Hebrew word · H232

אֵזוֹר

'ezor

girdle

A waistcloth or loincloth worn wrapped around the hips, often linen or leather. It could be the innermost garment, or a belt that bound up the outer robe so a man could move freely. Fastening it meant being ready for work, travel or battle. Loosening it meant weakness or being disarmed.

Appears 14 times in 12 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) waist-cloth, the innermost piece of clothing

1a) of God's power over kings (fig.)

1b) of faithfulness (metaph)

2) waistband

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Isaiah 11:5

Range of meaning

A waistcloth or loincloth worn wrapped around the hips, often linen or leather. It could be the innermost garment, or a belt that bound up the outer robe so a man could move freely. Fastening it meant being ready for work, travel or battle. Loosening it meant weakness or being disarmed.

Against the English

The KJV's 'girdle' is the correct old word, but today it suggests a woman's shapewear. 'Belt' is accurate but sounds like a simple strap. 'Sash' (BSB, NIV) suggests decoration or a badge of office. None of them fully conveys the Hebrew picture of a garment pulled tight against the body for action.

How it drifted

Fashion changed what 'girdle' means in English. The ancient practice of tucking up a long robe to free the legs is unfamiliar to modern readers.

Used elsewhere in the period

Jer 13:1–11: the linen ʾēzôr clings to a man's loins as Israel was meant to cling to God, an image of closeness. Isa 5:27: in the advancing Assyrian army 'not a waistcloth is loosed,' meaning total readiness. 2 Kgs 1:8: Elijah wore a leather ʾēzôr. Job 12:18: God 'binds a waistcloth on the loins' of kings, or loosens their belts, as a sign of their power and its removal. Clothing as a picture of character is common: 'I put on righteousness and it clothed me' (Job 29:14); God puts on righteousness as a breastplate (Isa 59:17).

From the study of Jeremiah 13:10

Range of meaning

A cloth or band wrapped around the waist and hips: a loincloth, waist-wrap, or belt. It could be leather (Elijah, 2 Kgs 1:8) or linen (here, ʾēzôr pištîm, v. 1). It was worn on the motnayim, the hips or loins. To "gird" oneself with it meant getting ready for action. In this chapter it is worn directly on the body and is meant to "cling" (v. 11).

Against the English

KJV "girdle" (in 1611 a belt or sash; today mainly a women's shaping undergarment). WEB and NIV "belt" (correct for some uses, but it misses the closeness to the body here). NASB "waistband." BSB and ESV "loincloth" (closest to the intimacy of v. 11, though some scholars think a waist-sash is meant).

How it drifted

"Girdle" in English shifted from a man's belt to a woman's foundation garment, so the KJV wording now brings up the wrong picture.

Used elsewhere in the period

Isa 11:5 ("righteousness the ʾēzôr of his loins"); 2 Kgs 1:8; Job 12:18; Ezek 23:15. Linen garments worn against the skin were also priestly wear (linen undergarments, Exod 28:42), and Jeremiah came from a priestly family (Jer 1:1). Some interpreters see that link, but it is a possibility and not something the text states.

Where it appears

2 Kings · 1

  1. 2 Kings 1:8 וְאֵז֥וֹר and a loincloth of

    “He was a hairy man,” they answered, “with a leather belt around his waist.” “It was Elijah the Tishbite,” said the king.

Job · 1

  1. Job 12:18 אֵ֝ז֗וֹר a loincloth

    He loosens the bonds placed by kings and fastens a belt around their waists.

Isaiah · 3

  1. Isaiah 5:27 אֵז֣וֹר [the] waistband of

    None of them grows weary or stumbles; no one slumbers or sleeps. No belt is loose and no sandal strap is broken.

  2. Isaiah 11:5 אֵז֣וֹר אֵז֥וֹר [the] waistband of

    Righteousness will be the belt around His hips, and faithfulness the sash around His waist.

    Here: The garment wrapped tightly around the waist and hips, the one closest to the body. It tied up the clothing so a man could work, run or fight. Here it pictures righteousness as the thing nearest to the king, holding everything else in place.

Jeremiah · 8

  1. Jeremiah 13:1 אֵז֣וֹר a loincloth of

    This is what the LORD said to me: “Go and buy yourself a linen loincloth and put it around your waist, but do not let it touch water.”

  2. Jeremiah 13:2 הָאֵז֖וֹר the loincloth

    So I bought a loincloth in accordance with the word of the LORD, and I put it around my waist.

  3. Jeremiah 13:4 הָאֵז֛וֹר the loincloth

    “Take the loincloth that you bought and are wearing, and go at once to Perath and hide it there in a crevice of the rocks.”

  4. Jeremiah 13:6 הָ֣אֵז֔וֹר the loincloth

    Many days later the LORD said to me, “Arise, go to Perath, and get the loincloth that I commanded you to hide there.”

  5. Jeremiah 13:7 הָ֣אֵז֔וֹר הָאֵז֔וֹר the loincloth

    So I went to Perath and dug up the loincloth, and I took it from the place where I had hidden it. But now it was ruined—of no use at all.

  6. Jeremiah 13:10 כָּאֵז֣וֹר like the loincloth

    These evil people, who refuse to listen to My words, who follow the stubbornness of their own hearts, and who go after other gods to serve and worship them, they will be like this loincloth—of no use at all.

    Here: Like the linen waistcloth Jeremiah wore, hid by the Perat, and dug up rotten (vv. 1–7). It is the garment worn closest to the body.

  7. Jeremiah 13:11 הָאֵז֜וֹר <the> loincloth

    For just as a loincloth clings to a man’s waist, so I have made the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah cling to Me, declares the LORD, so that they might be My people for My renown and praise and glory. But they did not listen.

Ezekiel · 1

  1. Ezekiel 23:15 אֵז֜וֹר a waistband

    wearing belts on their waists and flowing turbans on their heads; all of them looked like officers of the Babylonians in Chaldea, the land of their birth.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.