ἀναζώννυμι

From the study of 1 Peter 1:13

Range of meaning

To gird up the loins: gather a long, loose tunic at the waist and tuck it into a belt so the legs are free. The picture is readiness: running (Elijah, 1 Kings 18:46), heavy work (the capable woman, Proverbs 31:17), travel, battle, or facing a hard task (God to Job, Job 38:3; to Jeremiah, Jer 1:17).

Against the English

KJV and YLT keep the picture ('gird up the loins of your mind'). BSB, WEB, ESV, NASB and NLT turn it into its meaning, 'prepare your minds for action'. That is accurate, but it loses the bodily image and the Exodus echo. 'Loins' in modern English suggests the sexual organs, which has nothing to do with this phrase. Here it simply means the waist where the belt goes.

How it drifted

'Loins' has narrowed in English toward a sexual sense, and the custom of belting up a robe is unknown to most modern readers. That is why modern versions drop the image.

Used elsewhere in the period

The verb ἀναζώννυμι occurs only here in the NT. The Septuagint (the Greek Old Testament) uses it in Proverbs 31:17 ('she girds her loins with strength'). The key background is Passover night, Exodus 12:11: 'your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, your staff in your hand', eaten in haste and ready to leave Egypt. Jesus uses the same image for watchful servants awaiting their master: 'Let your loins be girded and your lamps burning' (Luke 12:35).