There are nine Heb. words or phrases rendered friend in the AV. Those of most frequent occur- rence are connected with the roots 3n^(, expressing affection, and nyi sociability, the most common being y^, rendered 41 times friend, 104 times neighbour, and sometimes companion and fellow. The most usual equivalents in LXX and Vulg. are 0iXos and amicus. As a term of salutation the vocative haipe is three times in NT rendered friend (Mt 20'» 22'= 26'").
Of course tlie term friends sometimes implies no more than political associates or allies, e.g. 1 S 30'-'°, Jer20^-«. A. S. Aglen.
FRINGES (Heb. n-y^ zizlth).—ln the time of our
Lord, the Jews, especially those of the Pharisaic party (cf. esp. Mt 23'), attached the greatest importance to three material reminders or ' sensible signs ' of their obligations under the Law. These were the zizith (EV 'fringes'), the tiphillin or phylacteries (wh. see), and the mizuzah (Dt 6' ll"*) on the doorpost. Of these the first-named was the sign to which the greatest virtue was ascribed. Its observance is first required by the law of Dt (22"), where we read 'Twisted cords (n-V"?, LXX arpeTTTi : AV, KV incorrectly ' fringes,' but RVm ' twisted threads ') shalt thou make thee upon the four comers Cf^rba' kanphOth, AV ' four quarters,' RV 'four borders') of thy mantle (lit. 'covering' as Ex 22" [Heb. ^], see below) wherewitii ti;ou coverest thyself.' The object here termed gidUim acquired later the special designation zizith nT'4, — it IS so rendered by the Targum Jerus. i. (pseudo-
FRINGES
FRINGES
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Jonathan) in Dt 22'^,— for there can be no doubt that we meet the same enactment in an expanded form in tlie priestly legislation : ' And the Lord spake unto Moses saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and bid them that tliey make them fringes * in the borders (so AV, RV ; more correctly ' tassels upon the corners ' ; cf. RVm) of their garments throughout their generations, and that they put upon the fringe of each border {i.e. the tassef of each comer) a cord of blue' (Nu IS"-'*). There can be no question that tlie interjiretation sug- gested by the EV, that a fringe attached to the hem of the garment is intended, is quite erroneous. We have only to turn to Hag 2'^, where a still common Eastern practice is referred to, to see that kdtifiph applied to an article of dress can only mean ' corner ' or loose flowing end of a garment, t Now, the Hebrews seem to have worn as an outer garment a large piece of cloth of the shape of a Scotch plaid (generally called simlah, see Dress), which also served as a covering (ni^s) by night (Ex 22-''').t To the four corners of this garment, then, the ' twisted cords ' of Dt were clearly intended to be fastened. The more extended enactment of the Priestly Code, however, evidently contemplates a more elaborate arrangement of a tassel attached to each corner by a cord of blue. To these tassels the Greek translators give the name Kpd(nrfda, the term exclusively used by the NT writers. It has even found its way into Targ. Onk. (]n2Dra)(cf. Dalm. Gram. Aram. 149) in both passages from the Pentateuch. The simlah was worn like the Greek hlmation, which is its NT equivalent, the loose end being thrown over the left shoulder. It was the zizith attached to this corner (r. Kpacrtridov t. l/iarlou) that was reached with comparative ease by the woman with the issue of blood approaching our Lord in the crowd from behind (Mt t)-", Lk 8").
When we attempt to go behind the prescription of the Torah, there is reason to believe that we have here an ancient custom, § perhaps with originally magical or superstitious associations (see W.R. Smith, ES 41G, note; Nowack, Jleb. Arch. ii. 123) taken up and impressed with a new significance by the Hebrew legislation. Even so late as NT times a special virtue ^^ as supposed to be attached to the ' tassels on the four corners ' (Mt H'", Mk 6°* ; cf. the special sanctity of the four horns of the altar, Lv 4'f-, I K P"'-). To the more spiritually minded, however, they were, as they were intended to be, continual reminders of the obligation resting on J "s people to walk in His Law, and to keep all His commandments (see esp. Nu 15^- ■"').
With the ch.ange in the fashion of the outer garments of the Jews, and with the increasing frequency and cruelty of heathen and Christian persecution, the Jews gradiially ceased to ■near the tassels in the way prescribed by the original legislation. A special article of clothing was devised of the shape of a modem chest-protector — one p.art covering tlio breast, the other the back — with the necessary aperture in the centre for the head to pass tlirough. This garment, to which the names of {aJlith (n-V?) and 'arba kayiphuth (Dt 22'-) were gi^en, had the tassels attached to its four corners, and was worn as an undergarment, a practice still observed by all orthodo.\ Jews. The more zealous, however, wear it so that one or
• The MT haa here ns*s in the siugular, but probably we ought to read with the Samaritan nvy'y ; cf. LXX Mpinnlet.