I’ve been wondering, besides keeping warm and being decent, does it matter what we wear?

The question assumes that we wear clothes (for the love of God and the love of neighbor), and maybe even that our clothing ought to conform to our neighbors’ expectations. Beyond that, do we have any responsibility to dress a certain way?

After reading “Illumination and Investiture: The Royal Significance of the Tree of Wisdom in Genesis 3” (William N. Wilder, Westminster Theological Journal 68 (2006)), I’ve been thinking that we might. Much of what follows is drawn from that article as well as from “Genesis 1-15” by Gordon Wenham.

Destined for Clothing

It says that, in the garden of Eden, Adam and Eve were “naked and unashamed.” Modern commentators don’t bat an eye at their nakedness, instead focusing on their unashamedness (and later, their shame).

On the other hand, ancient readers actually balked at their nakedness, even assuming that they weren’t actually naked. In their eyes, Adam and Eve must have been transcendentally clothed by God’s glory, since nakedness and shame were so inextricably linked. For example, from the apocryphal “Life of Adam and Eve,” when Eve reflects on eating the forbidden fruit:

“And in that very hour my eyes were opened. and I knew that I was stripped of the righteousness with which I had been clothed; and I wept, saying, What is this you have done to me, because I have been deprived of the glory with which I was clothed?”

In the same vein, consider God’s instructions to cover one’s private parts when approaching an altar (Ex. 20:26, Ex. 28:42-43), the shame involved in Noah’s nakedness (Gen. 9:23), or God’s injunction that, because he himself walks through the camp to protect them, they out to relieve themselves outside the camp (Deut. 23:12-14).

Furthermore, ancient near eastern idols (that is, images) were often clothed, for example, from Jer. 10:8-9: “worthless idols made of wood! Hammered silver is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz — the work of a craftsman from the hands of a goldsmith. Their clothes are blue and purple, all fashioned by skilled workers.” Given the temple language used in describing God’s creation, especially that Adam and Eve were images of God, it follows that clothing was expected for them.

In light of Torah’s general approach to nakedness, one might see Adam and Eve’s created state (naked!) as lacking. In this perspective, it is childlike or incomplete; it begs for clothing. Indeed, when their “eyes are opened,” they seek to clothe themselves. When God finds them, he clothes them too – an upgrade from plant clothing to animal skin clothing.

New Job, New Outfit

From another perspective, the Hebrew scriptures also associate clothing with royalty and priesthood. Here are some highlights of the usage of “לָבַשׁ”, “labash”, to put on or to clothe:

• Pharaoh gives Joseph a promotion (Gen 41):

  Pharaoh also told Joseph, “I hereby place you over all the land of Egypt.” Then Pharaoh removed the signet ring from his finger, put it on Joseph’s finger, clothed him in garments of fine linen, and placed a gold chain around his neck.

• Moses anointing Aaron and his sons (Lev 8):

  Moses said to the assembly, “This is what the Lord has commanded to be done.” Then Moses brought Aaron and his sons forward and washed them with water. 7He put the tunic on Aaron, tied the sash around him, clothed him with the robe and put the ephod on him. He also fastened the ephod with a decorative waistband, which he tied around him.

• Saul gives young David his armor to approach Goliath (1 Sam 17):

  Then Saul clothed David with his armor. He put a helmet of bronze on his head and clothed him with a coat of mail, and David strapped his sword over his armor.

Likewise, in Jesus’s parable of the prodigal son, the wayward son is restored to his father’s house with a new outfit: “Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.” (Luke 15)

Paul certainly understood clothing the same way, looking forward to future glory:

I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable… For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.

(1 Cor 15:50,53)

What then shall we wear?

So, if humans are, on one hand, God’s images, and on the other hand, priests and kings, ceremonially significant clothing would be expected by the Judeo-Christian tradition.

Adam and Eve were made naked, but their created state was only the beginning of the human purpose and calling, not the end of it. Paul even associated transcendent clothing with eternal life.

What bearing does this have on my life? How can this be addressed along with Jesus’s invitation not to “worry about what [we] shall wear”?