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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comFausset Bible Dictionary: Veil
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(See DRESS.) The mitpachath (), tsaiph (; ; ), and radial (; ). Moses' veil was the masveh (-35), related to suth (). An ample outer robe, drawn over the face when required. Mispachot, the false prophets' magical veils or "kerchiefs" (; ) which they put over the heads of those consulting them as if to fit them for receiving a response, that they might be rapt in spiritual trance above the world; placed "upon the head of every stature," i.e. upon persons of every age and height, young and old.
Re' aloth, light veils worn by females, called "mufflers" (), from rahal "to tremble," i.e. tremulous, referring to their rustling motion. Tzammah, translated "locks" (; ), the bride's veil, a mark of modesty and subjection to her lord. , "take off thy veil," or "thy locks," nature's covering for a woman (), a badge of female degradation. Anciently the veil was only exceptionally used for ornament or by women betrothed in meeting their future husbands, and at weddings ().
Ordinarily women among the Jews, Egyptians, and Assyrians, appeared in public with faces exposed (; ; ; ; ; ). Assyrian and Egyptian sculptures similarly represent women without a veil. It was Mahometanism that introduced the present veiling closely and seclusion of women; the veil on them in worship was the sign of subjection to their husbands (-15).