Dress

Dress in ancient Israel encompassed garments that reflected social status, climate, religious law, and gender distinction. The earliest clothing in Scripture consists of fig-leaf coverings made by Adam and Eve (Gen. 3:7) and the animal-skin garments God provided them (Gen. 3:21). The primary fabrics were linen (from flax) and wool, with the Mosaic law explicitly prohibiting the weaving of the two together in a single garment (shaʿatnez, Deut. 22:11; Lev. 19:19). Basic dress for both sexes included an inner tunic (kuttōnet), an outer robe or mantle (salmāh), a girdle or belt, and sandals.

The high priest's vestments—described in detail in Exodus 28—were the most elaborate dress in Israel, including the ephod, breastplate, robe, tunic, turban, and sash, each with specific symbolic significance. In the New Testament, John the Baptist's garment of camel's hair and leather belt (Matt. 3:4) consciously echoed the dress of the prophet Elijah (2 Kgs. 1:8), marking him as a prophetic figure in that tradition. James 2:2–4 and Matthew 22:11–12 both show that dress communicated social status in ways the church had to navigate carefully.