Head-dress

Head coverings and ornamental headdresses appear in Scripture from priestly vestments to royal turbans to the everyday coverings of Israelite men and women. The priests were commanded to wear linen migba'oth (caps or turbans, Exodus 28:40) as part of their sacred vestments for ministering at the tabernacle. The high priest wore a linen turban (mitznefet) with the golden plate bearing the inscription "Holy to the LORD" (Exodus 28:36–38). Job 29:14 describes the turban of justice as part of his righteousness metaphor, and Isaiah 3:23 includes festive turbans among the ornaments of Jerusalem's women.

The head-dress could also be a sign of mourning when removed or disheveled: Ezekiel 24:17 forbids the prophet from putting on his head-dress or removing his shoes as part of the sign-act marking the death of his wife and the coming fall of Jerusalem. Isaiah 61:3 promises "a beautiful headdress instead of ashes" as part of the eschatological restoration — the turban replacing the ash-covered head of mourning. In the New Testament, Paul's instruction about head coverings in 1 Corinthians 11:2–16 addresses the proper head covering in worship, with the symbolic logic drawn from the creation order.