DRESS
sents
the
prevailing
type
of
tunic
among
tlie
Hebrews
of
tlie
earlier
period
at
least,
since
a
third
variety,
fitted
with
long
and
wide
sleeves
and
reaching
to
the
ground,
was
evidently
restricted
to
the
upper
and
wealthier
classes.
This
is
the
'
tunic
of
(i.e.
reaching
to)
palms
and
soles'
worn
by
Joseph
and
the
royal
princess
Tamar
(see
above),
more
familiar
as
the
'coat
of
many
(or
diverse)
colours,'
a
rendering
which
represents
a
now
generally
abandoned
tradition.
In
Josephus'
day
the
long
white
linen
tunic,
which
was
the
chief
garment
of
the
ordinary
priesthood,
had
sleeves
which
for
practical
reasons
were
tied
to
the
arms
(Jos.
Ant.
iii.
vli.
2).
By
this
time,
also,
it
had
become
usual
even
among
the
lower
ranks
of
the
people
to
wear
an
under
tunic
or
real
shirt
(tft.
xvii.
v.
7;
Mishna,
passim,
where
this
garment
is
named
chBlUk).
In
this
case
the
upper
tunic,
the
kuUoneth
proper,
would
be
taken
off
at
night
(Ca
5S).
The
ordinary
tunic
was
made
in
at
least
three
ways.
(1)
It
might
consist
of
two
similar
pieces
of
woollen
or
linen
cloth
cut
from
a
larger
web,
which
were
sewed
together
along
the
sides
and
top.
(2)
The
material
for
a
single
tunic
might
be
woven
on
the
loom,
and
after-wards
put
together
without
cutting,
in
the
manner
of
the
Egyptian
tunics
described
and
figured
in
Smith's
Diet,
of
Or.
and
Rom.
Antiq.'
s.v.
'Tunica'
(ii.
904).
(3)
As
we
know
from
the
description
of
the
chitBn
worn
by
our
Lord
at
the
time
of
His
Passion
(Jn
19"),
and
from
other
sources,
a
third
variety
was
woven
'
without
seam'
on
a
special
loom
(see
Spinning
and
Weaving)
and
required
no
further
adjustment.
The
garment
intended
by
the
'coats'
of
Dn
3='-
"
(AV)
is
uncertain.
Most
recent
authorities
favour
mantles
(so
AVm;
RV
has
'hosen,'
wh.
see).
For
the
'coat
of
mail'
see
Ahmouk,
2
(c).
3.
The
Girdle.
—
Almost
as
indispensable
as
the
tunic
was
the
girdle,
which
varied
in
material
and
workman-ship
from
a
simple
rope
(Is
3'"
RV)
to
the
rich
and
elaborate
waist-belt
of
the
priests,
and
the
'golden
girdles'
of
Rev
I's
15'.
Usually
it
consisted
of
a
long
strip
of
cloth,
folded
several
times
and
wound
round
the
waist
above
the
tunic,
with
or
without
the
ends
hanging
down
in
front.
When
work
or
a
journey
was
in
contemplation,
the
girdle
was
put
on,
and
part
of
the
tunic
drawn
up
till
it
hung
over
in
folds.
Hence
this
operation
of
'girding
the
loins'
became
a
figure
for
energetic
action.
The
girdle
served
also
as.
a
sword-belt
(2
S
20');
through
it
was
stuck
the
writer's
inkhorn
(EzkQ'-
"),
while
its
folds
served
as
a
purse
(Mt
10'
RVm).
'The
special
priests'
girdle,
termed
'abmt
(Ex
28'
and
oft.),
was
a
richly
embroidered
sash
wound
several
times
round
the
waist,
according
to
Josephus,
and
tied
in
front,
the
ends
falUng
to
the
ankles.
4.
Upper
Garments.
—
While
the
kuttoneth
or
tunic
was
the
garment
in
which
the
work
of
the
day
was
done
(see
Mt
24>8
RV,
Mk
13"
RV),
men
and
women
alike
possessed
a
second
garment,
which
served
as
a
protection
against
inclement
weather
by
day
and
as
a
covering
by
night
(Ex
22»').
The
two
are
sharply
distin-guished
in
the
familiar
saying
of
Jesus:
'If
any
man
sue
thee
at
the
law
and
take
away
thy
coat
(chitBn),
let
him
have
thy
cloke
(himation)
also'
(Mt
S").
(o)
The
commonest
name
for
this
upper
garment
in
OT
is
sitnlah
or
salmah.
The
«lmlah
was
almost
cer-tainly
a
large
rectangular
piece
of
cloth,
in
most
cases
of
wool,
in
more
special
cases
of
linen.
It
was
thus
the
exact
counterpart
of
the
himation
of
the
Greeks,
which
we
have
seen
to
be
its
NT
name,
and
the
pallium
of
the
Romans.
Like
them,
it
belonged
not
to
the
class
of
endumata
or
garments
'
put
on,'
as
the
tunic,
but
to
the
periblemata
or
garments
'
wrapped
round
'
the
body.
Since
this
view
is
at
variance
with
that
of
acknowledged
authorities
on
the
subject
(Nowack,
Benzinger,
Mackle
in
art.
'
Dresa
'
in
Hastings'
DB
i.
625),
who
identify
the
simlah
with
the
modem
'aba,
the
coarse
loose
overcoat
of
the
modem
Syrian
peasantry,
the
groimds
on
which
it
is
based
may
be
DRESS
here
briefly
set
forth.
(1)
If
the
parallel
passages.
