Dress and Clothing in the Hebrew Bible

"For All Her Household Are Clothed in Crimson"

Antonios Finitsis, Antonios Finitsis

• Publisher: T&T Clark
• Year: 2019
• ISBN:
  9780567689764
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Teología y religión
• Subtopic: Estudios bíblicos

Built upon the flourishing study of costume, this book analyses sartorial evidence provided both by texts of the ancient Near East and the Hebrew Bible. The essays within lend clarity to the link between material and ideological, examining the tradition of dress, the different types of literature that reference the tradition of garments, and the people for whom such literature was written. The contributors explore sources that illuminate the social, psychological, aesthetic, ideological and symbolic meanings of clothing. The topics covered range from the relationship between clothing, kingship and power, to the symbolic significance of the high priestly regalia and the concept of garments as deception and defiance, while also considering the tendency to omit or ignore descriptions of YHWH's clothing. Following a historical sequence, the essays cross-reference with each other to create a milestone in biblical sartorial study.

1

YHWH’S CLOTHING, KINGSHIP, AND POWER: ORIGINS AND VESTIGES IN COMPARATIVE ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN CONTEXTS

Shawn W. Flynn

The rhetorical function of dress in the Israelite religion and the HB is difficult to capture. Yet the perspectives of colleagues in this volume identify multiple types and uses of dress. These gradients of dress, and identifying their different functions, no doubt help in the task of reading and interpretation, thus changing our expectations and opening integrative possibilities when dress is referenced. Let us consider three main categories operative in this volume and situate the approach here accordingly. At times dress is referenced in the HB with no intention or meaning behind the physical reference. One ought to allow that this occurs and need not force additional meaning onto dress in those texts. At other times dress is a metaphor and, as such, holds a communicative function in the narrative.¹ As Imes notes in this volume, the priestly garment “provides a visual lexicon that partly explains the absence of an image in the Israelite cult.”² One can easily determine this second category if the question of the function of dress in a narrative contributes something to the text’s meaning. Consider Koeing and Starbuck as examples of this category. A final possible category is a constitutive function of dress.³ Like the second category, this third one has all the features of communicative power, but the dress itself moves beyond the symbolic to hold its own power. As readers engage with this volume, it is helpful to ask which of these three categories are being discussed and when the authors are moving between them in a single study. In this chapter, the question of dress for deities oscillates between the second and third categories. Here the ANE function of divine dress has a constitutive role, and the HB echoes some of that function in expressions of YHWHism while strategically moving YHWH’s clothing from the third category into the second category.

The communicative power of dress in ancient texts is evident not only for humans but also for deities. For example, in Mesopotamian ritual and mythological texts, divine dress plays an important role that solidifies a deity’s power and sphere of authority. The temple statue was always dressed and accompanied by ritualistic ceremony for the needs of the god incarnated in that divine statue.⁴ Comparatively, YHWH is expressed with clothing only in rare cases, and there is neither a corresponding statue nor ritual texts to illuminate the function of that dress.⁵ Thus, how does one understand the rare references to YHWH’s clothing in the HB? Despite this obvious gap there are important points of contact between the Israelite and Mesopotamian use of divine garments and how each tradition relates the garment to divine power and divine kingship. These points of contact elucidate the function of YHWH’s clothing in the HB and demonstrate one of the ways YHWH’s kingship and power was expressed, albeit rarely.

This study addresses three areas to better understand the origins of YHWH’s clothing and what impact divine dress had for ancient Israelites. First, we study the semantic ranges of different terms for clothing in Hebrew and Akkadian; a linguistic discussion both contributes to this volume and helps envision what type of divine garment (thanks to the iconographical material) is intended in both the Israelite and Mesopotamian contexts. Second, we explore instances in Mesopotamian ritual and mythological texts where divine clothing is connected to divine power. The narrative poem the Descent of Ištar and the mīs pî ritual texts both develop important connections between divine dress and power relevant for understanding a similar connection in the HB. Third, by comparing what deities wear between Marduk, YHWH in Isaiah 6, and selected Psalms, it becomes evident that the rare Israelite use of divine clothing connects clothing to power and at the same time moves away from a reliance on cultic clothing while retaining all the necessary expressions of power and kingship. One might call this a “grammar of dis-preference.”⁶ In this particular study, I argue that the points of contact across Israel and Mesopotamia show how the Israelite tradition found a unique expression of YHWH’s power and stability while avoiding the negative implications of the clothed cultic statue common in the ANE.

Clothing in Akkadian and Hebrew

To understand YHWH’s specific garment in texts like Isaiah 6 and other texts of the HB, a comparison of Hebrew and Akkadian lexemes distinguishes general/common garments from specific/important garments, the latter more relevant for this study. Foster has summarized different types of clothing in the Sargonic period (2334–2154 BCE) and, while this time period is much earlier than ours, his comprehensive discussion provides usefully broad categories.⁷ This introduces how Akkadian expresses different types of clothing, thus informing the same distinctions in Hebrew. In that discussion, Foster also shows that studying clothing and textile terminology is very complex since the connection of the lexeme to its actual textile is often ambiguous.⁸ Therefore, while one must be cautious connecting a lexeme to a specific artifact/image, we can form a general picture of the divine garment.

