The Profound Significance of Clothing in the Biblical Era

In the ancient Middle East (especially in the areas of Israel, Palestine, Egypt, and Mesopotamia), a person’s outer garment was a relatively heavy robe or cloak. It was made from a large, rectangular piece of coarse wool or linen fabric sewn together, with an opening in the front and two openings for the arms. This outer garment served multiple purposes: it provided protection from rain and cold during the day and could be used as a blanket at night. It was also used to wrap up belongings (Exodus 12:34; 2 Kings 4:39). Because the Israelites never used paintings, carvings, or reliefs to boast about themselves, there is very little visual historical evidence of their clothing outside of the Bible. Modern scholars can only infer what ancient Israelite clothing looked like based on clues from Egyptian murals and Assyrian reliefs, as well as the clothing of other nations in the Middle East.

At that time, clothing, especially the outer garment, was a significant possession and held special meanings:

1、A Symbol of Wealth and Status

An outer garment was often of high value and could be considered an important asset. A poor person might only own one outer garment, which they wore during the day and used as a blanket at night.

2、A Pledge or Guarantee

The Old Testament mentions that sometimes an outer garment could be used as collateral (Exodus 22:26-27). However, the law stipulated that if someone took a poor person’s garment as collateral, it had to be returned by sunset, because it was their only covering for the night.

3、An Emblem of Identity

The style and color of an outer garment often indicated a person’s identity or status (e.g., a priest’s robe, a royal garment). Joseph’s coat of many colors is one such example (Genesis 37:3).

4、Social and Legal Significance

Taking off one’s outer garment often indicated humility or mourning. Spreading one’s outer garment on the ground sometimes signified respect, such as welcoming a king (2 Kings 9:13). In other words, an outer garment at that time was not just “clothing”; it was a necessity for survival, an economic resource, a social identity, and a religious symbol.

Biblical Records:

Genesis 37:3-4 Now Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons, because he had been born to him in his old age; and he made an ornate robe for him. When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him.

Deuteronomy 24:12-13 “If the borrower is poor, do not go to sleep with their garment. You must return it to them at sunset so that they may have it to sleep in. Then they will thank you, and it will be regarded as a righteous act in the sight of the Lord your God.”

Joshua 7:21 “When I saw in the plunder a beautiful robe from Shinar, two hundred shekels of silver and a bar of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them. They are hidden in the ground inside my tent, with the silver underneath.”

Judges 14:19 The Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him so that he went down to Ashkelon, struck down thirty of their men, stripped them of their clothes and gave them to those who had explained the riddle.

Amos 2:8 They lie down beside every altar on garments taken in pledge. In the house of their God they drink wine bought with fines they imposed.