Fringes. The Israelites were commanded to put fringes upon their garments, Numbers 1:15-39, Deuteronomy 22:12, a kind of edging which would prevent the ends of the cloth from unravelling; also in the corners possibly of the outer garment, which was quadrangular, there was to be a narrow blue ribbon. These fringes or borders were in process of time enlarged; and it was one part of the superstition of the Pharisee so to enlarge them as to attract special notice. Matthew 23:5. Hence there was a kind of sacredness attributed to the hem of the garment; and this seems to have been the reason why diseased persons specially desired to touch the hem of Christ's garment. Matthew 9:20, Matthew 14:36, Luke 8:44.