Christopher Gerdes

Pentateuch 2
10 May 2010

The Clothing of Adam, Aaron, and the Christian,

in Christ
In the beginning Adam “and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed” (Gen.

2:25). But after they disobeyed God; “the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they

were naked ‫ֵֽיר ִּ֖מם‬

ֺ ‫ע‬. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths ‫”חֲג ֵֹֽר ֹת‬

(Gen. 3:7). And so the first clothes are made, so that man could cover his nakedness. But most

interestingly after God pronounces judgment upon the Serpent, the woman and Adam, he then

makes ‫“ כָתְ ֹ֥נ ֹות ִּ֖ע ֹור‬tunics of skin” for them ‫“ ַויַלְבשֵֽם‬and he clothes them” (Gen 3:21).

I will argue that this ‫“ לבש‬clothing” of Adam and Eve with ‫“ כָתְ ֹ֥נ ֹות ִּ֖ע ֹור‬garments of skins”

just before their expulsion from Eden along with the ‫“ לבש‬clothing” of Aaron the High Priest

with ‫ַמְּעיל‬
ִ֔ ‫“ ה‬the robe” are prefiguring Χπιζηὸν ἐνεδύζαζθε “being clothed in Christ”, which Paul

tells us is equivalent to baptism. ὅζοι βὰπ εἰρ Χπιζηὸν ἐααπηίζθηηε, Χπιζηὸν ἐνεδύζαζθε (Gal

3:27).

It is my contention that Paul does not develop this idea of Χπιζηὸν ἐνεδύζαζθε “being

clothed with Christ”, apart from the Christological teaching of the Law and the Prophets, indeed

Paul‟s, and Jesus‟ Scriptures. Foundational to this understanding of being ἐνεδύζαζθε “clothed”

with Christ is the account of the Creation and the Fall in Genesis. Therefore it is necessary to

understand first the Hebrew usage of garments to shed light and understanding upon God‟s work

of salvation in Christ. It must also be noted that God consistently works through tangible means

to affect salvation for his people. These means are many and varied, but throughout the Hebrew

Scriptures one finds some specific themes which carry the Gospel such as the Garments which
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Pentateuch 1
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play such a key role in many of the significant events of Scripture.1 It is not within the scope of

this paper to study all of these in-depth, instead we will focus particularly on 2‫כֺתֹנֶת‬, 3‫ מְּעיל‬and ‫לבׁש‬

and their counterparts in the LXX σιηών4, ὑποδύηηρ,5 διπλοΐρ,6 and ἐνδύυ.

We may begin by noting that there are only three places in which ‫כֺתֹנֶת‬, ‫ מְעיל‬and ‫ לבש‬all

converge that is in the description of the production of the Priestly vestments (Exodus 29:5), the

ordination of the Priesthood (Leviticus 8:7), and in the account of the rape of Tamar (2 Samuel

13:18).

The Priests’ Garments

It will be helpful to begin in Exodus 28 where the Lord instructs Moses in the

manufacture of the priestly garments. Here Moses lists the ‫( ַה ְבג ִָ֜דים‬ζηολὴν ηὴν ἁβίαν)

“garments” that were to be made for Aaron, the High Priest, to wear when he is serving in the

tabernacle: ‫“ ֹ֤ח ֹשֶן‬a breast piece,” ‫" אפ ֹוד‬an ephod," ‫" מ ְִ֔עיל‬a robe,” ‫" כ ְֹ֥ת ֹנֶת תַ שְ ִּ֖בץ‬a coat of checker

work," ‫" מצ ֶ ְֶ֣נפֶת‬a turban,” ‫" ַאבְנֵ֑ט‬a sash” (Exodus 28:4). The prescription of Exodus 28 finds it

1 The Fall and expulsion from the Garden (Gen 3:21), the passing of the blessing from Isaac to Jacob (Gen 27), The Joseph
Narratives (Gen 37-50 especially 37-41), the giving of the Mosaic Law (Ex. 19), The clothing of the Priests (Ex. 28-29,
31, 35, 39-40; Lev. 6-8, 13, 16; Isa. 59-61Ezek. 42-44), Especially the Garments with which God clothes his Bride
Israel in Ezek. 16, In the New Testament the Wedding garment (Matt. 22, clothing of Jesus which has healing power
(Matt 9, 14; Mark 5-6; Luke 8), The white garments of the saints (Zech. 3; Rev 3-4), and the list could go on.
2 tunic, a long shirtlike garment, usually of linen (Gen 37:3; II Sam 15:32; Isa 22:21). Adam‟s was made of fur (Gen 3:21). Also
worn by women (II Sam 13:18; Song 5:3). Worn especially by priests (Ex 28:4; 29:5; 39:27; Lev 8:7; 10:5; Ezr 2:69;
Neh 7:69). (Cf. Akkadian kitinnu or kitintu, a linen garment made from kitū linen; the Aramaic kittûnā˒ is the same as
the Hebrew.) The word was borrowed by the Greek σιηών>.
3Robe, cloke, mantle. This type of clothing may refer to part of the priestly vestments worn by the high priest to cover the ephod.
Like a shawl there was a hole in the middle, hence to be pulled over the head. It was also worn by men of repute;
Samuel, I Sam 28:14 (in Sheol at that ); Saul, I Sam 24:5; David, I Chr 15:27; Ezra, Ezr 9:3; Job, Job 1:20 (and David‟s
daughters, II Sam 13:18). For figurative usages cf. Isa 59:17; 61:10; Job 29:14; Ps 109:29. The relationship of m l to
ina˒al is uncertain. One suggestion is to relate the ideas of “covering” and “acting unfaithfully” i.e., sinning in secret or
under cover, on the analogy of Hebrew bāg al “to act treacherously” and beged “garment” (Palache: see bibliography).
4 I. the garment worn next the skin, a frock, Lat. tunica: 1. in early times, a man's frock, Hom.; sometimes with a girdle, and
reaching to the feet （ηεπμιόειρ）, Od.; of linen, id=Od.; over it was worn a mantle （θᾶπορ, σλαῖνα）, which was laid
aside in the house. 2. in later times we hear of two sorts of σιηών, the Ionian and the Dorian;—the Ionian like the
Homeric, but worn by women, as well as men, Hdt.; disused by the men about the time of Pericles, Thuc.;—Dorian
adopted at Athens when the Ionian was laid aside. The Dorian σιηών was also worn by Spartan women, being open at
the side （ζσιζηόρ）, and fastened with πεπόναι, Hdt.—Over this σιηών was worn the ἱμάηιον. II. of soldiers, a coat of
mail, of leather covered with scales or rings, Il., Hdt. III. the upper leather of a shoe, in pl., Xen. IV. metaph. any coat,
case, or covering, λάφνορ σιηών (v. λάφνορ）; ηεισέυν κιθῶνερ, i. e. walls, Hdt.; of a serpent's skin, Eur. Middle Liddell.
5 garment worn under a coat of mail, PEnteux.32.6 (iii B. C.), D.S.17.44, Plu.Phil.11; simply undergarment, LXX
Ex.28.(27）31, IG5(1).1390.20 (Andania, i B. C.), J.BJ5.5.7. LSJ.
6 a double cloak, like δίπλαξ, Anth. Middle Liddell.

