Girdle

The girdle was a belt or sash worn around the waist or loins by both men and women in the ancient Near East, serving practical and symbolic functions. It could be made of leather (as Elijah's and John the Baptist's girdles were, 2 Kings 1:8; Matt. 3:4), fine linen, or embroidered cloth. Soldiers and warriors girded their loins for battle, which is the origin of the New Testament metaphor of putting on the "girdle of truth" as part of the spiritual armor (Eph. 6:14). To "gird up the loins" meant to prepare for strenuous activity by tucking one's robe into the belt. The high priest wore an elaborately worked girdle as part of his vestments (Ex. 28:4). Jeremiah's parable of the linen girdle hidden at the Euphrates illustrated Israel's ruin through Babylon (Jer. 13:1–11).