Everyday dress was two garments. Next to the skin came the tunic (Hebrew kuttonet, the ASV’s “coat”), a shirt reaching toward the knees; a man wearing only it counted as “naked,” the word used of Peter stripped down for fishing (John 21:7). Over it went the outer garment, cloak or mantle, which doubled as the poor man’s blanket at night, which is why the Law required a garment taken in pledge back by sunset (Ex 22:26–27). That is the force of “let him have thy cloke also” (Matt 5:40): sued for the tunic, hand over even the garment the Law protected.
Daily life in Bible times
The tunic & the cloak
Clothing & dress
Sources, trace every one
Every cited verse, in full. Tap any reference to open it in the reader.
- Exodus 22:26bsb
If you take your neighbor’s cloak as collateral, return it to him by sunset,
- Matthew 5:40bsb
if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well;
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