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completion in Exodus 39 when the garments are made “as the LORD had commanded Moses”

(Exodus 39:1, 5, 7, 21, 26, 29, 31).7

The remainder of Exodus 28 describes in detail each of these items and their purpose to

some degree. ‫“ מְעֹ֥יל הָא ִּ֖פ ֹוד‬the robe of the ephod” is to be entirely blue of a single piece of cloth

with an opening for the head and with bells and pomegranates around its hem (Exodus 28:31-

35). ‫ש ִּ֖בץ‬
ְ ַ‫" כ ְֹ֥ת ֹנֶת ת‬the coat of checker work" is simply of fine linen, but the ‫“ כ ְֹ֥ת ֹנֶת‬coat” is also to

be made for the sons of Aaron.

The LORD commands Moses to make these ‫י־ק ֹדֶ ש‬

ִּ֖ ‫ בגְד‬for Aaron for ‫“ כ ִָּ֖ב ֹוד‬honor/glory”

and for ‫“ תפְאָ ֵֶֽרת‬splendor/beauty” the garments for Aaron‟s sons were also made for glory and for

splendor (Exodus 28:2, 40). There is a heightened significance to the ‫“ אפ ֹוד‬ephod” the ‫ֹ֤ח ֹשֶן‬

“breast piece” and the ‫“ מצ ֶ ְֶ֣נפֶת‬turban.” It is through these three items that Aaron bears the people

of Israel before the Lord. By the ‫“ אפ ֹוד‬ephod” he bears the names of the sons of Israel upon his

shoulders “for remembrance” (Exodus 28:12). By the ‫שפָט‬

ְ ‫“ ֹ֤ח ֹשֶן מ‬beast piece of judgment” Aaron

bears the judgment of the people of Israel before the Lord regularly (Exodus 28:30). Upon the

‫“ מצ ֶ ְֶ֣נפֶת‬turban” there is to be fastened a gold plate with ‫“ ִּ֖ק ֹדֶ ש לַ ֵֽיהוָ ֵֽה‬Holy to the LORD” engraved

upon it, it is by his wearing of this plate and the “turban” that Aaron is to “bear any guilt from

the holy things that the people of Israel consecrate as their holy gifts”, in this way the gifts

become acceptable before the LORD (Exodus 28:38). Therefore Aaron is to bear the sons of

Israel upon his shoulders, their judgment upon his heart, and the guilt of their holy offerings

upon his forehead.

7 The LXX drastically shortens Exodus 39 leaving out the details of the manufacture of the garments, and instead summarizes by
saying that they made them as the Lord had commanded.

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The remaining articles of the ‫( ַה ְבג ִָ֜דים‬ζηολὴν ηὴν ἁβίαν) “garments” do not have specific

significance subscribed to them in Exodus but as we will see develop their significance

throughout scripture in a more organic way.

Consecration of the Priests

With the Lord‟s prescription for the Ordination of the Priests we get the first and second

of the three occasions where ‫כֺתֹנֶת‬, ‫ מְעיל‬and ‫ לבש‬all converge in one location in Holy Scripture.

The prescription in Exodus 29 coincides with the actual ordination in Leviticus 8 and so I will

treat the two together here. Moses is to bring all the elements for the ordination along with

Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the tent of meeting. There he is to “wash them in water,”

next Moses is to take the garments and ‫" ה ְל ַבש ָ ְֹ֤ת‬dress” Aaron in the ‫“ כֺתֹנֶת‬tunic,” in the ‫מ ְֶ֣עיל הָא ִ֔פ ֹד‬

“robe of the ephod,” in the ‫" הָא ִּ֖פ ֹד‬ephod,” in the ‫“ ה ֵַ֑ח ֹשֶן‬breast piece,” and in the ‫שב הָאפֵֹֽד‬
ֶ ‫ב ְִּ֖ח‬

“skillfully woven band of ephod” (Exodus 29:5).

Leviticus 8 differs slightly in the order of the garments put on Aaron and in the verbs

used, ‫“ נתן‬give/put” with all but ‫מ ְֶ֣עיל‬, and ‫“ חגר‬bind/gird” rather than ‫לבש‬. The most significant

variant between the command and the carrying out seems to be that ‫ לבש‬is only used with ‫מְעיל‬
ֶ֣

“robe,” while Moses clothed Aaron with the ‫“ מ ְֶ֣עיל‬robe” he put upon him all the other vestments.

The LXX alters the first ‫ וַי ֵּ֨תן ָע ִָ֜ליו‬by translating it ἐνέδςζεν “clothe” and thereby having Moses

ἐνέδςζεν “clothe” Aaron with both the ‫“ כֺתֹנֶת‬tunic,” and the ‫“ מ ְֶ֣עיל‬robe (ὑποδύηην).” Kleinig has

this to say about the “woolen robe,” the “ephod,” the “breast piece,” and the “holy diadem:”

These four articles of clothing, worn by the high priest as he officiated daily in the
Holy Place, resembled the material used to construct the tabernacle and so
corresponded in their sanctity to its inner parts. By means of his regalia, the high
priest was “clothed” with God‟s holiness on his head (the holy diadem), just as he
bore the whole nation on his heart (the breast piece) before the Lord in the Holy
Place.

