488. Various Articles of Attire

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Isaiah 3:2323The glasses, and the fine linen, and the hoods, and the vails. (Isaiah 3:23). The glasses, and the fine linen, and the hoods, and the wails.
1. Gilyonim, “glasses,” are probably the small metallic mirrors wherewith Oriental women adorn their persons. See note on Exodus 38:88And he made the laver of brass, and the foot of it of brass, of the lookingglasses of the women assembling, which assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. (Exodus 38:8) (#139). The Septuagint, however, and a number of eminent commentators, understand the word to mean “transparent garments,” referring to the garments of thin gauze or other material so delicately made as to reveal the form of the wearer. Such were the celebrated (loan garments of classic writers, and dresses of this sort are still used in the East, often richly ornamented with gold spangles.
2. Sedinim, “fine linen,” is mentioned in Judges 14:12-1312And Samson said unto them, I will now put forth a riddle unto you: if ye can certainly declare it me within the seven days of the feast, and find it out, then I will give you thirty sheets and thirty change of garments: 13But if ye cannot declare it me, then shall ye give me thirty sheets and thirty change of garments. And they said unto him, Put forth thy riddle, that we may hear it. (Judges 14:12‑13), as a part of the gift which Samson offered to any who would guess his riddle. In our version the word is there rendered “sheets.” It also occurs in Proverbs 31:2424She maketh fine linen, and selleth it; and delivereth girdles unto the merchant. (Proverbs 31:24), in Solomon’s description of “a virtuous woman.” The sedinim were inner garments or tunics.
3. Tseniphoth, “hoods,” were coverings for the head, the difference between which and the peerim, or bonnets,”of verse 20 it is not easy now to determine. The etymology of the two words would suggest that the tseniphoth were simply the turbaned wrappers which were wound around the heads, while the peerim were the same, with rich ornaments attached. Some writers, however, suppose the tseniphoth to have been merely ribbons for binding the hair or fastening the tiara. The word in the singular is rendered” diadem “ in Job 29:1414I put on righteousness, and it clothed me: my judgment was as a robe and a diadem. (Job 29:14) and Isaiah 62:33Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God. (Isaiah 62:3).
4. Redidim, “veils,” differed somewhat from the realoth, “mufflers,” of verse 19. Kitto supposes the “radid to have been a kind of head veil which ladies wear at home, and which, not being intended for concealment of the features, rests upon the head and falls down over the back. It is of very light texture, being usually a long strip of muslin embroidered with threads of colored silk and gold, forming altogether one of the most graceful articles in the female attire of the East” (Daily Bible Illustrations, vol. 6, p. 53).