Dress and Ornamentation 

 

“The human body is just another costume” says Halprin in 1967 (Andrews et al 1967: 76). Instead of focusing here on the textiles and materials; colors; names and mode of wearing the dress and ornamentation in the Bible, it is better to search for the spiritual principle behind this topic. Ellen White spelled out the following principles: comfort; proper; light; healthy; fitly covered; long enough; loose clothing; able to exercise; convenient; avoid vanity display. Habitual cold feet leads to congested brain, headache, disease of the liver and lungs and death. “Fashions do not always come from heaven” (White 1868: 279). “Fashion and false modesty…smile upon those whose dresses are . . . exposed”. Fashion is a tyrant.” Secure …in all duties…the heavenly adorning”. “    Peter’s Dress Principle was the following: “Do not let your adornment [κόσμος = S. Kubo] be those of the body such as dressing/braiding of the hair, and putting around [so S. Kubo, 245] of gold or putting on of clothes. But let them be those of the unseen man of the heart, the ever-shining ornament of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great price in the eyes of God.” 1 Peter 3:3-4 also cited by Ellen White. 3 ὧν ἔστω οὐχ ὁ ἔξωθεν ἐμπλοκῆς τριχῶν καὶ περιθέσεως χρυσίων ἢ ἐνδύσεως ἱματίων κόσμος, 4 ἀλλ’ ὁ κρυπτὸς τῆς καρδίας ἄνθρωπος ἐν τῷ ἀφθάρτῳ τοῦ πραέως καὶ ἡσυχίου πνεύματος ὅ ἐστιν ἐνώπιον τοῦ θεοῦ πολυτελές. Adornment is center in Fashion Design and Fashion Trends. The adulteress of Proverbs 7:5 is “dressed as a harlot” = שִׁית זוֹנָה (7:10b). Flirting Fashion. The couch is spread with “colored linens of Egypt” = ) = חֲטֻבוֹת אֵטוּן מִצְרָיִם to create the mood for sin (7:16). Grey hair is not a shame or embarrassment, it is “a crown of glory” (Proverbs 16:30c). The adulteress of Ezechiel 23:40 “painted your eyes, and put around ornaments” = כָּחַלְתְּ עֵינַיִךְ, וְעָדִית עֶדִי. The punishment from the Lord is not favorable to ornaments: “They shall strip you from your clothes and take away your glittering jewels” = הִפְשִׁיטוּךְ אֶת-בְּגָדָיִךְ וְלָקְחוּ כְּלֵי תִפְאַרְתֵּךְ (Ezechiel 23:26). Jezebel was a highpriestess of Baal and wife of the king and when Jehu was on his way to Jezreel, “she painted her face, and tired her head” = וַתָּשֶׂם בַּפּוּךְ עֵינֶיהָ וַתֵּיטֶב אֶת-רֹאשָׁהּ (2 Kings 9:30). She loved Phoenician culture above anything Israelite not paying attention to anything the Lord commanded. Deir `Alla and Kuntillet cAjrud is the sites known in archaeology for its rich discoveries of textiles. Ezechiel 16:16-19: ”And of your garments you took, and decked your high places with divers colors, and played the harlot thereupon: the like things shall not come, neither shall it be so. You have also taken thy fair jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given you, and made to yourself images of men, and did commit whoredom with them, And took your broidered garments, and covered them: and you have set mine oil and mine incense before them. My meat also which I gave you, fine flour, and oil, and honey, wherewith I fed you, you have even set it before them for a sweet savor: and thus it was, said the Lord God.