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The vestments of the priests were important ritual insignia. They functioned
symbolically and effectively in their ritual context. They did not just symbolize
the office of the priest with its responsibilities, status, authority, and power. They
actually conferred that holy office on the priest when he was invested with them
and empowered them in its exercise (cf. Num 20:28).8

Tamar; violated daughter of David

The final convergence in the Hebrew text, for our three focus words is in the account of

the rape of Tamar (2 Sam. 13:18). ‫שן ָ בְנ ֹות־הַמֶ ֶּ֛ לְֶך ַהבְתּולִּ֖ ת מְעילֵ֑ים‬
ְ ‫“ ְו ָע ֶלי ָה כ ְֶ֣ת ֹנֶת פ ִַ֔סים כ ֩י ֵּ֨כן תל ַ ְַּ֧ב‬she had on

a long sleeve robe because thus did the virgin daughters of the king wear robes.” This is the

most interesting of the three convergences because it seems to be an out of place editorial note,

as noted by translators who put the sentence in parentheses.9 It would seem that the story would

flow smother without the abrupt parenthetical note, and the note seems to add nothing to the

understanding of the text its self.

The text here indicates an equivalence of the two kinds of garments we are studying

specifically the ‫ מְעילֵ֑ים‬and the ‫“ כ ְֶ֣ת ֹנֶת פ ִַ֔סים‬long sleeve robe” which only appear together here.

‫“ כ ְֶ֣ת ֹנֶת פ ִַ֔סים‬long sleeve „tunic‟” only occurs elsewhere in Gen 37:3 in identifying Josephs‟ „robe

of many colors.‟ It perhaps should also be noted that Joseph is also a virgin and the son of “a

king,” and Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers while Tamar was raped by her brother.

The parallels are indeed striking, and it is even more striking when one considers how the

description of Tamar‟s clothing interrupts the narrative, and really seems out of place. Luther

also noticed the parallel between Joseph and Tamar at least in regard to the clothing, which he

believed to be the white priestly garments and not a “coat of many colors.” 10

8 Kleinig 198.
9
NRSV, many other translations change the order of the phrases so that she is put out and then the editorial note is added prior to
the story continuing with her tearing her long robe.
10 “It appears, however, that Tamar‟s robe, in whose story alone this word ‫ פַסים‬occurs, was white. She must have worn a
beautiful white smock. Then also I am influenced by the description of priestly attire in Moses, who first assigns to
them an undergarment reaching to the thigh, and then a shirt, a “cowl. … Thirdly, there is added the priestly or

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Luther too saw the similarity between these two passages, and he believes these garments to

be white garments saying:

This word, moreover, is found nowhere else in Holy Scripture except in 2 Sam.
13, about Tamar, whom her brother Amnon defiled. For in that place the text
says: “She put ashes on her head and rent her polymitam robe, her ‫פַסים‬.” “For
with such cloaks (‫ )מְעילים‬the virgin daughters of the king were clad of old” (cf. 2
Sam. 13:18, 19). I would like to interpret it as a beautiful white smock, a white
garment such as was in use in oriental regions, in which the most beautiful and
most distinguished garment was white and made of linen.11
Luther saw in all these disconnected garments the baptismal garment of the believer that

is the ‫ בגְּדֵ י־ ִֶ֔יׁשַע מְּעִ֥יל צְּדָ ָ ָ֖קה‬with which we are clothed at baptism. He sees in Paul‟s ἐνδύζαζθε ηὸν

κύπιον Ἰηζοῦν Χπιζηὸν (Rom 13:14, cf. Gal 3:27) as the very same ‫ בגְּדֵ י־ ִֶ֔יׁשַע מְּעִ֥יל צְּדָ ָ ָ֖קה‬which are

the same as the white robes of the saints in revelation, and the same as the blue robes of the

Priests, and the robe of Tamar, and of Joseph. It is the same as the robe of Saul, David, and

Samuel. It is in short the robe of the church, the distinction between the varying words for

garments are less important than the unity of the garment itself, hence the ‫“ מְּעִ֥יל ָה ֵא ָ֖פ ֹוד‬the robe of

the ephod” is to be entirely blue of a single piece of cloth with an opening for the head and with

bells and pomegranates around its hem (Exodus 28:31-35). Luther says of this baptismal

garment: “Therefore let all Christians regard their baptism as the daily garment that they are to

wear all the time. Every day they should be found in faith and with its fruits, suppressing the old

creature and growing up in the new.”12

pontifical robe. The high priest also had a ‫ מְּעיל‬that was completely hyacinthine, the beautiful pure yellow silken gown!
The robe of the high priest alone was tawny, or the color of gold. Samuel‟s garment which was brought to him by his
mother was like this, although it was a different color, a choir gown. For ‫ מְּעיל‬was white or silver-colored, and it was
also permissible for others to use it. But the high priest alone was adorned with the hyacinthine or gold color. Job, for
example, tore his ‫( מְּעיל‬Job 1:20). David also cut a piece from Saul‟s ‫ מְּעיל‬in the cave (1 Sam. 24:4), and from this we
conclude that it was a royal adornment and belonging to the nobles who among the Orientals did not wear chains and
purple garments but linen ones. The Jews did not use silk but skins, in this matter imitating Adam and Eve.” Martin
Luther, vol. 6, Luther's Works, Vol. 6 : Lectures on Genesis: Chapters 31-37, ed. Jaroslav Jan Pelikan, Hilton C.
Oswald and Helmut T. Lehmann, Luther's Works (Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1999, c1970), 6:324.
11Martin Luther, vol. 6, Luther's Works, Vol. 6 : Lectures on Genesis: Chapters 31-37, ed. Jaroslav Jan Pelikan, Hilton C.
Oswald and Helmut T. Lehmann, Luther's Works (Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1999, c1970), 6:323.
12
Robert Kolb, Timothy J. Wengert and Charles P. Arand, The Book of Concord : The Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran
Church (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2000), 466.

