CAMEL'S HAIR

(triches kamelou): In Matthew 3:4 and Mark 1:6 the description of John's raiment is explicit to the extent of telling the kind of hair of which his raiment was made. It is probable that his garment was made of a tawed camel skin, for the more expensive woven camel's hair garment would not be in keeping with the rest of the description. It is still common among the poor in some parts of Syria, when a camel or other animal dies, to remove its skin and, after treating the inner surface to stop decomposition, to make it up into various domestic articles. The writer once saw a peasant dragging a skin along the road which proved to be that of a donkey which had just died on the route. His intention was probably to make it up into a cloak. Some believe that Elijah's mantle was of camel's hair (2 Kings 1:8; compare Zechariah 13:4). Of that we cannot be sure, for in the East today the hairy garment is usually goat's hair or wool either woven or still clinging to the skin. It was much more likely to have been one of these latter. See SHEEP. Camel's hair, when woven into fabrics, as in rugs, makes an article of even softer and more glossy texture than wool.

See WEAVING.

James A. Patch

St John the Baptist
... minds, I fear, at once, many of the loveliest of them all: those in which Raffaelle
and others have depicted the child John, in his camel's hair raiment, with ...
/.../kingsley/all saints day and other sermons/sermon xxviii st john the.htm

Concerning the Words Ascribed to John by all the Four Evangelists ...
... words cited from the speaker himself will Matthew's own narrative proceed, being
thus resumed: "And the same John had his raiment of camel's hair," and so forth ...
/.../the harmony of the gospels/chapter xii concerning the words ascribed.htm

Letter xxxviii. To Marcella.
... [773] He was called an angel; [774] he baptized the Lord Himself, and yet he was
clothed in raiment of camel's hair, and girded with a leathern girdle. ...
/.../jerome/the principal works of st jerome/letter xxxviii to marcella.htm

Whether it is Lawful for Religious to Wear Coarser Clothes than ...
... Secondly, in order to set an example to others; wherefore a gloss on Mat.3:4,
"(John) had his garments of camel's hair," says: "He who preaches penance is ...
/.../christianbookshelf.org/aquinas/summa theologica/whether it is lawful for 17.htm

The Voice in the Wilderness.
... Like those who had made a vow to the Lord, John had never cut his hair, he wore
a coarse garment woven of camel's hair, and lived on the simple food of the ...
/.../lathbury/childs story of the bible/chapter vi the voice in.htm

Chrysostom as a Monk. AD 374-381.
... authority of an abbot. They wore coarse garments of camel's hair or goat's
hair over their linen tunics. They rose before sunrise ...
/.../chrysostom/on the priesthood/chapter v chrysostom as a monk.htm

A People Prepared for the Lord
... people were asleep; they had fallen into a condition of religious lethargy, when
suddenly there stood in their midst a man clothed with camel's hair, and with ...
/.../spurgeon/spurgeons sermons volume 41 1895/a people prepared for the.htm

Herod and John the Baptist
... I really think he must be one of the old prophets. Did you notice that his coat
was made of camel's hair, and that he had a leathern girdle round his loins? ...
//christianbookshelf.org/moody/men of the bible/v herod and john the.htm

Hail, the Galilean
... And John was clothed with camel's hair, and with a girdle of a skin about his loins;
and he did eat locusts and wild honey; and preached, saying: ...
/.../mark/jesus of nazareth a biography/chapter i hail the galilean.htm

John the Baptist --visit of Jesus to John, and his Abode in the ...
... attracted him.[4] He led there the life of a Yogi of India, clothed with skins or
stuffs of camel's hair, having for food only locusts and wild honey.[5] A ...
/.../renan/the life of jesus/chapter vi john the baptistvisit.htm