Coat

Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament

(χιτών, Lat. tunica , both words probably related to the Eastern כֻּתֹּנָה; Assyrian Kitinnê , ‘linen’), or ‘tunic’ ( John 19:23 Revised Version margin).-The word was used to designate the under-garment of all classes and both sexes, over which the cloak (שׂמְלָה, ἱμάτιον, pallium ) was worn. On entering the upper-room in Joppa where the body of Dorcas lay, Peter was surrounded by widows showing the χιτῶνας καὶ ἱμάτις which her hands had made ( Acts 9:39), Tunics naturally varied in material and shape according to the position, means, and taste of the wearer. Wool and flax were the native products of Syria; line linen ( byssus ) was largely imported from Egypt; the silk of the East was unknown till the beginning of our era, and its use was deemed an evidence of extreme luxury ( Revelation 18:12; ‘silk’ in  Ezekiel 16:10 is probably a mistake). The Jewish prisoners in Sennacherib’s marble reliefs, who are evidently carved from life, have tunics fitting fairly close to the body and reaching nearly to the ankles. This was the garment worn by free townsmen; that of peasants and slaves was no doubt shorter and looser. The coat of white linen with long skirts and sleeves ( Genesis 37:3) was a mark of honour, wealth, and leisure. In later times even the poorer classes adopted a somewhat more elaborate toilet. Josephus mentions a slave in the time of Herod the Great who was found to have an incriminating letter of his master’s concealed in his inner tunic, or true shirt ( Ant . XVII. v. 7). The χιτών was made of two pieces of cloth sewn together at the sides, or of one piece which required a single seam; or it was entirely seamless (ἄῤῥαφος, unsewed), being ‘woven from the top throughout’ ( John 19:23), a process for which a special loom was needed.

The χιτών of the Greeks was of two sorts. The Ionian was a linen tunic with sleeves, reaching to the feet (τερμιόεις [ Od. xix. 242]); the Dorian was a square woollen tunic with short sleeves or mere arm holes. Among the Romans a tunic with long sleeves was thought very effeminate; ‘et tunicae manicas habent’ are words uttered in scorn (Virg. aen. ix. 616). The proverb ‘Tunica proprior pallio est’ was like the English ‘Near is my shirt, but nearer is my skin.’ Cf. also articleClothes.

James Strahan.

King James Dictionary

COAT, n.

1. An upper garment, of whatever material it may be made. The word is, in modern times, generally applied to the garment worn by men next over the vest.

God made coats of skin and clothed them.  Genesis 3 .

Jacob made Joseph a coat of many colors.  Genesis 37 .

He shall put on the holy linen coat. Levit. 16.

Goliath was armed with a coat of mail.  1 Samuel 17 .

2. A petticoat a garment worn by infants or young children. 3. The habit or vesture of an order of men, indicating the order or office.

Men of his coat should be minding their prayers.

So we say, men of his cloth.

4. External covering, as the fur or hair of a beast, the skin of serpents, the wool of sheep, &c. 5. A tunic of the eye a membrane that serves as a cover a tegument. 6. The division or layer of a bulbous root as the coats of an onion. 7. A cover a layer of any substance covering another as a coat of tar, pitch or varnish a coat of canvas round a mast a coat of tin-foil. 8. That on which ensigns armorial are portrayed usually called a coat of arms. Anciently knights wore a habit over their arms, reaching as low as the navel, open at the sides, with short sleeves, on which were the armories of the knights, embroidered in gold and silver, and enameled with beaten tin of various colors. This habit was diversified with bands and fillets of several colors, placed alternately, and called devises, as being divided and composed of several pieces sewed together. The representation of these is still called a coat of arms. 9. A coat of mail is a piece of armor, in form of a shirt, consisting of a net-work of iron rings. 10. A card a coat-card is one on which a king, queen or knave is painted.

COAT,

1. To cover or spread over with a layer of any substance as, to coat a retort to coat a ceiling to coat a vial. 2. To cover with cloth or canvas as, to coat a mast or a pump.

Webster's Dictionary

(1): (n.) Same as Coat of arms. See below.

(2): (n.) An outer garment fitting the upper part of the body; especially, such a garment worn by men.