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This correlation is then strengthened by the LXX in its translation of Isaiah 61:10 where

it renders ‫שני בגְדי־ ִֶ֔ישַע מְעֹ֥יל צְדָ ָ ִּ֖קה‬

ַ ‫ כֹ֤י הלְבי‬as ἐνέδςζεν βάπ με ἱμάηιον ζυηηπίος καὶ σιηῶνα

εὐθποζύνηρ,13 this translation offers significant weight to the argument for a very close

correlation between ‫ מְעֹ֥יל‬and ‫ כ ְֶ֣ת ֹנֶת‬because only very rarely is ‫ כ ְֶ֣ת ֹנֶת‬not translated as σιηών which

seems to be a transliteration of ‫כ ְֶ֣ת ֹנֶת‬.14 Notice that here the hiphil of ‫ לבש‬is used indicating that

the LORD will cause me to be clothed, just as in Gen 3:21.

Luther too likes to draw a correlation between the many garments in Holy Scriptures, in

his lectures on Genesis chapter 37 he says this.

Therefore, let me be permitted to draw a conclusion and to hazard a guess,

namely, that Jacob made the cloak for his very dear son as the future heir and
priest and by this he honored him above the others and in this way distinguished
him from his brothers. For it was a priestly robe of the kind that Hannah in 1 Sam.
2:19 brought to Samuel, a short shirt, a ‫ מְעיל‬like the one Tamar had on. I would
be prepared to say that Joseph‟s robe was such a ‫מְעיל‬. In this way the clothing of
the angels is also depicted as being very white and made up of many linen
threads. I believe also that Christ‟s cloak was similar, the one without seam,
which his mother Mary wove, a cloak made by weaving. In all of Scripture ‫ ְמעיל‬is
a very celebrated word in the appearances of angels and likewise at the
transfiguration of Christ. His face shone like the sun and His garments became
white as snow (Matt. 17:2; Mark 9:3); and likewise the raiment of the angel at
Christ‟s tomb was white as snow (Matt. 28:3). Solomon, moreover, says: “Let
your garments be always white as snow” (cf. Eccles. 9:8). In Moses the
magistrates are called Horim, that is, those clad in white, from their white
garments, just as the nobility could be called torquata (“adorned with neck-
chains”) from the golden chains with which it is adorned. In the same manner,
accordingly, Jacob seems to have adorned Joseph with a special white, priestly
garment that he might signify his special love towards his son and his future
dignity as a result of the priesthood. But if anyone wishes to retain the former
interpretation, that it is a garment of different colors, I shall not quarrel with
him.15

‫ֻּכתֹּנֶ ת‬ (σιηών)

13 Though εὐθποζύνηρ seems to obscure the Hebrew ‫צְּדָ ָ ָ֖קה‬

14
Isaiah 22:21 seems to be the only place where ‫ כ ְֹּ֣תנֶת‬is not translated σιηών but instead as ζηολήν. See also Levin, Saul.
Grassmann’s “Law” In The Early Semitic Loan-word citw,n ciqw,n. Studi Micenei Ed Egeo-Anatolici. vol. 8 1969.
15
Martin Luther, vol. 6, Luther's Works, Vol. 6 : Lectures on Genesis: Chapters 31-37, ed. Jaroslav Jan Pelikan, Hilton C. Oswald
and Helmut T. Lehmann, Luther's Works (Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1999, c1970), 6:323.

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‫ כֺתֹנֶת‬is used of the garments made for Adam and his wife in the garden just before they

are expelled (Gen 3:21). There is some difficulty in the rendering of ‫ כָתְ ֹ֥נ ֹות ִּ֖ע ֹור‬which has

attributed to a varied interpretation, especially among the Jewish exegetes, such as the Targums,

and the Rabbis, who tend to take it as garments created ex nihilo,16 from the skin that the serpent

had shed17 or even simply as human skin.18 It was also very popular to posit that, in spite of Gen

2:25 saying that Adam and Eve were ashamed, they were never the less clothed in glory before

the fall. Therefore their loss of the covering of glory leads to their seeing that they are naked 19.

However, Methodius argues against such a notion in the Gnostics saying: “Before the

preparation of these coats of skins, the first man himself acknowledges that he has both bones

and flesh; for when he saw the woman brought to him: “This is now,” he cried, “bone of my

bone and flesh of my flesh.” And again: “She shall be called Woman, because she was taken out

of man. For this cause shall unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.‟”20 Generally the

Christian tradition has interpreted them as formed from the skins of animals,21 thereby

prefiguring the sacrificial system, and ultimately Christ‟s atoning sacrifice on our behalf.

Therefore it is wholly appropriate for St. Paul to say that in our baptism we ἐνεδύζαζθε “put on”

Christ (Gal. 3:27). However, it is generally agreed among the ancients that the Clothing of

16 Rubin traces the usage of the „mythical garment“ of Adam through the Patriarchs down to the tribe of Levi and shows that
some Rabbis have expected the Messiah to where this same “mythical garment.” Rubin, Nissan, and Admiel Kosman.
1997. "The Clothing of the Primordial Adam as a Symbol of Apocalyptic Time in the Midrashic Sources." Harvard
Theological Review 90, no. 2: 155. ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials, EBSCOhost (accessed February 14,
2010) 170-74.
17 Targum Pseudo-Jonathan
18 Those who read the text as normal human skin begin by positing that Adam was not really naked before the fall but was
instead covered in some garment of glory or the like, which was lost in the fall and replaced by the skin we have now.
For more on this see: Anderson, Gary A. The Garments of Skin in Apocryphal Narrative and Biblical Commentary, in
Kugel, James L. Studies in Ancient Midrash. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Center for Jewish Studies, 2001
101-143.
19 Cf. Cave of Treasures
20Alexander Roberts, James Donaldson and A. Cleveland Coxe, The Ante-Nicene Fathers Vol. VI : Translations of the Writings
of the Fathers Down to A.D. 325, Fathers of the Third Century: Gregory Thaumaturgus, Dionysius The Great, Julius
Africanus, Anatolius and Minor Writers, Methodius, Arnobius. (Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, 1997), 364.
21 Note especially John Chrysostom, Luther, Calvin, and many modern Christian interpreters also Sarna, Nahum M. Genesis =
Be-Reshit : the Traditional Hebrew Text with New JPS Translation. The JPS Torah commentary. Philadelphia: Jewish
Publication Society, 1989, 29.

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Adam and Eve was very significant at least because of God‟s provision for them, though many

see much more than just a provision of clothing.

