This is a topic that is uncomfortable for many, but as followers of YESHUA we are called to come out of the world and be separate.
Genesis 3:9-10
“And YHWH ELOHIM called unto Adam and said to him, “Where are you?” And he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid myself.”
Jubilees 3:15-16
“And in the first week of the first Jubilee, Adam and his wife were in the Garden of Eden for seven years tilling and keeping it, and we gave him work and we instructed him to do all that is suitable for serving. And he tilled the garden, and was naked and was not aware of it, and was NOT ASHAMED…”
So we see that Adam tilled the garden naked and was NOT ASHAMED, but when he and Eve at the fruit that they became ashamed. Which is why it’s called covering the “shame of your nakedness”. Their sin changed everything from the shame of their nakedness to them being immortal to mortal, to thorns and thistles, sin and death.
Genesis 3:20-21
“And the man called his wife’s name Hawwah (Eve), because she became the mother of all living. And YHWH ELOHIM made COATS OF SKIN for the man and his wife and DRESSED THEM.”
So YHWH Himself clothed and dressed Adam and Eve after their sin, and covered the shame of their nakedness with coats of skin.
Jubilees 3:30-31
“And to Adam alone He gave the means to cover his shame (nakedness), of all the beasts and cattle. On this account, it is prescribed on the tablets of the heavens as regarding all those who know the Right-Ruling of the Torah, that they SHOULD COVER THEIR SHAME, AND SHOULD NOT UNCOVER THEMSELVES AS THE GENTILES UNCOVER THEMSELVES.”
Notice how he says they should not uncover themselves as the gentiles who are non-believers and don’t know YESHUA, meaning that those who claim to know Him and follow Him should know better. A believer should be set apart and now follow or do what the pagan nations around them are doing. A gentile that is grafted into the Nation of Yisra’el is no longer called a gentile but a fellow citizen of Yisra’el (Ger in Hebrew) as Paul explains in Ephesians 2:8-19). Similarly to what Paul says
1 Thessalonians 4:3-5
“For this is the desire of ELOHIM: your holiness!-that you should abstain from whoring, that each one of you should know how to possess his own vessel in holiness and respect, NOT in passion of lust, LIKE THE GENTILES WHO DO NOT KNOW ELOHIM..”
Jubilees 7:20
“And in the twenty-eight Jubilee Noah began to command his sons’ sons the Laws and Commands, and all the Right-Rulings that he knew, and he urged his sons to observe righteousness, and TO COVER THE SHAME OF THEIR FLESH, and to bless their Creator….”
Genesis 9:22-23
“And Ham, the dad of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his dad, and told his two brothers outside. So Shem and Yepeth took a garment, laid it on the both their shoulders, and went backward and covered the nakedness of their dad, but their FACES WERE TURNED AWAY, and they did not see their dad’s nakedness.”
Exodus 20:25
“And if you make Me an altar of stone, do not build it of cut stone, for if you use your chisel on it, you have profaned it. Nor do you go up by steps to My altar, lest your NAKEDNESS be exposed on it.”
So we see that YHWH does not want to see the nakedness of mankind which is why He did not even want steps on His altar. So when you come into the presence of YHWH for prayer make sure that you are covered up. Don’t get so comfortable that you are praying to Him with almost nothing on, cover yourselves.
Revelation 3:18
“I advise you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, so that you become rich; and white garments, so that you become DRESSED, SO THAT THE SHAME OF YOUR NAKEDNESS MIGHT NOT BE SHOWN…”
Revelation 16:15
“See, I am coming as a thief. Blessed is he who is staying awake and guarding his garments, lest he walked NAKED AND THEY SEE HIS SHAME.”
This example shows that the righteous will look away as to not see the nakedness of someone even if it is a family member. However in the world today nakedness is in your face 24/7 so is has become acceptable. The enemy of this world has desensitized and deceived the world into making them think it is okay when it is not. But, once you come into Covenant with our ELOHIM we are to follow His Commands and not be like the gentiles who do not know ELOHIM!
This means no man should be showing his chest, wearing wife beaters to show muscles and no woman should be wearing short dresses, daisy dukes, and neither should be skinny dipping showing the world you nakedness. Both men and women will wear tight clothing for fashion reasons or to work out at the gym wearing spandex outfits that will outline their bodies for the whole world to see.
1 Timothy 2:9 says:
“Likewise, that the women dress themselves becomingly, with decency and sensibleness, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly garments.”
