BIBLE BELTS

I am presently blessed by living in part of the Bible Belt of America where it seems that there is an evangelical church on about every block. This is quite different from the years when I lived in the North East. But that is not at all the type of “belt” I am going to highlight. Instead, I am referring to those references in the Bible to belts, girdles or sashes (zone in Greek) and the verb “to gird” (zonnymi) from which it is derived. These all have symbolic significance of one type or another. I will only mention the more prominent examples from the New Testament since most of them hark back to similar usage in the Old Testament.

Mark 1:6 describes the garb of John the Baptist. He “did not wear over his clothing the linen girdle customary among nomads, but a leather one (cf. 2 Ki. 1:8). His appearance is to be seen (following Mal. 3:1; 4:5) as that of Elijah, the eschatological forerunner of the Messiah. His clothing does not indicate hostility to culture, or especial asceticism...The rough mantle of camel's hair was the recognizable garb of a prophet going back to Elijah and Elisha (I Ki 19:19; 2 Ki. 2:13f.; cf. Zech. 13:4). John's garb proclaimed his conscious prophetic calling.” (Selter)

Mark 6:8-9 // Matthew 10:9 When Jesus sent out the apostles two by two, the “urgency of their mission required that they travel lightly.” One of the excluded items was a belt (zone), this time designating a sort of money belt into which small coins could be tucked. (Grassmick)

Anderson mentions another important consideration: “Only by complying with the command to renounce all accoutrements and material resources, except the bare minimum, could the missionaries of Jesus intimate their abandonment of human or worldly power and their dependence upon their Lord.”

In marked contrast to this command, in Luke 22:35-36, Jesus reminds them of that earlier event just before his arrest and tells them that when he is gone they will need to carry all the provisions they can muster. However, this time, the Greek word zone for belt is not used and is balantion (“purse”) instead.

Luke 12:35 “Girding the loins meant kilting up a flowing eastern garment for ease of movement; 'roll up your sleeves' is a modern equivalent.” (Marshall) This particular verse (echoing Exod. 12:11) is to be understood as a challenge to the church to live unfettered by the world, in expectation of the Lord's coming, in readiness to depart (cf. I Cor 7:29-31).” (Selter)

In Luke 17:8 “the servant girds himself to serve his master.” But John 13:4-5 “records how Jesus, the Master, changed his clothes in preparation for performing the task of a slave, a loving service which at the same time demonstrates the new order of life, which belongs to the age which is dawning.” (Selter)

Whereas in Acts 12:8 Peter is “well able to gird himself and make himself ready to go,” in John 21:18 he “is told that when he is old another will make him ready for a journey, and so determine the direction and destination of his life (probably an allusion to Peter's martyrdom.” (Selter)

R.E. Brown has a slightly different take on John 21:18 when he writes that “having been called to the apostolate in vv. 15-17, Peter is no longer his own master and is to serve Jesus...Others think that the comparison predicts that when he is old Peter will follow Jesus in suffering and imprisonment (an ideal found, fittingly in I Pet ii 21-23). The imagery of being fastened with a belt would be appropriate; for, when Jesus was arrested he was bound (Jn. xviii 12,24); and Agabus acted out the drama of binding his hands and feet with Paul's belt in order to predict Paul's arrest (Acts xxi 11-12).”

Regarding this last reference, F.F. Bruce notes: “Acted prophecy of this kind was common in the OT (cf. 1 Ki 11:29ff.).” And W. Neil adds, “Such a symbolic act on the part of a prophet, now in a Christian milieu...was regarded as setting in motion the impending purpose of God.”

Ephesians 6:14 lists girding oneself with the truth as part of the whole armor of God. Marcus Barth explains the military significance: “One of at least three different girdles worn by soldiers can be meant in Eph 6:14: (a) The breech-like leather apron worn by Roman soldiers to protect the lower abdomen, (b) the sword-belt which was buckled on together with the sword (and dagger, in the case of an officer), as the decisive (last) step in the process for preparing one for battle; or (c) the special belt or sash designation an officer or high official. The last meaning is probably best suited for interpreting Eph 6:14, for a clear allusion is made to Isa 11:5: 'Righteousness shall be the girdle of his waist, and faithfulness the girdle of his loins.' The Isaiah passage referred to the coming Messiah. However, Paul extends this description to all Christians."

I Peter 1:13 says, “Gird up the loins of your mind. The underlined phrase appears multiple times in the OT, meaning to become prepared. Stibbs and Walls comment: “Note that it is in the realm of the mind that this serious new activity is demanded. Conversion to Christ and regeneration by the Spirit are meant to be accompanied by mental awakening, by a new exercise of powers of understanding now divinely released and renewed.”

Then we have the description of the heavenly Christ found in Revelation 1:13 containing imagery coming directly from that of the one like the Son of Man in the heavenly throne scene of Daniel 10:5. F.F. Bruce says, “He wears the full-length high-priestly robe for which the same Greek word poderes...is used in the LXX [i.e. Greek version] of Exod. 28:4; 29:5 together with the sash or 'girdle' for which the Greek zone, as here, is used in the LXX of Exod. 28:4,39. Here the sash is of gold, as befits a royal priest. In these introductory verses of Rev., then, Jesus is portrayed in His threefold office as prophet, king and priest.”

Beasley-Murray's take differs somewhat from Bruce on this matter: “The word for the robe worn by Christ was used of the high priest's robe; but it is doubtful whether any such association is in mind here for this robe was worn also by men of high rank generally.”

Finally, there is Revelation 15:6 in which the seven angels of the plagues also appear robed in linen with golden sashes. Beale notes, “This description is almost identical to that of the Son of man in 1:13, which may imply that they are identified with him and act as his representatives in carrying out judgment.”