Foster’s data set shows that the folded, ruffled, or flounced garment always has a body in repose; it is the most commonly used one in divine contexts.⁹ Known as the pala, and used often with nobility, the human king, or the divine king, this type of garment is recognizable in reliefs and is easily distinguished by its lines. The Nabu-apla-iddina stone tablet provides an accessible image of an enthroned deity with this flounced garment.¹⁰ The tablet describes a rededication ceremony of the god Shamash. The corresponding image shows two deities on the relief, one deity enthroned and the smaller deity leading the worshipper to the head deity. Each deity wears some form of the flounced garment. Thus, it is no surprise the corresponding text under the image explains the restoration of the cult statue and as part of that ritual describes a variety of garments offered to the god.¹¹ By undergoing this cultic restoration, the human king participates in an Ebabbar lubuštu ceremony where the gods receive their garments.¹² The ritual use of the flounced garment solidifies the cult statue in their temple and communicates the kingship of the particular deity over their specific sphere of authority and, by extension, the human king’s authority and favor with that god.¹³ Further, the flounced garment on a deity in a cultic context is not limited to a small subset of texts. The connection between divine clothing and the rededication ceremony was widely prevalent. Such ceremonies have a consistent usage, primarily from the 800 BCE, and were still a reference point in later administrative texts until the time of Darius I (550–486 BCE). This provides a consistent reference point within the broader cultural matrix of the biblical authors regardless of when we date the biblical texts.¹⁴

Comparing the flounced pala to more common garments clarifies the pala’s unique use. Unlike the pala, the kilt (ibbaru) allows freedom of movement for farmers, workers, or warriors. The exposed seam of the kilt was usually worn on the right side and was secured by a cord along the waist. Since this was a more common garment, the linguistic connection to this textile is likely ib-ba-ru (worn at the waist)¹⁵ with its corresponding tie known as the iblal or the niglal. This garment did not function to distinguish human from deity since we know warrior gods like Baal also wear the kilt.¹⁶

In this same category one could place the Akkadian šakattu. This was an extended form of the kilt worn in open and closed manners as a longer garment wrapped around the entire body. This is further distinguished by a fringed rectangular piece of cloth that was wrapped around the first piece¹⁷ and possibly an early form of the cloak (kusītu).¹⁸ For example, we see this garment in the Shalmaneser III inscription (black obelisk), the Neo-Assyrian king who wears a form of this garment as does the Israelite king Jehu on the same obelisk. Thus, a decorated version of the longer cloak could indicate status. These other garments are distinct from the flounced pala with its highly stylized features, use in religious and cultic contexts, use for deities, and greater length than other forms of clothing.

A brief overview of Hebrew lexemes for clothing shows a similar distinction between generic and specific types but also opens an important connection between a specific type of garment and its communicative power. The

(simla) is likely a generic term that can have a variety of meanings. Such range makes connecting any specific garment to the lexeme difficult.¹⁹ It may be the outer/overgarment, but its wide range suggests the most appropriate translation would be “clothes.”²⁰ For example,

(simla) occurs in the well-known event where Shem and Japheth walk backwards and cover their father’s nakedness (Gen 9:23) and could, thus, refer to any garment, an overshirt, an undershirt, a kilt, or a robe. The lexeme’s wide range is also evident as the garment changed after mourning, anointing, and washing oneself (2 Sam 12:20; Ruth 3:3) and at the same time is considered a most basic need (Isa 3:7). It may have been the outer most noticeable garment since it was given to Benjamin as a reward along with 300 shekels (Gen 45:22) and in other texts it is associated with wealth (Exod 12:35). This may imply that it is a form of the toga (šaqītu). While it seems to be a generic catchall term, in the HB it is not used to imply the undershirt (šakattu) or the kilt. It is clear there is something else underneath and that a person is not left naked without it. A helpful example is Amos 2:8 that echoes a law from Exod 22:25–26, both of which use

and

. This legal case involves not taking another’s garment as a pledge (perhaps for an outstanding debt owing) and allowing them to retain their outer garment since “if you tak...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Dedication Page
• Contents 
• List of Illustrations
• Foreword
• Acknowledgments
• Abbreviations
• List of Contributors
• Introduction: “For All Her Household are Clothed in Crimson”
• Chapter 1. Yhwh’s Clothing, Kingship, and Power: Origins and Vestiges in Comparative Ancient Near Eastern Contexts
• Chapter 2. Between Two Worlds: The Functional and Symbolic Significance of The High Priestly Regalia
• Chapter 3. Apotropaic Accessories: The People’s Tassels and The High Priest’s Rosette
• Chapter 4. Tamar and Tamar: Clothing as Deception and Defiance
• Chapter 5. Is Saul Among The Philistines? A Portrayal of Israel’s First and Flawed King
• Chapter 6. The Emperor and His Clothing: David Robed and Unrobed Before The Ark and Michal
• Chapter 7. Disrobing an Isaianic Metaphor מְעִיל צְדָקָה (Mě‘îl Ṣěḏāqâ “Robe of Righteousness”) as Power Transfer in Isaiah 61:10
• Chapter 8. Were Yhwh’s Clothes Worth Remembering and Thinking About Among The Literati of Late Persian/Early Hellenistic Judah/Yehud? Observations and Considerations
• Select Bibliography
• Index of Primary Sources
• Index of Subjects
• Imprint