‫ כֺתֹנֶת‬is also used of the garment that Jacob gave to Joseph (Gen 37)22 and of the priestly

garments which God specified for Aaron and his sons to wear as they offer sacrifices (Ex 28:4,

39; 29:5, 8; 39:2723; 40:14; Lev. 8:7, 13; 10:5; 16:4; Ezra 2:69; Neh 7:69, 71).

‫ כֺתֹנֶת‬is also used in 2 Samuel 15:32 of the garment of Hushai the Archite, friend of

David. The last three times it is used all on the surface seem not to offer any additional

significance to a sacramental reading of ‫ כֺתֹנֶת‬because of their poetic character, but deserve

mention here (Job 30:18; Song 5:3; Isa 22:2124).

Special attention must also be given to the usage of σιηών in the New Testament,

especially John 19:23 where the evangelist takes significant effort to first offer a σιηών in place

of ἱμαηιζμόν in his application of Psalm 22 to Jesus‟ Passion, and second to describe the σιηών as

“seamless woven from the top,” ὁ σιηὼν ἄπαθορ, ἐκ ηῶν ἄνυθεν ὑθανηὸρ διʼ ὅλος. Pemberton

argues based on second century archeological evidence that the σιηὼν ἄπαθορ could not be

intended to declare Christ to be the High Priest.25 However, her focus on ἄπαθορ as the

distinctive element of the high priestly garment fails to recognize that it is the σιηών, which

makes this garment distinctive, in its connection with the ‫ כָתְ ֹ֥נ ֹות ִּ֖ע ֹור‬of Adam and Eve and to the

‫ כֺתֹנֶת‬of the Priests, and to the ‫ כ ְֶ֣ת ֹנֶת פ ִַ֔סים‬of Joseph (Gen 37) and the virgin daughters of the king

(2 Sam 13:18-19). The description of the σιηών also bears a resemblance with the ‫“ מְּעִ֥יל ָה ֵא ָ֖פ ֹוד‬the

22 Chapter 37 also has the highest density with ‫ כֺתֹנֶת‬occurring 8 times (Gen 37:3, 23(x2), 31 (x2), 32 (x2), & 33 (x2).
23 This seems to correspond with Ex 36:34 in the LXX, These portions of Exodus don‟t match up between the LXX and the MT.
24 In Isa 22:21 the translators of the LXX rendered ‫ כֺתֹנֶת‬as ηὴν ζηολήν and this is the only time that the LXX does not translated
it as σιηών.
25 “In particular, they [archaeological finds of garments] show that the seamless garment of Jesus does not support an
interpretation of him as high priest; his seamless garment, on the contrary, demonstrates a lack of concern with ritual
purity.” Pemberton, Elizabeth G. 2006. "The seamless garment: a note on John 19:23-24." Australian Biblical Review
54, 50. ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials, EBSCOhost (accessed February 14, 2010).

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robe of the ephod” which is prescribed for Aaron the High Priest, it is to be entirely blue of a

single piece of cloth with an opening for the head (Exodus 28:31-35). Pemberton argues:

The Author of the Fourth Gospel believed that the two-paneled tunic worn by
some Jewish males in his time, a garment indicative of concern with ritual purity,
would not have been worn by Jesus. Whether the author envisaged Jesus‟ tunic to
be a single large clothe of Graeco-Roman style, or one fully circular garment, is
irrelevant: the importance lies in its seamless nature. Thus, any comparison with
the seamless tunic of the high priest is inappropriate, because, as noted above, this
is one of the garments worn after ritual purification. In John‟s account, Jesus‟
garment is not similar to, but, in fact, contrasts with that of the high priest.26
However, that the seamless garment is worn after purification is precisely the point; John

is clearly painting Jesus as the high priest and the lamb sacrificed. Jesus is the lamb of the

Passover whose blood marks the house of Israel, and he is also the sacrificial lamb of Yom

Kippur whose blood sprinkled on the mercy seat atones for the sin of all Israel. Jesus is also

shown as the high priest who enters behind the curtain into the Holy of Holies to intercede on our

behalf (John 17). Further Jesus had been purified when he was washed in the Jordan in his

baptism, from that point on he was making preparation to enter behind the veil as our High Priest

(John 10, 12). Also it should be noted that Jesus as the Son of God and the author of the Law

was the one perfectly righteous man who lived by the Law (Gal 3).

Jesus also uses σιηών in the sermon on the mount (Matt. 5:40; and its parallel in Luke

6:29), again when Jesus sends out the disciples he tells them not to take two σιηών (Matt. 10:10;

Mark 6:9; Luke 9:3), and John the Baptist tells the crowds “Whoever has δύο σιηῶναρ is to share

with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise” (Luke 3:11). It appears again in

regard to the σιηῶναρ καὶ ἱμάηια made by Dorcas, when Peter raises her from the dead (Acts.

9:39). Finally the last occurrence of σιηών is in Jude 23 “save others by snatching them out of

26 Pemberton, 55. (Emphasis hers)

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the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even ηὸν ἀπὸ ηῆρ ζαπκὸρ ἐζπιλυμένον σιηῶνα

„the garment stained by the flesh.‟”

‫( ְמ ִעיל‬ὑποδύηηρ, διπλοΐρ)
In addition to the three places occasions where ‫כֺתֹנֶת‬, ‫ מְּעיל‬and ‫ לבׁש‬all converge there are

numerous other occurrences of ‫ מְּעיל‬which need to be examined. The first of these is the little

robes which Hanna brought to Samuel each year when she came to worship in the temple (1 Sam

2:19). ‫ מְּעיל‬is also used of the robe that Jonathan strips off and gives to David along with his

armor, sword, bow, and belt (1 Sam 18:4).27

Saul also wears a ‫ מְּעיל‬and David cuts off the corner of it (1 Sam 24:5, 12). David is also

wore a ‫ מְּעיל‬specifically when he brings the Ark of God to Jerusalem. He was ‫ ְּמכ ְֺּר ָבָּ֣ל‬28 “wrapped

up” in a ‫( מְּעיל‬1 Chr 15:27). Samuel also wears a ‫מְּעיל‬. When Samuel tells Saul “I will not return

with you. For you have rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD has rejected you from being

king over Israel” (1 Sam 15:26), and as Samuel turns to go Saul seized the ‫ ְּכנַף־מְּעילָ֖ ו‬of Samuel,

tearing it (1 Sam 15:27). Also when Saul consults the medium of En-dor Samuel is identified by

his being wrapped up in a ‫( מְּעיל‬1 Sam 28:14).

