BIBLE DICTIONARY
Hem of Garment

An important part of an Israelite's dress, owing to the regulation of Num. 15: 38-39. It was really a tassel at each "wing" or corner of the tallith or mantle (Matt. 14: 36). The law required that it should be bound with a thread of blue, the color of heaven. The strict Jews to this day wear these tassels, though they are usually concealed. The Pharisees made them conspicuously large (Matt. 23: 5). It would be the tassel that hung over the shoulder at the back that the woman with the issue of blood came and touched (Luke 8: 44; also Ex. 28: 33-34).