Kerchief

Kerchief appears only in Ezekiel 13:18 and 13:21 (KJV) as an article associated with the false prophetesses of Israel—women who sew kerchiefs upon all arm-holes (mispads upon all joints of the hand) in connection with their divination practices. The Hebrew term kĕsātôt (rendered kerchiefs or magic bands) refers to some form of cloth binding or covering used in the sorcerous rites these women practiced, possibly worn by clients seeking oracles or used to bind the wrists and hands during prophetic performance.

The precise nature of these garments and their function in the divinatory ritual is unclear; they may have been bands placed on the arms of those seeking oracles, or coverings placed over the head during trance states. God's condemnation through Ezekiel was that these false prophetesses were ensnaring souls for hire, pronouncing life and death at their own discretion rather than speaking the word of the LORD. The tearing off of these kerchiefs in Ezekiel 13:21 symbolizes the invalidation of their prophetic pretensions—God himself would deliver his people from their manipulation.