The Hebrew words for clothes are driving me maḏ (pun intended)

Thinking out loud here, for some illustrations I'm doing, but it might be interesting to other people. Sorry I haven't linked the verses - that would be a massive faff.

In 1 Samuel 18v4:

Then Jonathan removed the robe he was wearing and gave it to David, along with his military tunic, his sword, his bow, and his belt.

The clothing words chosen by translators can vary widely, so it's always worth checking out the original Hebrew (While looking up an interlinear is not a substitute for actually knowing Hebrew, I do know about ancient clothes, which, by the word choices they sometimes make, most translators don't. Not their fault - they can't know details of every subject!)

So, what Jonathan gave David was a mᵊʿîl, a maḏ and a ḥăḡôr (plus the sword and bow).

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mᵊʿîl is a fairly clear clothing word. 

• The high priest wore a blue one over his tunic (kutōneṯ), with pomegranates & bells round the hem and an opening in the center. Exodus 39v23-25
• Samuel's mother made him a little one every year 1 Samuel 2v19, and he wore one as an adult too 1 Samuel 15v27 (and as a ghost 1 Samuel 28v14). Saul wore one too - and in both cases they had a corner (or edge) that could be torn/cut off 1 Samuel 24v4.
• The 'long-sleeved/decorated robes' (pas kutōneṯ) that David's daughters wore were a kind of mᵊʿîl 2 Samuel 13v18 - and since Joseph also wore a pas kutōneṯ Genesis 37v3, I'm guessing his was also a kind of mᵊʿîl.  
• David wore a linen one (plus an ephod) to dance before the ark 1 Chronicles 15v27.
• Various people also tore theirs when mourning, but that doesn't really tell us what they're like, except that they're occasionally mentioned in addition to 'beḡeḏ' (clothes)  e.g. Ezra 9v3. And some random princes in a prophecy took them off Ezekiel 26v16.
• It's also used metaphorically for being clothed in joy, wrath or strength.
  

Therefore, I think 'robe' sounds like a good translation. Not a basic everyday tunic, but serving a similar purpose of clothing the whole body. Sometimes (always?) worn over a tunic. And, based on the descriptions, I think a voluminous, belted-poncho type robe, common in many ancient societies, such as Egypt, Persia, Greece & Rome.

Persian guard in the British Museum

My reconstruction. It's just a rectangle with a hole, but gives the impression of long sleeves.

I like to draw their style based (loosely) on the rather unintelligible clothes on this ivory from Megiddo:

This is bronze age, therefore close to David's time.

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ḥăḡôr is definitely a belt, or anything you gird yourself (ḥāḡar) with Genesis 3v7 - sometimes specifically a military belt 2 Samuel 20v8 (and sometimes used as a metonymy for being armed 2 Kings 3v21) . Sometimes not military at all Isaiah 3v24. 

In context, a military belt would make sense.

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And then there's the maḏ. Unfortunately there aren't that many instances of it, and they don't all appear to be referring the the same thing.

• It is once used to refer to a priest's linen robe (usually called a kutōneṯ) Leviticus 6v10.
• Ehud strapped his 18" sword to his right thigh under his maḏ, and was able to access it quickly with his left hand Judges 3v16-21. 
• In a clearly military context, Saul lent his to David, and he strapped his sword over it 1 Samuel 17v38-39. Joab also wore one with a belt and sword over it 2 Samuel 20v8. An unnamed Benjamite fled from battle with a torn one (in mourning?) 1 Samuel 4v12.
  
• People who travel the roads on white donkeys sit on them 🤷‍♀️ Judges 5v10.  
• It's used metaphorically in a Psalm - 'He wore cursing like his maḏ" - which could be any kind of clothing Psalm 109v18.
• And that's it*. 

In three of those instances someone 'puts it on' (lāḇaš), but Joab 'girded himself' (ḥāḡar) with his. So are we talking about a kilt? A military kilt? Kilts certainly were worn in warfare, sometimes with nothing else - see the armed man in the ivory above. 

But what style of kilt? Why did Saul think it would help David, instead of him just wearing the armour over normal clothes? Were his normal clothes loose and baggy? Or was the kilt reinforced or padded in some way? What would it look like? Was Jonathan wearing it over his mᵊʿîl (certainly a kilt over a robe was sometimes worn by people like Philistines, Syrians, and Kushites)? Or, based on the order the clothes are mentioned, was he at that point only wearing the mᵊʿîl (presumably over a tunic), not any of his military gear, which it doesn't specifically mention him taking off?

Watch this space for my solutions...

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*It also seems to mean 'measure' Jeremiah 13v25, but that doesn't help, as the etymology of clothing words is often weird - in English, 'shirt' and 'skirt' come fom the same root!

Unhelpful technical help

 "Browsers want you to think (rightly!) that site owners who can’t be bothered using HTTPS (it’s free in many cases) aren’t worth your time and certainly not your money."

WordPress 'support' article

If your article also explained how I could implement this in my site, it would be helpful. Maybe it's not always laziness, but lack of technical know-how.