Ezra also wears a ‫ מְּעיל‬and when he hears of the mixed marriages he ‫קָ ַ ִ֥רעְּתי אֶת־בג ְָּ֖די ּומְּעילִ֑י‬

(Ezra 9:3, 5). Job as well wears a ‫ מְּעיל‬and he ‫ וַיקְּ ַ ָּ֣רע אֶת־מְּע ִ֔לו‬when he hears of the destruction of

all he has with the death of all his children (Job 1:20). Job‟s friends also tear their ‫ מְּעיל‬when

they came to him (Job 2:12). In his defense against Bildad, Job says ‫ְְ֝וצ ִָ֗ניף ֶצֶ֣דֶ ק ָ֭ ָלבַשְ תי וַי ְלב ֵָ֑שני כמְעֹ֥יל‬

‫ משְ פָטֵֽי׃‬which the LXX renders: δικαιοζύνην δὲ ἐνεδεδύκειν, ἠμθιαζάμην δὲ κπίμα ἴζα διπλοΐδι,

“I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; my justice was like a robe and a turban” (Job 29:14).

27
This account is absent from the LXX.
28 This is a hapax legomenon meaning either denom. be-mantle (from Biblical Aramaic ‫כ ְַר ְב ָלא‬Dn 3:21, if this = mantle, and not
(Marti .) = Assyrian karballatu, cap (but „Kriegs[?]-mantel,‟ Zehnpfund ii, 535)), or poss. quadril. bind round (from
‫כבל‬, with ins. ‫—;)ר‬only Pu. pt. pass. ‫ ְמכ ְֺרבָל במְעיל בּוץ‬1 Ch 15:27 bemantled with a robe of byssus. BDB.

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‫ מְּעיל‬occurs only once in the Psalms, in the complaint Psalm 109, here the Psalmist prays

“May my accusers be ‫“ י ְּלב ְָּּׁ֣שּו‬clothed” with dishonor; may they be ‫“ ְּויַע ֲָ֖טּו‬wrapped” in their own

shame as in a ‫” ַכמ ְָּּ֣עיל‬cloak” ”

Isaiah blends the garment metaphor so that its depth might be grasped at most especially

only in the cross of Christ. He says He ‫ וַיל ְַּבַּׁ֤ש‬put on ‫ צְּדָ קָה‬righteousness as a ‫ כַש ְּר ִָ֔ין‬breastplate,

and a ‫ ו ְִּ֥כ ֹובַע‬helmet of ‫ְּׁשּועה‬

ָ֖ ָ ‫ י‬salvation on his head; he ‫ וַי ְּל ַּ֞ ַבׁש‬put on ‫ בג ֵ ְַּּ֤די‬garments of vengeance for

clothing, and ‫ ַו ַיִ֥עַט‬wrapped himself in zeal as a ‫ ַכ ְּמ ָ֖עיל‬cloak (Isaiah 59:17). The LXX leaves the

last phrase ‫ ַו ַיִ֥עַט ַכמ ְָּ֖עיל קנְּאָ ָֽה׃‬out omitting it completely from its translation.

The final occurrence of ‫ מְּעיל‬is in Ezekiel where he says that even the princes of the sea

wear ‫ מְּעיל‬but they will take them off and will clothe themselves in trembling at the fall of Tyre

(Ezek 26:16).

‫ מְעיל‬is most often translated as ὑποδύηηρ or διπλοΐρ in the LXX but neither of these two words

find their way into the New Testament where garments are usually ζηολαῖρ or ἱμάηια. ὑποδύηηρ

is exclusive to the Priestly garments of Exodus 28, 36, and Leviticus 8, while διπλοΐρ appears

only in 1 Samuel, Job, Psalms, and Baruch. This may indicate that the precise type of garment

was not significant to understanding the garment motif, and may even have been distracting from

the real typological significance of the garments mentioned in the Hebrew Scriptures. It should

be noted though that John uses the LXX‟s translation of ‫מְעילֵ֑ים‬, ἐπενδύηαρ for Peter‟s outer

garment in John 21:7.

There is also an interesting relationship between the ‫ מְּעיל‬and unfaithfulness, the

presumed root of ‫ מְּעיל‬is ‫ ָמעַל‬which means act unfaithfully, treacherously against spouse, devoted

thing, justice, and against God (Lev 5; Num 5; Dt. 32; Josh 22; Ezra 9; 10 etc.).

‫לבׁש‬ (ἐνδύυ)

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‫ לבש‬is also a very significant word in the Hebrew Scriptures, and is used with some

frequency, therefore, only the most significant usage will be identified here. First it used in the

hiphil of God‟s clothing them in ‫( כָתְ ֹ֥נ ֹות ִּ֖ע ֹור‬Gen 3:21). It is also used in conjunction with ‫ כֺתֹנֶת‬in

the clothing of the Priests ((Ex 29:5, 8; 40:14; Lev. 8:7, 13; 16:4). Also including Lev 6:3 in the

LXX where it translates ‫ ְו ָל ֵַּ֨בש הַכ ִֹ֜הן מ ֶ֣ד ֹו ִַ֗בד‬as ἐνδύζεηαι ὁ ἱεπεὺρ σιηῶνα λινοῦν, where the

translators combined the notion of ‫ לבש‬with ‫ כֺתֹנֶת‬by rendering ‫ מ ֶ֣ד ֹו‬as σιηῶνα, and thereby linking

it to the clothing of Adam with this priestly “tunic.”

The final place where both ‫ לבש‬and ‫ כֺתֹנֶת‬appear together is in the Song of Songs 5:3,

which is part of what Mitchell calls “her second nocturnal search: for „My Lover.‟”29 Mitchell

notes that the “Shulammite may be completely unclothed,” noting also the parallel to Eden

where Adam and Eve were ‫ֲרּומים‬

ִ֔ ‫( ע‬Gen 2:25) until God made for them ‫( כָתְ ֹ֥נ ֹות ִּ֖ע ֹור‬Gen 3:21). So

the Shulammite is pondering reversing all the preparations for bed by getting up and ‫ לבש‬and

soiling her feet again for her bridegroom. It is not stated in the text directly but it she did arise

and ‫ לבש‬her ‫ כֺתֹנֶת‬as indicated by her answering the door but not finding her lover, and searching

for him in the city.

