What about touching the "Hem" of His garment?
by Dr. S. Chester
11 July 2006
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The Tzetzet
Jewish Robes and Prayer Shawls
Purpose of the Tzetzet
Shalom
Keeping the Commandments. [Exodus 15:26] “and said, ‘If you diligently heed the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the LORD who heals you.’” (NKJ) Exodus 15:26 and other scriptures indicate that being free of disease was one of the benefits of keeping ALL of G_D’s commandments, statutes and judgments. The ‘tassels’ that were to be placed on the bottom of an Israelites robe were to be constant reminders that they were to keep ALL of the L_RD’s commandments.
[Numbers 15:37-39] “The LORD said to Moses, ‘Speak to the Israelites and say to them: 'Throughout the generations to come you are to make tassels on the corners of your garments, with a blue cord on each tassel. 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 going after the lusts of your own hearts and eyes.’” (NIV)
The Tzetzet
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The Hebrew word, generally translated as ‘tassels’ is “tze-tzet”. (The ‘tze’ is pronounced like in tsetse fly.) Strong’s concordance gives the definition of the Hebrew as: 6734 tzitzit (‘tze-tzet'); feminine plural of 6731; floral or wing-like projections, i.e. forelocks of hair, tassels: KJV-- fringes, locks. This must be where the idea of a tassel looking like a “wing” came from. To Dr. Strong a forelock standing out from the hair, on a persons head, was a ‘wing like projection.’ However, no such use of the Hebrew ever directly likens a tze-tze to a wing of any kind.
The Hebrew word for wing, like in Malachi 4:2 is kaw- nawf. Below are two definitions: one from Brown- Driver-Briggs concordance and the other from Strong’s concordance. B-D-B 3671 kanaph- a wing, an extremity, an edge, winged, a border, a corner, a shirt (a) a wing (b) an extremity; a skirt, a corner (of a garment).// Strong’s 3671 kanaph (kaw-nawf'); from 3670; an edge or extremity; specifically (of a bird or army) a wing, (of a garment or bed-clothing) a flap, (of the earth) a quarter, (of a building) a pinnacle:
Thus a “wing” of a garment can be the last fold in a wrap-a-round type robe like what was once worn in the middle east. You can see how someone reading the two definitions in English could come up with a tze-tze being a ‘wing’, when in fact they were cords attached to the ‘wing’ of a robe. Malachi 4:2 would be better translated as: “But to you who fear My name the Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in His garment wing; and you shall go out and grow fat like stall-fed calves.” The healing is tied to the Tzetzes which are looped trough the ‘wing’ of the outer garment. Messiah has arms, NOT wings; but, His garment has ‘wings’.
Jewish Robes and Prayer Shawls
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Jews were to wear robes with four tzetzet; two on the front of the garment - both, left and right, and two on the back of the garment - both left and right, thus the four corners of their robes. A tzetze is made of four white cords, doubled through the eyelet of the garment, braided/wrapped together and knotted at four intervals and with one blue cord in the bundle. The Sephardic intervals of the wrapping are: 10 and 5 and 6 and 5, a combination that represents directly the spelling of the Tetragrammaton (YHVH), the Name of the L_RD.
Prayer shawls (Hebrew: Tallit) came into use when the wearing of robes by men went obsolete. The prayer shawl became like an outer ‘robe’ and was worn in religious settings. At the same time that trousers came in many Jewish men begin to wear a vest like garment under their shirts, (with the tzetzet on the four corners at waist level), when they were in non-religious settings. (This we do to this
day.) This shortened ‘robe’ is called a “kaw-tawn” or small robe/small shawl.
Purpose of the Tzetzet
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The
purpose of the Tzetzet were to remind the Israelites that they were to
keep all of the Commandments of the L_RD. There was a promise involved
with the Tzetzet in Exodus chapter 15. IF an Israelite wore the Tzetzet
and they reminded him to keep all of the Covenant Commandments (and he
kept them), then the L_RD would keep all the “diseases of Egypt” from
him. The reverse side is: if an Israelite IS keeping all the Covenant
Commandments and gets a disease, touching the Tzetzes is to remind G_D of
His promise. [Matthew 9:20-21] And a woman who had been suffering from a
hemorrhage for twelve years, came up behind Him and touched the tzetze on
His robe; for she was saying to herself, "If I only touch one of His
tzetzet, I will be healed." The woman touching the Tzetze on the
‘wing’ of the robe of Messiah Jesus was to remind G_D, in a respectful
way, of His promise to the Israelites. She was a righteous person and by
faith laid claim to a promise of G_D. [Matthew 9:22] But Jesus turned
around, and when He saw her He said, "Be of good cheer, daughter;
your faith has made you well." And the woman was made well from that
hour. (NKJ)
This same type of faith for healing by touching the Tzetzet happened many times in the ministry of Messiah Jesus. [Matthew 14:35-36] And when the men of that place recognized Him, they sent out into all that surrounding region, brought to Him all who
were sick, and begged Him that they might only touch the tzetze of His garment. And as many as touched it were made perfectly well. [Mark 6:56] Wherever He entered, into villages, cities, or the country, they laid the sick in the marketplaces, and begged Him that they might just touch the tzetze of His garment. And as many as touched Him were made well. (NKJ)
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Contact Information
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