(3): (n.) A layer of any substance covering another; a cover; a tegument; as, the coats of the eye; the coats of an onion; a coat of tar or varnish.

(4): (v. t.) To cover with a layer of any substance; as, to coat a jar with tin foil; to coat a ceiling.

(5): (v. t.) To cover with a coat or outer garment.

(6): (n.) An external covering like a garment, as fur, skin, wool, husk, or bark; as, the horses coats were sleek.

(7): (n.) A coat card. See below.

(8): (n.) A petticoat.

(9): (n.) The habit or vesture of an order of men, indicating the order or office; cloth.

Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types

 Genesis 3:21 (c) We usually use these coats of skins to represent the imputed righteousness of GOD which is given to us through the death of the Lord Jesus Christ The animal died so that the skins could be used for clothing. Just as human babies are born with no clothes and must obtain clothing from an outside source so new babes in Christ have no garment of their own, but must receive the garment of salvation, the robe of righteousness from GOD through faith in Jesus Christ This truth is illustrated in  Matthew 22:11-12.

 Job 30:18 (c) The disease which Job had, which was probably elephantiasis, fastened itself upon his body tenaciously and clung to him as a garment.

Easton's Bible Dictionary

 Leviticus 16:4 Song of Solomon 5:3 2 Samuel 15:32 Exodus 28:4 29:5 Genesis 3:21 John 19:23 Genesis 37:3 John 21:7  1 Samuel 2:19Dress

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Coat. See Dress .

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

COAT . See Dress, §§ 2 ( d ), 4.

Morrish Bible Dictionary

See Garment

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

( כְּתֹנֶת , Ketho'Neth, or כֻּתֹּנֶת , Kutto'Neth, probably meaning Covering; hence Greek Χιτών ) is the word employed by our translators for the ancient Tunic (q.v.), which was in modern phrase a Shirt worn next to the skin ( Leviticus 16:4), by females as well as males ( Song of Solomon 5:3;  2 Samuel 13:18), and especially by the priests and Levites ( Exodus 28:4;  Exodus 29:5;  Nehemiah 7:70;  Nehemiah 7:72). The same term is used of the "coats of skins" prepared by the Almighty for the first human pair ( Genesis 3:21), which were probably nothing more than aprons, or a short skirt bound at the waist. The tunic was commonly (at least with males) without sleeves, and usually reached to the knees. It was generally made of linen, but for the winter was frequently made of wool; and the rich no doubt wore tunics of byssus ("fine linen," i.e. [?] cotton, then very rare). It was sometimes woven entire without a seam, like the modern hose ( John 19:23). It was also occasionally of a gay pattern; such was "Joseph's coat of many colors" (Genesis 38), that is, of different colored threads in stripes or plaided. Sometimes two tunics seem to have been worn at once, either for ornament or luxury, for the term is frequently used in the plural of an individual ( Matthew 10:10;  Mark 6:9;  Luke 3:11). In that case the outer one probably supplied the place of the "cloak" or pallium. (See Clothing); (See Dress), etc. The "fisher's coat" ( Ἐπενδύτης ) mentioned in  John 21:7, was evidently an outer garment or cloak, and Peter is said to be "naked" before throwing it about him, as having on only the tunic, or perhaps no more than a strip of cloth about the loins, like the modern Arabs. The little "coat" made by Hannah for the young Samuel ( 1 Samuel 2:19) was the מֵעַיל ( Meil' ) , or outer dress, elsewhere rendered "robe," "mantle," or "cloak" [q.v.]. The "coats" of the three Hebrew children in the furnace ( Daniel 3:21;  Daniel 3:27) are called in the original Chaldee סִרבָּלַין ( Sarbalin', Sept. Σαράβαρα ), thought by some to be the Persian name for long and wide Trowsers, whence Greek Σαράβαλλα , Lat. Sarabala, etc., but by others, with greater probability, to be kindred with the Arabic name for a long shirt or Cloak, which is corroborated by the Talmudic interpretation of mantles, i.e. the pallium or outer dress. (See Smith's Dict. of Class. Antiq. s.v. Tunica, etc.) (See Attire).