In the New Testament ἐνδύυ does not appear with σιηών other than Mark 6:9 μὴ

ἐνδύζηζθε δύο σιηῶναρ. Regardless of the separation of the terms, ἐνδύυ remains a

theologically deep statement of salvation which grows out of Gen 3:21, it will be for another

study to look more closely at the other words for garments.

Paul is the clearest in this particular application of ἐνδύυ as baptismal language, when he

exhorts his hearers to ἐνδύζαζθε ηὸν κύπιον Ἰηζοῦν Χπιζηὸν (Rom 13:14, cf. Gal 3:27);

ἐνδύζαζθε ηὴν πανοπλίαν ηοῦ θεοῦ (Eph 6:11, also 6:14; 1 Thess 5:8; Rom 13:12). Elsewhere

29 Mitchell, Christopher Wright. The Song of Songs. Concordia commentary. Saint Louis: Concordia Pub. House, 2003, 877.

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he exhorts them to put on those characteristics which Christ exhibited: Ἐνδύζαζθε οὖν, ὡρ

ἐκλεκηοὶ ηοῦ θεοῦ ἅβιοι καὶ ἠβαπημένοι, ζπλάβσνα οἰκηιπμοῦ σπηζηόηηηα ηαπεινοθποζύνην

ππαΰηηηα μακποθςμίαν (Col 3:12). In still other instances he exhorts them to put on

imperishability or to put on the “new man”: Δεῖ βὰπ ηὸ θθαπηὸν ηοῦηο ἐνδύζαζθαι ἀθθαπζίαν

καὶ ηὸ θνηηὸν ηοῦηο ἐνδύζαζθαι ἀθαναζίαν. ὅηαν δὲ ηὸ θθαπηὸν ηοῦηο ἐνδύζηηαι ἀθθαπζίαν

καὶ ηὸ θνηηὸν ηοῦηο ἐνδύζηηαι ἀθαναζίαν (1 Cor. 15:53-54); ἐνδύζαζθαι ηὸν καινὸν ἄνθπυπον

ηὸν καηὰ θεὸν κηιζθένηα ἐν δικαιοζύνῃ καὶ ὁζιόηηηι ηῆρ ἀληθείαρ (Eph 4:4; cf. Col 3:10). St.

Augustine understands these references of Paul to be an exposition of the first ‫ כָתְ ֹ֥נ ֹות ִּ֖ע ֹור‬which

God ‫ לבש‬Adam and Eve with.30

Luke adds ἐνδύζηζθε ἐξ ὕτοςρ δύναμιν (Luke 24:49) at the end of his Gospel implying a

kind of repeat of the expulsion from Eden. Now the apostles who had walked in the presence of

The LORD are now to wait to be ‫ לבש‬by power from above, just as Adam and Eve were ‫ לבש‬with

‫ כָתְ ֹ֥נ ֹות ִּ֖ע ֹור‬before going out of Eden, but instead the Disciples were sent to preach ‫ לבש‬in the

power of the LORD. In the parable of the Prodigal Son the Father tells his servants to

ἐξενέβκαηε ζηολὴν ηὴν ππώηην καὶ ἐνδύζαηε αὐηόν (Luke 15:22). Jerome says “he receives

again Christ‟s robe which he had before defiled, and hears to his comfort the injunction: „let thy

garments be always white (Eccl 9:8).‟”31 As Just notes this is one of the five imperatives from

the lips of the Father in verses 22 and 2332. So also the notion of being clothed with Christ is one

part of the marriage feast to come, it is but one instrument in the symphony of God‟s Word, and

30 “When we shall have come out of all these snares of mortality, when the times of temptation shall have passed away, when the
river of this world shall have fleeted by, and we shall have received again that “first robe,” that immortality which by
sinning we have lost, “when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption,” that is, this flesh shall have put on
incorruption, “and this mortal shall have put on immortality;” the now perfected sons of God, in whom is no more need
to be tempted, neither to be scourged, shall all creatures acknowledge: subjected to us shall all things be, if we here be
subjected to God.” Philip Schaff, The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers Vol. VII, St. Augustin: Homilies on the Gospel
of John, Homilies on the First Epistle of John Soliloquies. (Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, 1997), 509.
31Philip Schaff, The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers Second Series Vol. VI, Jerome: Letters and Select Works. (Oak Harbor:
Logos Research Systems, 1997), 228.
32 Just, Arthur A. Luke. Concordia commentary. St. Louis: Concordia Pub. House, 1996, vol 2, 594.

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even of what baptism is, but without hearing it we are at least missing some of the true depth of

God‟s redeeming activity in the life of the Church.

ἐνδύυ is also used in the passion narratives in the mocking of Jesus by the Roman Guards

(Matt. 27:31; Mark 15:20), and of the wedding guest without a wedding garment εἶδεν ἐκεῖ

ἄνθπυπον οὐκ ἐνδεδςμένον ἔνδςμα βάμος (Matt. 22:11). Luther links this wedding garment

back to Isaiah 61:10, declaring that this wedding garment is none other than the garment of

salvation and the robe of righteousness.33 As Smith says

First the Father made us Garments in Paradise, now the Son makes us Garments
in the wilderness, nay, the Son is made our Garment, as Paul saith, Christ is made
unto us righteousness: that is, Christ‟s Righteousness must be our Garment, or
else we shall be ashamed when our righteousness doth not reach to cover our
nakedness.34

Conclusion
Although reading scripture through a specified system of hermeneutics is not inherently

bad, and indeed may serve to balance a more narrative reading. A dogmatically rigid system of

hermeneutics may be compared to reading the back of a good book, and basing ones perception

of the author upon it as compared to reading all the works by an author. I think that it will

greatly benefit the Church to read Holy Scriptures in light of the life of the Church and read it

through the means by which God comes to us, bearing salvation by his mighty arm. That is, to

read Holy Scripture in a theologically deep manner which is to read it in the now and not yet of

the Eschaton where the life of the Church is marked by Baptism and the Lord‟s Supper, and the

Preaching of the Word. To read Holy Scripture in a way that allows it to reach out to each and

every lamb in Jesus‟ flock to meet them where they are at, in a messy uncertain world, where

certainty is marked by tangible signs of the promise as Luther points out.

