proverbs 3:1My son, do not forget my law, But let your heart keep my commands;
• Deuteronomy 29:19and so it may not happen, when he hears the words of this curse, that he blesses himself in his heart, saying, ‘I shall have peace, even though I follow the dictates of my heart’—as though the drunkard could be included with the sober.
• Job 31:7If my step has turned from the way, Or my heart walked after my eyes, Or if any spot adheres to my hands,
• Proverbs 28:26He who trusts in his own heart is a fool, But whoever walks wisely will be delivered.
• Ecclesiastes 11:9Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, And let your heart cheer you 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 God will bring you into judgment.
• Jeremiah 9:14but they have walked according to the dictates of their own hearts and after the Baals, which their fathers taught them,”
• Ezekiel 6:9Then those of you who escape will remember Me among the nations where they are carried captive, because I was crushed by their adulterous heart which has departed from Me, and by their eyes which play the harlot after their idols; they will loathe themselves for the evils which they committed in all their abominations.
• Exodus 34:15lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they play the harlot with their gods and make sacrifice to their gods, and one of them invites you and you eat of his sacrifice,
• Psalms 73:27For indeed, those who are far from You shall perish; You have destroyed all those who desert You for harlotry.
• Psalms 106:3Blessed are those who keep justice, And he who does righteousness at all times!
• Hosea 2:2“Bring charges against your mother, bring charges; For she is not My wife, nor am I her Husband! Let her put away her harlotries from her sight, And her adulteries from between her breasts;
• James 4:4Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

Commentaries on Numbers 15:39

• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 37-41Verses 37-41 The people are ordered by the Lord to make fringes on the borders of their garments. The Jews were distinguished from their neighbours in their dress, as well as in their diet, and thus taught not to be conformed to the way of the heathen in other things. They proclaimed themselves Jews wherever they were, as not ashamed of God and his law. The fringes were not appointed for trimming and adorning their clothes, but to stir up their minds by…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 37-41If 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…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-411-2. The Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel--Some infer from Nu 15:23 that the date of this communication must be fixed towards the close of the wanderings in the wilderness; and, also, that all the sacrifices prescribed in the law were to be offered only after the settlement in Canaan.Read the comment

Topics related to Numbers 15:39

• Colors
• Fringes
• Instruction
• Obedience
• Token

In the dictionaries

• Dedicate
• Exodus
• Hem
• Presumptuously
• Agrapha
• Chronicles, Books of
• Fringes
• Genealogy
• Leviticus
• Numbers, Book of

Commentaries on Numbers 15

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings