1434. gedil
Lexical Summary
gedil: Tassel, fringe

Original Word: גְּדִל
Part of Speech: Noun Masculine
Transliteration: gdil
Pronunciation: guh-DEEL
Phonetic Spelling: (ghed-eel')
KJV: fringe, wreath
NASB: tassels, twisted threads
Word Origin: [from H1431 (גָּדַל - grew) (in the sense of twisting)]

1. a thread
2. a tassel or garland

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
fringe, wreath

From gadal (in the sense of twisting); thread, i.e. A tassel or festoon -- fringe, wreath.

see HEBREW gadal

NAS Exhaustive Concordance
Word Origin
from gadal
Definition
twisted threads
NASB Translation
tassels (1), twisted threads (1).

Brown-Driver-Briggs
גְּדִלִים noun [masculine] plural twisted threads (Late Hebrew גְּדִיל, Babylonian gidlu, cord on which onions were strung, a string of onions, ZehnpfBAS i. 511; Aramaic גְּדִילָא, thread, cord, rope, also plaited locks, id.) —

1 tassels Deuteronomy 22:12 on border of garment ("" צִיצִת Numbers 15:38,39).

2 festoons, on capitals of columns 1 Kings 7:17.

Topical Lexicon
Overview

The term גְּדִל appears only twice in the Old Testament yet bridges two very different settings—personal clothing (Deuteronomy 22:12) and monumental architecture (1 Kings 7:17). In both contexts it denotes an intentionally twisted or plaited feature, visually striking and purposefully crafted. Whether hanging from a garment or crowning a bronze pillar, the גְּדִל functions as a visible reminder that order, beauty, and covenant fidelity belong together in the life of God’s people.

Occurrences in Scripture

1. Deuteronomy 22:12 – “You are to make tassels on the four corners of the cloak you wear.”
2. 1 Kings 7:17 – Solomon’s craftsmen fashioned “network” or chainwork of bronze to encircle the capitals atop the Temple’s pillars.

Symbolism in Covenant Memory

The Mosaic command attaches גְּדִל to the outer garment so that every movement of the wearer stirs a call to obedience. Though Numbers 15:38 speaks of “tassels” with a different term, Deuteronomy’s use of גְּדִל intensifies the thought: the twist itself depicts intertwining allegiance—heart, soul, and strength—wrapped around daily life (Deuteronomy 6:4–9). The tassel, brushed by wind and sun, becomes a teaching aid as parents instruct children “when you walk along the road” (Deuteronomy 6:7). Thus, גְּדִל serves catechesis through craft.

Architectural Ornamentation

In Solomon’s Temple the same concept ascends seventy feet above the courtyard, woven into bronze chains girdling the lily-shaped capitals of Jachin and Boaz. The sanctuary where Israel meets her God is crowned with visual theology: what hangs from a cloak now encircles pillars that proclaim stability and establishment (1 Kings 7:21). The workmanship says what words later affirm—“Holiness adorns Your house, O LORD” (Psalm 93:5).

Later Biblical and Theological Echoes

1. The prophets frequently picture Israel’s faithfulness as ornamental beauty (Isaiah 61:10; Ezekiel 16:10–14). The Temple גְּדִל supplies an earlier architectural precedent for that imagery.
2. Jesus, fulfilling the Law, wears “the fringe of His cloak” that sufferers touch in faith (Matthew 14:36). While the Gospel writers employ the Greek κράσπεδον, the conceptual root reaches back to Deuteronomy’s גְּדִל: a Messiah faithfully keeping Torah becomes the conduit of healing.
3. Revelation 1:13 depicts the glorified Christ girded with a golden sash, again wedding ornament to priestly identity.

Practical Ministry Reflection

• Discipleship: Visible reminders—whether Scripture art, prayer cards, or even clothing choices—can imitate the pedagogical purpose of the tassel, keeping God’s commands before the eyes and hearts of believers.
• Corporate Worship: The Temple chains encourage craftsmanship that points upward. Church architecture, music, and liturgy likewise transmit doctrine by beauty, embodying the principle that form should preach as clearly as words.
• Holiness and Integrity: The same aesthetic appears in the hidden place (the closet) and the public square (the sanctuary), pressing the lesson that private devotion and public witness must be woven from the same strands of obedience.

Christological Fulfillment and New Testament Application

The Law’s tassel finds its telos in Christ, whose perfect obedience turns symbolic cords into channels of grace. In Him the believer is “clothed with power from on high” (Luke 24:49) and built into “a spiritual house” (1 Peter 2:5). The dual appearance of גְּדִל—in garment and in Temple—thus converges in the church, a people both dressed in righteousness (Revelation 19:8) and erected as God’s dwelling (Ephesians 2:21–22).

Summary

גְּדִל threads covenant memory into the fabric of daily life and crowns covenant worship atop pillars of bronze. From Sinai’s slopes to Solomon’s courts, from the hem of Jesus’ robe to the architecture of Christian worship, its twisted strands witness that beauty and obedience belong together under the reign of the LORD.

Forms and Transliterations
גְּדִלִ֖ים גְּדִלִים֙ גדלים gə·ḏi·lîm gediLim gəḏilîm
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Englishman's Concordance
Deuteronomy 22:12
HEB: גְּדִלִ֖ים תַּעֲשֶׂה־ לָּ֑ךְ
NAS: You shall make yourself tassels on the four
KJV: Thou shalt make thee fringes upon the four
INT: tassels shall make on

1 Kings 7:17
HEB: מַעֲשֵׂ֣ה שְׂבָכָ֗ה גְּדִלִים֙ מַעֲשֵׂ֣ה שַׁרְשְׁר֔וֹת
NAS: [There were] nets of network and twisted threads of chainwork
KJV: work, and wreaths of chain
INT: work nets and twisted work of chain

2 Occurrences

Strong's Hebrew 1434
2 Occurrences


gə·ḏi·lîm — 2 Occ.

1433
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