33Martin Luther, vol. 12, Luther's Works, Vol. 12 : Selected Psalms I, ed. Jaroslav Jan Pelikan, Hilton C. Oswald and Helmut T.
Lehmann, Luther's Works (Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1999, c1955), 12:294.
34 Smith, Henry. The Vvedding Garment. At London printed: [A. Jeffes?], 1591, B2?.

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Thus from the beginning of the world God appointed signs in addition to His
Word, so that people had an opportunity to behold with their physical eye that
God loved His people and church and was disposed to be their benefactor. When
Adam received the promise of the woman‟s seed from God, God dressed Adam
and Eve in furs (Gen. 3:21). And when God wanted Abraham‟s seed to become
His own peculiar people, He instituted circumcision for Abraham (Gen. 17:10).
Thus God at all times bestowed external, visible signs to accompany the office of
the ministry, lest we complain that we cannot find God.35
By reading the scripture in the context of the liturgy, baptism, preaching, and the

Eucharist the church which has been called and gathered is enlightened and kept in the one true

faith through their being united with Christ, their being brought into the narrative of the Word of

God. It is precisely baptism, the liturgy, preaching and the Eucharist which are the hermeneutic

of the church providing the lens through which the Word of God is seen and heard in the hear

and now. This sacramental reading of Holy Scripture does not begin nor end with Luther but it

goes back to the very earliest Christian, and indeed even Jewish exegetes such as Tertullian who

says:

We have also in the Scriptures robes mentioned as allegorizing the hope of the
flesh. Thus in the Revelation of John it is said: “These are they which have not
defiled their clothes with women,”—indicating, of course, virgins, and such as
have become “eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven‟s sake.” Therefore they shall
be “clothed in white raiment,” that is, in the bright beauty of the unwedded flesh.
In the gospel even, “the wedding garment” may be regarded as the sanctity of the
flesh. And so, when Isaiah tells us what sort of “fast the Lord hath chosen,” and
subjoins a statement about the reward of good works, he says: “Then shall thy
light break forth as the morning, and thy garments, shall speedily arise; ” where
he has no thought of cloaks or stuff gowns, but means the rising of the flesh,
which he declared the resurrection of, after its fall in death.36
And in his commentary on the Parable of the prodigal son he says:

Therefore the apostate withal will recover his former “garment,” the robe of the
Holy Spirit; and a renewal of the “ring,” the sign and seal of baptism; and Christ
will again be “slaughtered;” and he will recline on that couch from which such as

35Martin Luther, vol. 22, Luther's Works, Vol. 22 : Sermons on the Gospel of St. John: Chapters 1-4, ed. Jaroslav Jan Pelikan,
Hilton C. Oswald and Helmut T. Lehmann, Luther's Works (Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1999, c1957),
22:vii-420.
36Alexander Roberts, James Donaldson and A. Cleveland Coxe, The Ante-Nicene Fathers Vol. III : Translations of the Writings
of the Fathers Down to A.D. 325, Latin Christianity: Its Founder, Tertullian. (Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems,
1997), 564.

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are unworthily clad are wont to be lifted by the torturers, and cast away into
darkness, —much more such as have been stripped.37
And so it is wholly appropriate to see a connection and a significant meaning to the

Garments and being clothed in the Holy Scriptures and the sacramental life of the church. This

linking of the life of the Christian with the life of Christ in the scriptures adds considerable depth

to the reality of the efficacy of the sacraments in their communicable reality. The reality of the

communion with God effected in the sacraments then is also a communion with all the saints of

the scripture and of the time of the Church, as each believer stands in Eden and is clothed by God

with the ‫כָתְ ֹ֥נ ֹות ִּ֖ע ֹור‬, the ‫כ ְֶ֣ת ֹנֶת ַפ ִ֔סים‬, the ‫בגְדי־ ִֶ֔ישַע מְעֹ֥יל צְדָ ָ ִּ֖קה‬, the Priestly vestments, the “Wedding

Garment,” and indeed we are each clothed with Christ himself in baptism.38

37Alexander Roberts, James Donaldson and A. Cleveland Coxe, The Ante-Nicene Fathers Vol. IV : Translations of the Writings
of the Fathers Down to A.D. 325, Fathers of the Third Century: Tertullian, Part Fourth; Minucius Felix; Commodian;
Origen, Parts First and Second. (Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, 1997), 83.
38 But instead of those who through preoccupation disobeyed, the Father celebrating the marriage of his Son, has ordered us,
through the Prophet of the truth, to come into the partings of the ways, that is, to you, and to invest you with the clean
wedding-garment, which is baptism, which is for the remission of the sins done by you, and to bring the good to the
supper of God by repentance, although at the first they were left out of the banquet. Alexander Roberts, James
Donaldson and A. Cleveland Coxe, The Ante-Nicene Fathers Vol. VIII : Translations of the Writings of the Fathers
Down to A.D. 325, Fathers of the Third and Fourth Centuries: The Twelve Patriarchs, Excerpts and Epistles, The
Clementina, Apocrypha, Decretals, Memoirs of Edessa and Syriac Documents, Remains of the First Ages. (Oak
Harbor: Logos Research Systems, 1997), 274.

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Anderson, Gary A. The Garments of Skin in Apocryphal Narrative and Biblical Commentary, in
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Botterweck, G. Johannes, and Helmer Ringgren. Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament.
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Fishbane, Michael A. The Garments of Torah: Essays in Biblical Hermeneutics. Indiana studies
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Ginzberg, Louis. Legends of the Bible. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1992.

Ginzberg, Louis, Henrietta Szold, Paul Radin, and Boaz Cohen. The Legends of the Jews.
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Helmer, Christine, and Taylor G. Petrey. Biblical Interpretation: History, Context, and Reality.
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Hirsch, Samson Raphael. The Pentateuch. London: [I. Levy, 1962.

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