Rent

Rending or tearing garments (qara in Hebrew) was the most common and dramatic gesture of mourning, grief, and horror in ancient Israel. When Jacob heard of Joseph's apparent death, he tore his garments and put sackcloth on his loins and mourned (Genesis 37:34). Job tore his robe after receiving the news of his children's deaths (Job 1:20). The high priest tore his clothes when Jesus claimed to be the Son of God (Matthew 26:65), and Paul and Barnabas tore their clothes when the Lycaonians tried to sacrifice to them (Acts 14:14).

Rending garments was both a personal expression of grief and a prescribed ritual gesture. The Mosaic law restricted the high priest from tearing his vestments in mourning (Leviticus 10:6; 21:10) to preserve the integrity of the sacred office. The tearing of the temple veil from top to bottom at Jesus's death (Matthew 27:51) carries symbolic resonance with the garment-rending gesture — representing the radical opening of divine access accomplished by Christ's death.