John 19:23. The coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout.
χιτων was a tunic or inner garment which was worn next to the skin. It usually had sleeves, and generally reached to the knees, though sometimes to the ankles. It is mentioned in Matthew 5:40; Luke 6:29; Acts 9:39. Sometimes, for luxury, two tunics were worn at the same time. This our Lord forbade his disciples. See Matthew 10:10; Mark 6:9; Luke 3:11; 9:3. When a person had on no garment but this he was said to be “naked.” See note on 1 Samuel 19:24 (#261).
These tunics were sometimes woven in one piece. Braun, a German theologian of the seventeenth century, wrote a quarto volume in Latin descriptive of the dress of the Jewish priests. In this he describes at length the manner in which seamless coats were woven, and gives pictorial illustrations. He had one of them made for himself by a weaver, according to directions which he gave, and on a loom made for the purpose. Seamless coats are still found in India and in other parts of the East.