Cloak: An upper garment, "an exterior tunic, wide and long, reaching to the
ankles, but without sleeves"
(Isaiah 59:17) The word so rendered is
elsewhere rendered "robe" or "mantle." It was worn by the high priest
under the ephod
(Exodus 28:31) by kings and others of rank
(1 Samuel 15:27)
(Job 1:20; 2:12) and by women
(2 Samuel 13:18) The word translated "cloke",
i.e., outer garment, in
(Matthew 5:40) is in its plural form used of
garments in general
(Matthew 17:2; 26:65) The cloak mentioned here and in
(Luke 6:29) was the Greek himation, Latin pallium, and consisted of a
large square piece of wollen cloth fastened round the shoulders, like
the abba of the Arabs. This could be taken by a creditor
(Exodus 22:26,27)
but the coat or tunic (Gr. chiton) mentioned in
(Matthew 5:40) could
not. The cloak which Paul "left at Troas"
(2 Timothy 4:13) was the Roman
paenula, a thick upper garment used chiefly in travelling as a
protection from the weather. Some, however, have supposed that what
Paul meant was a travelling-bag. In the Syriac version the word used
means a bookcase.
