Ornaments

Boyd’s Bible Dictionary:

(adornments). Of infinite variety among Oriental peoples (Gen. 24:2222And it came to pass, as the camels had done drinking, that the man took a golden earring of half a shekel weight, and two bracelets for her hands of ten shekels weight of gold; (Genesis 24:22); Isa. 3:16-2516Moreover the Lord saith, Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with stretched forth necks and wanton eyes, walking and mincing as they go, and making a tinkling with their feet: 17Therefore the Lord will smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, and the Lord will discover their secret parts. 18In that day the Lord will take away the bravery of their tinkling ornaments about their feet, and their cauls, and their round tires like the moon, 19The chains, and the bracelets, and the mufflers, 20The bonnets, and the ornaments of the legs, and the headbands, and the tablets, and the earrings, 21The rings, and nose jewels, 22The changeable suits of apparel, and the mantles, and the wimples, and the crisping pins, 23The glasses, and the fine linen, and the hoods, and the vails. 24And it shall come to pass, that instead of sweet smell there shall be stink; and instead of a girdle a rent; and instead of well set hair baldness; and instead of a stomacher a girding of sackcloth; and burning instead of beauty. 25Thy men shall fall by the sword, and thy mighty in the war. (Isaiah 3:16‑25); Jer. 2:3232Can a maid forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? yet my people have forgotten me days without number. (Jeremiah 2:32); Ezek. 16:11-1911I decked thee also with ornaments, and I put bracelets upon thy hands, and a chain on thy neck. 12And I put a jewel on thy forehead, and earrings in thine ears, and a beautiful crown upon thine head. 13Thus wast thou decked with gold and silver; and thy raiment was of fine linen, and silk, and broidered work; thou didst eat fine flour, and honey, and oil: and thou wast exceeding beautiful, and thou didst prosper into a kingdom. 14And thy renown went forth among the heathen for thy beauty: for it was perfect through my comeliness, which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord God. 15But thou didst trust in thine own beauty, and playedst the harlot because of thy renown, and pouredst out thy fornications on every one that passed by; his it was. 16And of thy garments thou didst take, and deckedst thy high places with divers colors, and playedst the harlot thereupon: the like things shall not come, neither shall it be so. 17Thou hast also taken thy fair jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given thee, and madest to thyself images of men, and didst commit whoredom with them, 18And tookest thy broidered garments, and coveredst them: and thou hast set mine oil and mine incense before them. 19My meat also which I gave thee, fine flour, and oil, and honey, wherewith I fed thee, thou hast even set it before them for a sweet savor: and thus it was, saith the Lord God. (Ezekiel 16:11‑19)).

“231. Ornaments” From Manners and Customs of the Bible:

Saharonim, here translated ornaments, is in Isaiah 3:1818In that day the Lord will take away the bravery of their tinkling ornaments about their feet, and their cauls, and their round tires like the moon, (Isaiah 3:18), rendered “round tires like the moon.” In Judges 8:2626And the weight of the golden earrings that he requested was a thousand and seven hundred shekels of gold; beside ornaments, and collars, and purple raiment that was on the kings of Midian, and beside the chains that were about their camels' necks. (Judges 8:26) it is said that there were chains about the camels’ necks. It thus appears that these camels had gold chains around their necks on which were the saharonim, or little moons, probably gold ornaments shaped like a moon either full or crescent. “Perhaps they were made in honor of the moon-faced Astarte, and intimated that they who bore them were placed under her protection. The taking away of these ornaments would thus be a removal of idolatrous objects” (Wordsworth). The Arabs of the present day are accustomed to hang ornaments around the necks of their camels. Some are shaped like crescents, and are made of cowrie shells sewed on a band of leather or cloth.

“486. Sundry Articles, Useful and Ornamental” From Manners and Customs of the Bible:

Isaiah 3:2020The bonnets, and the ornaments of the legs, and the headbands, and the tablets, and the earrings, (Isaiah 3:20). The bonnets, and the ornaments of the legs, and the headbands, and the tablets, and the ear-rings.
1. The “bonnets” of the Oriental women, it is hardly necessary to say, bear no resemblance to the articles known by that name among us. They resemble the turbaned head-dresses of the men, but are less bulky and of finer materials. A cap is put on the head around which are wound rich handkerchiefs or shawls, folded high and flat. Gold and silver ornaments and jewels are added according to the taste of the wearer. The original word peer conveys the idea of ornament, and is rendered beauty” in Isaiah 61:33To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified. (Isaiah 61:3); “ornaments” in Isaiah 61:1010I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels. (Isaiah 61:10) and “tire” in Ezekiel 24:17,2317Forbear to cry, make no mourning for the dead, bind the tire of thine head upon thee, and put on thy shoes upon thy feet, and cover not thy lips, and eat not the bread of men. (Ezekiel 24:17)
23And your tires shall be upon your heads, and your shoes upon your feet: ye shall not mourn nor weep; but ye shall pine away for your iniquities, and mourn one toward another. (Ezekiel 24:23). Saalschutz supposes the peer to have been a metallic crown of filigree work, fastened around the cap.
2. “The ornaments of the legs” (tseadoth) were probably step-chains, that is, “short chains which Oriental females wore attached to the ankle-band of each foot, so as to compel them to take short and mincing steps, to walk mincingly” (Gesenius).
3. Kishshurim, “headband,” are supposed by some critics to denote fillets for the hair. Others, however, interpret them to mean girdles. The same word is rendered “attire” in Jeremiah 2:3232Can a maid forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? yet my people have forgotten me days without number. (Jeremiah 2:32).
4. Battey-hannephesh, “tablets,” is literally “houses of breath.” The margin has, “houses of the soul.” There is thought by some to be a reference here to boxes or bottles which were filled with perfume, and fastened to the necklace or the girdle. Chardin mentions having seen the women in Persia with small golden boxes of filigree work, which were filled with a black mixture of musk and amber.
Roberts, however, disputes this interpretation, and thinks these “houses of the soul” find their counterpart in certain ornaments which are worn by Hindu women, and made of silver or gold, and richly adorned with precious stones. He says: “The dancing-girls, the wives of the pandarams, and many other women, wear an ornament resembling a house, and sometimes a temple, which contains an image corresponding with the φαλλος of tile Greeks and the Priapus of the Romans” (Oriental Illustrations, p. 388).
5. Lechashim, “ear-rings,” are thought to have been charms or amulets made of gold, silver, or precious stones, perhaps in the shape of serpents, or with serpents engraved on them. They may have been used as ear-rings also. See note on Genesis 35:44And they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods which were in their hand, and all their earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem. (Genesis 35:4) (#66).

Related Books and Articles:

231. Ornaments
Narrator: Chris Genthree
Duration: 1min
486. Sundry Articles, Useful and Ornamental
Narrator: Chris Genthree
Duration: 3min