“ Textiles, cult-related textiles, harlot business enterprise, meals, connected with wall-graffiti about gods for the period 605-588 BCE is what we get from the prophets and they connect to the fingerprints (textiles, meals, wall-graffiti, cultic deviations) from Kuntillet cAjrud? (Van Wyk, 2017). This site was in the south Negev and on the Bes figure in a drawing found there the result was: “The fashion of the Bes-figure and the other mask dancer compares to the dotted clothing of the sword wielding figure [interpretations aside] on a Greek amphora in the Toledo Museum of Art. The Bes figure is Egyptian so that a context from Egypt need to be imported into the open spaces to connect the missing data. They appear on Pythos A.” (Van Wyk 2017intext at footnotes 41-42). “… all the fingerprints of idolatry on mountains as complained by the early and later prophets, over a long period, especially the prophets Ezechiel and Jeremiah, are at this site.” (ibid). At footnote 20 is the evidence of textiles at this site and Deir `Alla: “From the year 612 BCE with Josiah’s reform of apostacy of Asherah worship on mountains came the account “And he broke down the dedicated treasure buildings [sic!] within the House of YHWH, where women weave coverings for Asherah” (2 Kings 23:7)“ Naͻaman 2011: 317-318. This and other examples would account for the unusual abundance of textiles found at the site, which were possibly sold to believers to hang upon the sacred tree (Naͻaman/Lissovsky, 2008, 198199; also Ackerman, 2008). It was correctly interpreted that the archaeological evidence of Kuntillet cAjrud supports this textual historical account of the events in that year since loom weights and textile fabrics were found at the site, especially the clothing in abundance. “Approximately 120 pieces of cloth – mostly linen, a few made of wool –were uncovered at the site,” (See J. H. Boertien, "Asherah and textiles." Biblische Notizen, vol. 134 (2007): 63-77. Also cf. Naɔaman 2011: 300; A. Sheffer; A. Tidhar, "Textiles and Basketry at Kuntillat cAjrud." Atiqot: English Series, (1991) vol. 20, 1-26).  In Ezechiel 13:18 the complaint is that the females of the apostates ”sew pillows ot all armholes, and make kerchiefs upon the head of every stature to hunt souls“. There is room for some fashion shows and entertainment. Some suggested cultic regalia. Ezechiel had a problem with females involved in apostate religious practices involving fabrics and fashion in Ezechiel 13:8-12; 13:18; 13:21; 23:15. That there was a weaving space similar to Deir cAlla is explained by some scholars since loomweights were found at both sites. cf. J. Boertien, 2007. Naɔaman felt that the unusual abundance of textiles found at the site were possibly sold to believers to hang upon the sacred tree (Naɔaman/Lissovsky, 2008, 198-199; also Ackerman, 2008). Noteworthy is the worshippers in the iconography upon one pithos indicating their sense of fashion and if one page through C. Lepsius drawings for the same period, the colorful draperies compared very well” (Van Wyk 2017 at footnotes 19-20). Jeremiah 4:30 speaks of the flirting fashions for the purpose of attracting lovers, but the ornaments of gold, painting of the face and crimson clothing would be useless, says the Lord.

 

 

Sources:

Andrews, B., R. Gallelo, (1967). Dress, New Morality. Newsweek, “Anything Goes” 13. Pp. 74-78.

Barnum, S. W., (1868). A Comprehensive Dictionary of the Bible mainly abridged from dr. Smith's Dictionary of the Bible. Pages 233-236; 772-773.

Boertien, J. H., (2007). “Asherah and Textiles.” Biblische Notizen 134 (2007), 63–77.

Kubo, S., (1979 6th print). A Reader’s Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament (Michigan: Andrews University Press).

Naɔaman, N., (2011).“The Inscriptions of Kuntillet cAjrud Through the Lens of Historical Research.” Ugarit-Forschungen 43, 299-324.

Sheffer, A., A. Tidhar, (1991). "Textiles and Basketry at Kuntillat cAjrud." Atiqot: English Series, vol. 20, 1-26

Van Wyk, K., (2017, Oct-Dec). “Kuntillet `Ajrud: A Case for Critical Revision.” In International Journal of Research in Social Sciences and Humanities 7/ IV: 62-99. Online access at http://www.ijrssh.com.

White, E. H. (1868, April). A few Suggestions. Review and Sabbath Herald No. 18. Page 279.