Ex
22«'-and
Dt
24"i-
"
on
the
one
hand,
and
Nu
15=8
and
Dt
221"
on
the
other,
are
compared
in
the
original,
it
will
be
foimd
that
three
terms
are
used
indiscriminately
for
the
ordinary
upper
garment
of
the
Hebrews,
and,
further,
that
this
gar-ment
had
four
corners,
to
each
of
which
a
tassel
had
to
be
attached
(see
more
fully
Fkinges)
—
a
detail
which
suggests
a
plain
f
our-comered
plaid
Uke
the
himation,
not
a
made-up
garment
like
the
chiton
ot
the*
aba.
(2)
The
incident
of
the
sick
woman
in
Mt
9""
and
parallel
passages,
who
reached
forward
in
the
crowd
to
touch
the
tassel
of
Jesus'
himation
from
behind,
Bixov/a
that
the
Jewish
upper
garment
waa
still
worn
by
being
wrapped
round
the
body,
over
the
back
from
left
to
right,
with
one
comer
and
its
tassel
falling
over
the
left
shoulder,
(3)
The
shape
of
the
simple
oblong
tallilh
or
prayer-shawl
of
the
modem
Jews,
with
its
four
tassels,
which
is
the
direct
descendant
of
the
8im.lah
and
the
more
recent
taUith
ai
the
Mishna,
is
in
favour
of
the
former
having
the
shape
now
advocated.
(4)
'The
clear
distinction
in
N'T
already
referred
to,
between
the
two
principal
garments
of
the
Jews,
confirms
the
conclusion'that
the
typical
Jewish
upper
garment
closely
resembled,
if
it
was
not
identical
with,
the
garment
known
as
the
himation
throughout
the
Greek-
speaking
world.
In
our
EV
the
simlah
is
concealed
from
the
English
reader
under
a
variety
of
renderings.
Thus,
to
give
but
a
few
illustrations,
it
is
the
'
garment
'
with
which
Noah's
nakedness
was
covered
in
Gn
9'',
and
the
'
clothes
'
in
which
the
Hebrews
bound
up
their
kneading-troughs
(Ex
12'<);
it
is
the
'garment'
of
Gideon
in
Jg
8»,
and
the
'raiment'
of
Ruth
(3');
just
as
the
himation
of
NT
is
not
only
the
'
cloke
'
of
Mt
5",
but
the
'clothes'
of
Mt
24i8
(but
RV
'cloke');
the
'gar-ment
'
of
Mk
13i«,
and
so
on.
(6)
Another
variety
of
upper
garment,
known
as
the
me'
U,
is
mentioned
only
in
connexion
with
men
of
high
social
position
or
of
the
priestly
order.
It
is
the
robe
of
Saul
—
the
skirt
(lit.
'corner')
of
which
was
cut
o£E
by
David
(1
S
24'")—
of
Jonathan
(18«),
and
of
Ezra
(Ezr
9'-
'),
the
Uttle
'coat'
of
the
boy-priest
Samuel
(1
S
2*'),
and
his
'mantle'
at
a
later
stage
(15^').
RV
has
'robe'
for
me'll
throughout.
Wherein
did
the
me'U
differ
from
the
simlah/
From
its
constant
association
with
men
of
rank,
we
should
expect
it
to
be
of
a
more
elaborate
and
ornate
descrip-tion.
The
violet
'
robe
of
the
ephod
'
prescribed
for
the
high
priest
(Ex
28"«-
392«)
had
'a
hole
for
the
head
in
the
midst
thereof,
as
it
were
the
hole
of
a
coat
of
mail,'
and
was
trimmed
with
an
elaborate
ball-and-bell
fringe.
Now
on
the
black
obelisk
of
Shalmaneser,
the
bearers
of
Jehu's
tribute,
nobles
of
Samaria
doubtless,
are
represented
wearing
over
their
tunics
a
similar
fringed
and
sleeveless
garment,
open
at
the
sides,
and
resem-bling,
if
not
identical
with,
the
upper
garment
of
Assyrian
kings
and
dignitaries
of
state,
which
may
with
some
confidence
be
identified
with
the
me'
U.
The
latter,
then,
seems
to
have
been
a
piece
of
cloth
of
superior
material
and
workmanship,
in
the
shape
of
a
magnified
chest-
protector,
worn
over
the
tunic
like
a
priest's
chasuble,
and
reaching
almost
to
the
ankles.
It
probably
came
to
the
Hebrews
from
Babylonia
through
the
medium
of
the
Canaanites,
and
survives
to-day
in
the
'little
tallith'
or
arba
kanphoth
of
the
Jews
(see
Fringes).
By
the
time
of
Josephus,
the
high
priest's
me'U
had
become
a
sleeveless
and
seamless
upper
tunic
(Jos,
Ant.
III.
vii.
4).
(c)
A
third
variety
of
upper
garment,
the
'addereth,
appears
to
have
been
the
distinctive
garment
of
the
prophets
(see
Zee
13'
RV
'hairy
mantle').
EUjah's
mantle,
in
particular,
is
always
so
named.
The
latter,
according
to
the
Gr.
version
of
Kings,
was
made
of
sheepskin,
with
the
wool
outside
(cf.
2
K
1*
RVm
and
Gn
25^
'hairy
garment').
It
may,
however,
have
been
of
goats'
or
camels'
hair,
as
in
the
case
of
John
the
Baptist
(Mt
3',
Mk
1«).
(,d)
Among
the
products
of
the
domestic
loom
was
a
fourth
garment,
the
sadJn
(Pr
31").
From
the
Mishna
we
learn
that
it
was
a
plain
sheet
of
fine
linen
with
tassels,
which
could
be
used
as
a
light
upper
garment.