The goal is to not to draw unnecessary attention to yourselves, but to let the world see YESHUA in you; meaning that you have died to self and no longer live to self. In our modern society there is sex on television and nakedness in the streets and pretty much wherever you go. I want to remind everyone that we are not even supposed to be watching nakedness or porn to TV, you are still seeing someone’s nakedness. YESHUA said that even if we lust after a woman in our own hearts we have already committed adultery
Mathew 5:27-28
“You heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ ‘But I say to you that everyone looking at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”
My fellow brothers and sisters we are not to cause others to stumble in their walks with YESHUA whether it be a man or woman. Cover up your bodies as to not be a stumbling block for someone who is still struggling in the flesh. It’s not supposed to be about you anyway. Many will say “If you can’t stop looking then that’s your own problem”, the problem with that statement is that you are still supposed to be covered up regardless!
Notice how you will see women in the Middle East and a few other cultures of women covering their entire bodies as to not cause a man to lust after them. Plus, they understand that the nakedness of a woman is for her husband to see only and not for the entire world to see. Though I do not believe in the Muslim faith I agree on how their women dress by covering up themselves. Even the men in Scripture wore long tunics or robes that movies show YESHUA wearing during His day.
However, justifications are made to make dressing or staring at nakedness okay just like with any other scripture that believers don’t want to obey. Men will say “I can look as long as I don’t touch.’ That’s an answer from Satan, because once you start gawking at the woman and imaging what you would do to her then you have committing adultery by lusting after her as YESHUA said. And women are not exempt for gawking and staring at a man’s nakedness and thinking of what they would do to him. This goes back to what I was saying earlier is that if you were covered up this wouldn’t happen to begin with. Most women will admit that when they wear revealing clothes they receive unwanted attention, but when they cover themselves including their hair, men show less interest or no interest at all.
This type of behavior has been accepted by our society instead of rejected by our society. We can look back no further than the 1950’s and see that women covered themselves. The way men and women dress today would not have been accepted in society no more than 70 years ago. Our Father YHWH speaks out against these things that the world says is normal and that is always the case, what He approves of the world will reject!
.What did men and women wear?
Men and women both wore tunics or robes with a sash which had to include tsistsit/tassels/fringes on them according to the command of YHWH which says:
Numbers 15:38-39
“Speak to the children of Yisra’el (including women), and you shall say to them to make tsitsit (tassels/fringes) on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and put a purple cord in the tsitsit of the corners. And it shall be to you for a tsitsit, and you shall see it, and shall remember all the Commands of YHWH and shall do them, and not search after your own heart and your own eyes after which you went whoring.”
So whatever tunic you wear make sure it contains the tsitsit/tassels/fringes for the man and the woman. There are many different styles of tunics and robes that can be worn just make sure it does not contain mixed fabrics, make sure it has fringes, and make sure the garment covers your body.
In an article by Charles Pope in 2017 titled “What Sort of Clothing did people in YESHUA’s Time wear?”
In everyday life, men and women alike wore garments often referred to as “tunics.” A tunic was a simple, one-piece robe, usually belted at the waist, with a hole for the head and two holes for the arms. People wore both an inner garment and an outer garment, each with a similar shape.
The inner garment (under clothing) resembled a long, loose-fitting T-shirt or a kimono (flat, T-shaped garment with square sleeves and a rectangular body, one piece garment). It was made of linen, cotton, or sometimes soft wool. For penitential (regret, wrongdoing, sinning, and repentance) reasons some would occasionally wear inner tunics made of sackcloth or camel hair. The earliest of these garments were made without sleeves and reached only to the knees; later the garment often extended to the wrists and ankles. A man wearing only this inner garment was said to be naked (e.g., 1 Samuel 19:24, Isaiah 20:2–4). Nothing at all was worn underneath the inner garment (except by Essene men, who wore a close-fitting loincloth).
The belt (also called a cincture or girdle) was a band of cloth, cord, or leather that could be loosened or tightened. It was worn around the inner and/or outer garment. Its use prevented the flowing robes (OFTEN LONG) from interfering with movement. The biblical expression “to gird up the loins” meant to put on the belt, thus freeing the lower legs to permit work and easy walking. The expression signified that the person was ready for service; it is largely equivalent to the modern expression, “roll up your sleeves.”
