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Bible Dictionaries
Girdle
Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament
or The references to girdle (ζώνη), the article itself being either expressed or implied, admit of a three-fold classification: (1) The girdle in everyday use, which (a) was put on before one vent forth (Acts 12:8), and (b) was laid aside indoors (Acts 21:11). From the fact that such a girdle could be used to bind hands and feet, we may infer that it was of soft material, such as linen. (2) The girdle as an article of military wear, which enters into the metaphor of Ephesians 6:13 ff. This transfers us to quite another environment, and to a girdle whose materials were stiffer, e.g. leather or metal, or a combination of these. Presumably (1) and (2) were worn upon the loins, and their use was such as to give rise to the figure of speech which is found in 1 Peter 1:13 (cf. Luke 12:35), viz. girding up the loins (of the mind). (3) The girdle in its ornamental aspect, as appearing in Revelation 1:13; Revelation 15:6. The epithet ‘golden’ is to be taken as applicable to cloth and not metal, i.e. the gold was inwrought in a girdle of linen material (cf. Daniel 10:5, a similar passage, where ‘pure gold of Uphaz’ [Heb.] is rendered βυσσίνῳ in Septuagint ). A noteworthy difference emerges in the location of the girdle, loins (Dan.) being replaced by breasts in Rev. (πρὸς τοῖς μαστοῖς [Revelation 1:13], περὶ τὰ στήθη [Revelation 15:6]). The girdle is thus an ‘upper’ girdle, and is suggestive of Greek and Roman custom. See also the description in Josephus, Ant. iii. vii. 2. Cf. article Apron.
W. Cruickshank.
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Hastings, James. Entry for 'Girdle'. Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/hdn/g/girdle.html. 1906-1918.