On a similar note, it's amazing how many 'how-to' articles go: "It's really simple - all you need to do is copy this bit of code into the blah-blah-blah file gobbledygook xyz folder mumbo-jumbo" [location unspecified]

[Edit: I got it done, and it was extremely easy (simply moving a slider from off to on). What was not easy was finding out that that was what I had to do.]

Planning an outfit for King David

I went for a golden brown colour as it's similar to his shepherd clothes, but also looks regal.

The outward appearance

A game I've been working on as part of my next PowerPoint (David is chosen). Took waaaaaay longer than I anticipated!

I was originally just going to have two pictures in the PowerPoint: 1) the outward appearance, and 2) the outlines - some with red hearts (Christians) and some with grey hearts (not).

But judging by appearance is so ingrained that I was worried that it might backfire.

If the children were already prejudiced against a certain kind of person being a Christian, and that person was drawn with a grey heart, that might actually confirm their assumption that 'that kind of person definitely isn't a Christian' - even in conjunction with a verse that said the opposite.

Of course, I could make sure that all the 'less likely' people were marked as Christians and all the 'more likely' were not. But a) that would be silly and b) different people have different prejudices. Even in this country, never mind internationally.

So, in the PowerPoint itself, they all have red hearts. BUT there is also the game, and in that, random people are/are not Christians each time you play.


I suppose this could be classed as another example of Kirsty overthinking...
But I don't think so. As a Sunday School teacher, I am very aware of the unhelpful assumptions children make about these things. And the last thing I want to do is exacerbate them

Golden bogey

We did Isaac & Rebekah in SS on Sunday.

Does she have a golden bogey? No, it's a nose ring. (Discussion on how nose rings work - I was surprised it seemed so odd to them). Would it hurt? No, it's just like earrings - it doesn't hurt to put them in. Assuming she already had her nose pierced. Then why can't you see a nose ring on the other picture? That's a small picture, you wouldn't be able to see it. And maybe she didn't wear jewelry to go and collect water...

Only much, much longer...

Fixing angel

I wasn't happy with the angel's clothes, so I redid them in clip studio (I'm not yet comfortable doing a lot of inking in it, but it's fine for small amounts.)

Much better!

Inking video

Another video - inking the same illustration as the previous pencil video.
Real time - inking is much quicker than pencils, if I do the pencils properly.

Pencilling video

This is me drawing 'pencils' for an illustration for a new PowerPoint. Took about 40 minutes in real life - this is 4x speed.

This took far longer to edit than record!

[Edit - just discovered that, while the word used for 'spring' does not necessarily mean a well, it clearly is called a well in v13 - oops!]

Psalm 8

Lord, our Lord,
    how majestic is your name in all the earth!

You have set your glory
    in the heavens.

 Through the praise of children and infants
    you have established a stronghold against your enemies,
    to silence the foe and the avenger.

 When I consider your heavens,
    the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
    which you have set in place,
 what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
    human beings that you care for them?

 You have made them a little lower than the angels
    and crowned them with glory and honour.
 You made them rulers over the works of your hands;
    you put everything under their feet:
 all flocks and herds,
    and the animals of the wild,
 the birds in the sky,
    and the fish in the sea,
    all that swim the paths of the seas.

 Lord, our Lord,
    how majestic is your name in all the earth! Psalm 8

PowerPoint here.

God calls Samuel

And here's the PowerPoint!


I tried to put it in a bit of context, so I started with Eli's rebellious sons, and ended up with Samuel becoming a prophet to all Israel (which also seemed a more positive ending than 'God says you're in big trouble'!)

Eli & his sons

Samuel works for God

A man of God rebukes Eli

God calls Samuel

Samuel runs to Eli

Speak, for your servant is listening

Samuel gives Eli God's message

Samuel becomes a prophet to all Israel

Samuel's hair

Just finished my second Samuel PowerPoint (God calls Samuel). Thought you might like to see the character development I did for the first PowerPoint.

I don't usually try out so many ideas for a character, but it's really hard to draw a young boy with long hair and not have him looking like a girl! I ended up with the two top right versions (for Sam at different ages).

The only problem about choosing to draw dreadlocks is that, if uncut, they never stop growing - that will be interesting when I draw old Samuel!

Unusual pose reference

Was trying to imagine a good pose for the Good Shepherd calling the sheep by name. Then I remembered this picture from the Flower Fairies! I really pays to pore over books with pictures again and again and again.

There will be more sheep in the final pic.

Solomon's mobile basins

I've been looking at Solomon's temple for doing a PowerPoint (put on hold for the moment).
In the furniture described are these bronze mobile basin stands, explained in great detail - which unfortunately no-one nowadays can make head or tail of.

I did come across this, though. I really don't think they looked like this (and I don't think he's seriously suggesting it) but it's pretty cool!


First Temple laver stand with omni wheels from Yoav Elan on Vimeo.
 (Here's his blog post about it)

Wedding banquet

And yet another old one I've finished off - the parable of the wedding banquet from Matthew.

Pure coincidence that the prince and princess look very like another royal wedding that happened today ;-)

Jonah!

Just realised I never said that I'd - finally - finished my Jonah PowerPoint.

20 pictures! But could be taught over 2 weeks.