I
am not intending to prescribe a dress code for Christians here. The other day a friend of mine in Facebook
asked me to comment on the Bible verse: “The woman shall not wear that which
pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment: for all
that do so are abomination unto the LORD thy God.” (Deuteronomy 22:5). My
friend wanted to know whether this verse tells us that women should not wear
pants/jeans. My immediate reply was that this verse does not tell us that
pants/jeans are divinely prescribed dress for men alone.
But
I have to go deeper into the verse. We should not explain any Bible verse
callously. Each Bible verse speaks about God, His character and His holiness.
It is God’s words translated from His mind into our language. We are not authorized
to interpret it further. We may explain some difficult passages, but do not try
to interpret. Here I am not trying to interpret what God said, but am explaining
to my dear brothers and sisters in Christ what the verse probably mean, so that
they will not be deceived and exploited by false or callous self appointed
teachers.
Let
us try to understand the verse with the help of old Bible commentators like
Adam Clarke, Mathew Henry and with some others.
The clothing
worn in Biblical times was very different from what we wear today. Both men and
women wore a loose, woolen, robe-like cloak or mantle as an outer
garment. It was fastened at the waist with a belt or sash. A tunic or coat,
a long piece of cloth, leather or haircloth with holes for arms and head, was
worn under the cloak. Sandals were worn on the feet. The difference between
men's and women's clothing was small but distinctive. In addition, men often
wore a turban to confine their hair, and women of some cultures wore a veil.
No
one knows for sure whether the prohibition in Deuteronomy 22:5, was intended as
a general principle or was directed at some specific abuse among the ancient
Hebrews. Cross-dressing was likely considered an affront to the natural
distinction between the sexes. It may also have been related to some deviant
sexual practice, or more likely, to pagan worship. It is known that some pagan
rituals of that time involved women wearing armor and men dressing as women,
and the Hebrews were forbidden to do anything that had even the appearance of
pagan worship. As the word for man used here in Hebrew is ‘geber’, which properly signifies a strong man or man of war, it is
very probable that armour is intended here; especially as we know that in the
worship of Venus, to which that of Astarte or Ashtaroth among the Canaanites
bore a striking resemblance, the women were accustomed to appear in armour
before her and men in women's clothes. This, as other such superstitious
usages, is here said to be an abomination to the Lord. Probably this
confounding of garments had been used to gain opportunity of committing
uncleanness, and is therefore forbidden; for those that would be kept from sin
must keep themselves from all occasions of it and approaches to it.
It
certainly cannot mean a simple change in dress, whereby the men might pass for
women, and vice versa. This would have
been impossible in those countries where the dress of the sexes had but little
to distinguish it, and where every man wore a long beard.
Some people
think this verse would prohibit women from wearing pants because pants have
traditionally been worn by men. But, in light of the similarity of men's and
women's clothing in Biblical times and the fact that pants were not worn by
either sex at that time, that conclusion would be difficult to justify.
So my advice is
to dress modestly and in good taste, according to the standards of the society
they live in. The general principles of modesty and propriety must be applied. We should dress
for public worship in a way that is generally considered appropriate. Standards
of dress change over time and are different from church to church, but we
should avoid any style of dress that is offensive or sends a message opposing
the church community's values.
Women are fine
to wear skirts as it is the normal attire for many Western women, even in Egypt
many women wear skirts which only show parts of ankles so that would not make
or qualify as an unfit dress however miniskirts would be something that would
go into the category of nakedness and I am sure Christian women should not wear
these. As for the trousers the ones women wear in the Western world would
be fine as they do not qualify for nakedness. Modest clothes do not exploit a
woman’s body or features. Modest clothes will not display body parts for the
purpose of drawing attention to them. Not only does modesty require that
certain body parts should be completely covered, but also that the shape of our
bodies should not be unnecessarily and immodestly emphasized with tight fitting
clothes.
Dressing with propriety means
dressing appropriately. It means there is a difference in the way we dress for
a sports activity, for a casual event, and for more structured, formal
occasions, such as worship. But all occasions call for modesty in our
dress, whether we’re on the beach or sitting in church.
Modest dress will not say “sex” or
“pride” or “money.” But it certainly can say “good
taste,” “attractive,” and “pretty.” A Christian woman should want to do
the best she can with what God has given her. There is nothing to be gained
spiritually by looking drab or dowdy. Our clothes don’t need to scream
“Christian.” But they should quietly say “modest,” “appropriate,”
“carefully chosen.”
Modesty is not first an issue of
clothing. It is primarily an issue of the heart.
While concluding,
let me bring to your attention another a prohibition, stated in the same
chapter, against wearing clothes woven of wool and linen together: Do not wear clothes of wool and linen woven
together. (Deuteronomy 22:11). Again, no one is sure why this would be
wrong. It may have been to avoid mixing things that God has created separately
(Deuteronomy 22:9-11, Leviticus 19:19). Or,
these mixtures may have been related to some idolatrous practice that the
Hebrews were forbidden to imitate.
PS. Prepared
after careful study of Bible and Bible commentaries of accepted commentators
Professor Jacob Abraham
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