Numbers 15:39

KJV1611 – Modern English

And it shall be for you a fringe, that you may look upon it and remember all the commandments of the LORD, and do them; and that you do not follow after your own heart and your own eyes, in which you used to go astray:

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

וְהָיָ֣ה לָכֶם֮ לְצִיצִת֒ וּרְאִיתֶ֣ם אֹת֗וֹ וּזְכַרְתֶּם֙ אֶת־כָּל־מִצְוֺ֣ת יְהוָ֔ה וַעֲשִׂיתֶ֖ם אֹתָ֑ם וְלֹֽא־תָתֻ֜רוּ אַחֲרֵ֤י לְבַבְכֶם֙ וְאַחֲרֵ֣י עֵֽינֵיכֶ֔ם אֲשֶׁר־אַתֶּ֥ם זֹנִ֖ים אַחֲרֵיהֶֽם

Transliteration

wə-hāyāh to-you for-ṣîṣit û-rəʾîtem ʾōtô û-zəḵartem ʾet-all-miṣwōt YHWH wa-ʿăśîtem ʾōtām wə-lōʾ-tātūrû after ləḇaḇḵem and-after ʿênêḵem which-you zōnîm after-them

Grammar Details

• *wə-hāyāh*: waw-consecutive + perfect, 3rd masculine singular - and it shall be
• *ṣîṣit*: feminine singular noun - tassel/fringe
• *û-rəʾîtem*: waw-conjunctive + perfect, 2nd masculine plural - and you shall see
• *ʾōtô*: direct object marker with 3rd masculine singular suffix - it
• *û-zəḵartem*: waw-conjunctive + perfect, 2nd masculine plural - and you shall remember
• *ʾet*: direct object marker
• *miṣwōt*: feminine plural construct - commandments of
• *YHWH*: proper noun - the LORD
• *wa-ʿăśîtem*: waw-consecutive + perfect, 2nd masculine plural - and you shall do
• *ʾōtām*: direct object marker with 3rd masculine plural suffix - them
• *wə-lōʾ*: waw-conjunctive + negative particle - and not
• *tātūrû*: imperfect, 2nd masculine plural - you shall search/follow
• *ləḇaḇḵem*: masculine singular noun with 2nd masculine plural suffix - your heart
• *ʿênêḵem*: feminine dual noun with 2nd masculine plural suffix - your eyes
• *zōnîm*: participle, masculine plural - going astray/being unfaithful

Word Meanings

• *ṣîṣit*: tassel/fringe/thread
• *tātūrû*: follow/explore/seek out/spy
• *zōnîm*: committing harlotry/being unfaithful/straying/whoring

Other Translations

• Linguistic Bible Translation from Source Texts

  These tassels will serve as a reminder. When you see them, you will remember all the commandments of the Lord and obey them. You will not follow the desires of your own heart and eyes, which lead you astray.

• King James Version 1769 (Standard Version)

  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:

• American Standard Version with Strong's Numbers

  and it shall be unto you for a fringe,{H6734} that ye may look{H7200} upon it, and remember{H2142} all the commandments{H4687} of Jehovah,{H3068} and do{H6213} them; and that ye follow{H8446} not after{H310} your own heart{H3824} and your own eyes,{H5869} after{H310} which ye use to play the harlot;{H2181}

• King James Version with Strong's Numbers

  And it shall be unto you for a fringe{H6734}, that ye may look{H7200}{(H8804)} upon it, and remember{H2142}{(H8804)} all the commandments{H4687} of the LORD{H3068}, and do{H6213}{(H8804)} them; and that ye seek{H8446}{(H8799)} not after{H310} your own heart{H3824} and your own eyes{H5869}, after{H310} which ye use to go a whoring{H2181}{(H8802)}:

• Tyndale Bible (1526/1534)

  And the garde shall be vnto you to loke apon it that ye remembre all the commaundmentes of the Lorde and doo them that ye seke not a maye after youre awne hertes and after youre awne eyes for to god a whooringe after them:

• Coverdale Bible (1535)

  And ye gardes shal serue you, yt ye maye loke vpon the, and remembre all the comaundementes of the LORDE, & do them: that ye order not youre selues after ye meanynge of youre awne hert, ner go awhorynge after youre awne eyes.

• Geneva Bible (1560)

  And ye shall haue the fringes, that when ye looke vpon them, ye may remember all the commandemets of the Lord, & do them: & that ye seeke not after your own heart, nor after your owne eyes, after the which ye go a whoring;

• Bishops' Bible (1568)

  And the fringe shalbe vnto you to loke vpon, that ye may remember all the comaundementes of the Lorde, and do them: and that ye seeke not after your owne heart, or your owne eyes, after the which ye vse to go a whoryng.

