Tallits in the Old Testament
2 Kings 1:8 - An ―hairy" man wearing a leather belt around his waist (Elijah's tallit was made of camel‘s hair) -
indicating priestly garments.
2 Kings 2:13 - Elisha received Elijah's ―mantle‖.
And many more.
Tallits in the New Testament
Note that the New Covenant was written in Greek, and there is no word in Greek for the Hebrew word tallit—
various other names are used. The New Covenant is full of tallits and yet we read over them without even
knowing it. Let‘s look at some examples:
Matt 3:4 – John the Baptist was clothed in ―camels hair‖, and a leather belt around his waist—indicating
priestly garments.
Mark 5:41 – Y‘shua raised the little girl with these words ―Talitha cumi‖. Although ―Talitha‖ refers to the little
girl, it was a Jewish custom to lay a tallit over a sick/dead person. Y‘shua could possibly have meant, ―prayer
shawl (tallit) and that within it (talitha) arise.‖
John 11:44 – Lazarus‘ face was wrapped with a ―napkin‖.
Rev 1:13 – Y‘shua‘s ―garment" down to His feet.
John 20:7 – Y‘shua‘s ―napkin" was wrapped around His head.
Acts 19:12 – Paul‘s‘ ―handkerchief / apron" used to heal the sick.
Rev 19:13 – Y‘shua clothed in a ―robe dipped in blood‖.
The importance of the tallit at Y‘shua HaMashiach‘s appearance
The Roman soldiers cast lots over Y‘shua‘s tallit, but somehow He must have gotten it back because He was
buried in it (John 20:7 - The ―napkin‖, tallit of Y‘shua that had been around His head was folded up and
placed on one side).
When Y‘shua returns at the Second Advent, the Jews will recognise Him – Zech 12:10 says they will see
Him whom they have pierced.
The marks on His hands and feet as well as His ―bloody clothes‖, His tallit will be evidence that they crucified
Him as it is the custom of the Jew to be buried in his bloody clothes. (See the section of Y‘shua‘s tallit folded
up neatly in Matthew chapter 28.)
The day He returns, Y‘shua will wear the clothes that He was murdered in.
Y‘shua will return with his bloody tallit and His names in the four long tzitzitiyot.
From Hebrew to Greek – the Tallit
If the story of Y‘shua‘s miracle in healing the woman ―being with an issue of blood‖ originally existed in
Hebrew, as the Jerusalem School conjectures; then it seems certain that it was not the hem, but one of the
tsi·tsi·YOT of Y‘shua‘s garment that the woman touched.
The Greek word that the King James translators rendered ―hem" is kraspedon. This is the same word that is
used in the Septuagint (the ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures) to translate tzi·TZIT (the
singular of tzi·tzi·YOT). It is found three times in Num 15:37-41, where the wearing of tzi·tzi·YOT is
commanded (Num 15:37-41 is also the last part of the Shema which is declared each day).
In Hebrew, therefore, the story would have been told of the woman touching the tzi·TZIT ta·li·TO, that is the
tzi·tzit (tassel) of his ta·LIT (mantle).
The issue with Y‘shua being a Nazarite and the dead girl
Did the touching of the dead girl make Y‘shua unclean? Before we address the issue, let us look again at
what a Nazarite had to adhere to in Y‘shua‘s time, as was discussed in Matt 2:22- 23 ―That he should be
called a Nazarene‖.
The definition of a "nazir" by Encyclopedia.com: "In the Bible, a man dedicated to God. The Nazarite, after
taking a special vow, abstained from intoxicating beverages, never cut his hair, and avoided corpses. An
inadvertent breach of these rules called for purificatory rites. His vow was for a fixed term (though it could
also be for life), at the end of which he was released. Samuel, the prophet, and Samson were Nazarites. The
name is also spelled Nazirite‖.