The upper, or outer, garment

(Matt. 21:8, 5:40) probably consisted of a square or oblong piece of woolen material, two or three yards in length and, perhaps, two yards in width. Similar garments are worn by the Arabs at the present day. This garment was simply wrapped around the body as a protection from the weather, and, when needed, could be thrown over the shoulder and under the arm—this was something like the actual Indian blankets—and was fastened on the shoulders by two clasps. The Arabs throw this garment over the left shoulder and under the right arm, and thus cover the whole body, leaving only the right arm bare.

Among poor people such a garment served as a night covering (Ex. 22:26-27, Job 24:7). This was probably the very same garment, or linen covering, referred to in the Gospel of Matthew (5:40), which is otherwise called in the Russian Bible the upper garment, or a mantle (2 Kings 2:8). It is supposed that the trim along the edges of this garment, or the silken tassels with blue threads (Num. 15:38), were placed on the sides, or edges (Matt. 23:5). They can still be seen to this day in ancient depictions.

In winter, furs or leather garments were worn, as is still the case at the present day in Eastern countries. In 2 Kings (1:8) and in the Book of the prophet Zechariah (13:4), it is perhaps a garment of sheep’s wool or goat hair that is meant. Ordinary leather garments of this kind were worn chiefly by the very poor and the lower class (Heb. 11:37), but fur garments were sometimes valued very highly and formed part of royal adornments. A garment of sheepskin (Matt. 7:15) was considered an image of innocence and meekness and served symbolically to unmask false prophets, who in reality were rapacious and ravenous wolves, thirsting for the destruction of mankind.

The word “sindons,” used in the Book of Judges (14:12, 13), or shirts of fine linen, signifies, in the opinion of some, a garment worn directly beneath the warm