The outer tunic, also called a mantle or robe, was worn over the inner tunic. It consisted of a square or oblong strip of cloth with a hole for the head. Sometimes it had sleeves and sometimes was more like a poncho, with the area for the arms cut back. It was worn as a protective covering; people did not go out in public without some sort of outer tunic. A bag or purse was often attached to the belt, fastened with a buckle.
While most Israelite men and women wore LONG (ankle-length) tunics, short (knee-length) tunics were worn by slaves, soldiers, and those engaging in work that required mobility. ( I would like to add: Notice how those who were not slaves or working were fully covered with long robes or tunics going down to the ankles?, The only time the knee was exposed was to work when they girded up their loins to free themselves up for mobility.)
The cloak – In cooler weather, a cloak might be worn on top of these tunics. Cloaks could be designed either with sleeves or without.
Sandals were worn on the feet. They had wooden soles and were fastened with straps of leather. Jews did not wear sandals indoors; they removed them upon entering the house and washed their feet.
In terms of the basics, men and women dressed much alike. However, there were clearly differences because Scripture warns, A woman shall not wear man’s clothing, nor shall a man put on a woman’s clothing; for whoever does these things is an abomination to the YHWH your ELOHIM (Deut 22:5).
For women, the inner garment was largely identical to that for men. However, the outer garment was longer, with enough border fringe to largely cover the feet (Isaiah 47:2).
So obviously a man should not wear panties as his inner garment nor should a woman put on boxers of a man as her inner garment. That would still be identical because a piece is covering the top and a piece is covering the bottom.
Isaiah 47:2
“Take the millstones and grind flour. Remove your veil, lift up the skirt, uncover the leg, pass through the rivers.”
This is clear evidence that women’s legs were covered with a long skirt, so that she had to lift up the skirt to pass through the river.
The outer garment was cinched with a belt similar to that used by men, but it was ornamented differently (and usually more elaborately). In some regions, women’s outer garments sported different patterns than those worn by men. In addition, a woman might don an apron on top of the outer garment, in order to protect it and to enable her to carry things. The apron was usually attached to the belt and covered the lower half of the body.
The veil – There is debate as to how widespread the wearing of the veil was for Jewish women in Jesus’ day. It is certain that they wore them in the synagogue and the Temple (cf 1 Cor 11:15).
Genesis 24:64-65
“And Rebecca lifted her eyes, and when she saw Isaac she dismounted from her camel, and she said to the servant, “Who is this man walking in the field to meet us? And the servant said, “It is my master.” So she took a VEIL AND COVERED HERSELF.”
Song of Songs 5:7
“The watchmen found me, who went about the city. They struck me, they bruised me; the keepers of the walls LIFTED MY VEIL FROM ME.”
Shoshanna 1:31-32 (Included in 1611 KJV)
“Now Shoshanna was a very delicate woman, and lovely to look at. And these wicked men commanded to UNCOVER HER FACE-for she was COVERED-that they might be filled with her loveliness.” Verse 1-3 “There dwelt a man in Babel, called Yoyaqim, and he took a wife, whose name was Shoshanna, the daughter of Hilqiyahu, a very lovely woman, and one that REVERED YHWH. Her parents were ALSO RIGHTEOUS, and taught their daughter according to the TORAH OF MOSES.”
So we see that Shoshanna was righteous and she feared YHWH; and her parents were also righteous and taught her according to the commandments of the Torah and we see that her face was covered.
Isaiah 47:2
“Take the millstones and grind flour. REMOVE YOUR VEIL, lift up the skirt, uncover the leg, pass through the rivers.”
Those four scriptures are good indicators that women wore head coverings!
Now back to the article:
It is also quite certain that unmarried women wore them. However, it is less evident that Jewish women wore them all the time, especially at home; some of them didn’t even wear them in public. It would seem that Jewish women in Roman Judea (i.e., the south, around Jerusalem, Jericho, and Bethlehem) wore hairnets, examples of which have been discovered at sites such as Masada.
So perhaps women did not wear a veil at all times as is now the custom in much of the Middle East. Other sources speak of the head covering being typical for both men and women and describe it as a length of cloth around the shoulders that could be pulled over the head and tied at the forehead, falling over the shoulders. Perhaps the veil or head covering was something that was used strategically, such as when one needed protection from the sun or wished to pray.
As always if you are still concerned about anything that was presented, please take it to our Father YHWH and His Son YESHUA in prayer, He is always faithful to respond to those who are truly seeking Him. And as always may YHWH bless you in YESHUA’s Name!