• Authorized King James Version (1611)

  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:

• Webster's Bible (1833)

  and it shall be to you for a fringe, that you may look on it, and remember all the commandments of Yahweh, and do them; and that you not follow after your own heart and your own eyes, after which you use to play the prostitute;

• Young's Literal Translation (1862/1898)

  and it hath been to you for a fringe, and ye have seen it, and have remembered all the commands of Jehovah, and have done them, and ye search not after your heart, and after your eyes, after which ye are going a-whoring;

• American Standard Version (1901)

  and it shall be unto you for a fringe, that ye may look upon it, and remember all the commandments of Jehovah, and do them; and that ye follow not after your own heart and your own eyes, after which ye use to play the harlot;

• American Standard Version (1901)

  and it shall be unto you for a fringe, that ye may look upon it, and remember all the commandments of Jehovah, and do them; and that ye follow not after your own heart and your own eyes, after which ye use to play the harlot;

• Bible in Basic English (1941)

  So that, looking on these ornaments, you may keep in mind the orders of the Lord and do them; and not be guided by the desires of your hearts and eyes, through which you have been untrue to me:

• World English Bible (2000)

  and it shall be to you for a fringe, that you may look on it, and remember all the commandments of Yahweh, and do them; and that you not follow after your own heart and your own eyes, after which you use to play the prostitute;

• NET Bible® (New English Translation)

  You must have this tassel so that you may look at it and remember all the commandments of the LORD and obey them and so that you do not follow after your own heart and your own eyes that lead you to unfaithfulness.

Referenced Verses

• Ps 73:27 : 27 For indeed, those who are far from You shall perish; You have destroyed all those who are unfaithful to You.
• Ezek 6:9 : 9 And those of you who escape shall remember me among the nations where they are carried captive, because I am grieved by their adulterous heart, which has departed from me, and by their eyes, which go lusting after their idols; and they shall loathe themselves for the evils which they have committed in all their abominations.
• Eccl 11:9 : 9 Rejoice, 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 things God will bring you into judgment.
• Ps 106:39 : 39 Thus they were defiled with their own works, and played the harlot with their own inventions.
• Job 31:7 : 7 If my step has turned out of the way, and my heart walked after my eyes, and if any stain has cleaved to my hands;
• Prov 3:1 : 1 My son, do not forget my law; but let your heart keep my commandments:
• Prov 28:26 : 26 He who trusts in his own heart is a fool, but whoever walks wisely shall be delivered.
• Jer 9:14 : 14 But have walked after the imagination of their own heart, and after Baalim, which their fathers taught them:
• Hos 2:2 : 2 Plead with your mother, plead: for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband: let her therefore put away her whoredoms out of her sight, and her adulteries from between her breasts;
• Jas 4:4 : 4 You adulterers and adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore, whoever wants to be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.
• Exod 13:9 : 9 And it shall be for a sign to you upon your hand, and for a memorial between your eyes, that the LORD'S law may be in your mouth: for with a strong hand the LORD brought you out of Egypt.
• Exod 34:15-16 : 15 Lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they go whoring after their gods, and do sacrifice to their gods, and one of them invites you, and you eat his sacrifice. 16 And you take their daughters for your sons, and their daughters go whoring after their gods, and make your sons go whoring after their gods.
• Deut 4:23 : 23 Take heed to yourselves, lest you forget the covenant of the LORD your God, which he made with you, and make for yourselves a carved image, or the likeness of anything, which the LORD your God has forbidden you.
• Deut 6:6-9 : 6 And these words, which I command you this day, shall be in your heart: 7 And you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up. 8 And you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
• Deut 6:12 : 12 Then beware, lest you forget the LORD, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.
• Deut 11:18-21 : 18 Therefore, you shall lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them as a sign on your hand, so they may be as frontlets between your eyes. 19 And you shall teach them to your children, speaking of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. 20 And you shall write them upon the doorposts of your house, and upon your gates: 21 That your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven upon the earth.
• Deut 11:28-32 : 28 And a curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside from the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which you have not known. 29 And it shall come to pass, when the LORD your God has brought you into the land which you go to possess, that you shall put the blessing upon Mount Gerizim, and the curse upon Mount Ebal. 30 Are they not on the other side of the Jordan, by the way where the sun goes down, in the land of the Canaanites, who dwell in the plain over against Gilgal, beside the plains of Moreh? 31 For you shall pass over the Jordan to go in to possess the land which the LORD your God gives you, and you shall possess it and dwell in it. 32 And you shall observe to do all the statutes and judgments which I set before you this day.
• Deut 29:19 : 19 And it comes to pass, when he hears the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of my heart, to add drunkenness to thirst: