How to Gird Up Your Loins

Friday, November 14, 2014

How to Gird Up Your Loins

How to Gird Up Your Loins: An Illustrated Guide

If you’ve read the Bible, then you’ve probably come across the phrase “gird up your loins.” I’ve always thought it was a funny turn of phrase. Loins….heh.

Back in the days of the ancient Near East, both men and women wore flowing tunics. Around the tunic, they’d wear a belt or girdle. While tunics were comfortable and breezy, the hem of the tunic would often get in the way when a man was fighting or performing hard labor. So when ancient Hebrew men had to battle the Philistines, the men would lift the hem of their tunic up and tuck it into their girdle or tie it in a knot to keep it off the ground. The effect basically created a pair of shorts that provided more freedom of movement. Thus to tell someone to “gird up their loins” was to tell them to get ready for hard work or battle. It was the ancient way of saying “man up!”

While I’ve had a vague notion of what it meant to gird up your loins, I’ve always been curious how exactly you do it. So we did some sleuthing and found these instructions on the Historyzine Podcast and turned it into an illustrated guide for your enjoyment and edification. In case tunics ever come back in style, you’ll now know how to gird up your loins and get ready for action.

Yea, now go forth. Gird up your loins and fresh courage take, my brethren.

Illustration by Ted Slampyak