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Samuel and Kings TAMAR AND THE 'COAT OF MANY COLORS'

A Feminist Companion to the Bible Adricn Janis Blcdstein

(Second Series)
The 'coat of many colors', worn by Joseph in Hebrew SCriptures, is
possibly the most famous garment in the Western world. However,
readers of the King James Version of the Bible may not realize that
one other person ill the Bible, Tamar the daughter of King David, also
wore the k'tollet passim (rYc::') iWi:>}, mostly translated 'a garment of
divers colors' (2 Sam. 13.18-19).
You will remember that Jacob sent his favorite son on a journey to
edited by Alhalya Brenner report on the well-being of his half-brothers and the herds. From a
distance, his brothers recognized Joseph in the garment that an­
nounced his favored status in the family. Conspiring to kill this 'mas­
ter of dreams', they instead stripped him of his 'coat of many colors',
threw him in a pit, then sold him as ,1 slave (Gen. 37.12-28).
Also commissioned byher father, Princess Tamar went to the house
Copyright © 2000 Sheffield Academic Press of her half-brother Amnon, who claimed to be ill. Wearing the k'tollet
Published by Sheffield Academic Press Ltd

paSSim, she shaped and baked dough in his sight, poured something
Mansion HoUse
and brought the food to an inner chamber, to his bedside, so that
19 Kingfield Road
he might eat. He grabbed hold of her, raped her, then threw her out
Sheffield, S11 9AS
(2 Sam. 13.6-18). .
England
Is it not remarkable that each person appareled in the k'tollet passim
was auUlorized by his or her father to perform a service and, during
Printed on acid-free paper in Great Britain the performance, each was abused by brothers then cast out?
by The Cromwell Press In a tantalizing version of the Joseph episode, Tllrgllm Pst'lldo­
Trowbridge, Wiltshire JOllathall translated Joseph's garment as pargOd (1U.,::'), from a Greek
word ofSemitk origin meaning 'separation', 'curtain' or 'vdl'.J In the
Bible, before Joseph found his brotllers, he encountered a stranger.
British Ubrary Cataloguing in Publication Data
According to this targum, the stranger said, 'I heard from behilld tile
A catalogue record for this book is available curtail/ (pargOdii, ~11.l":l) that your brothers are in Dothan' (Gen. 37.17).
from the British Ubrary Through the addition of 'from behind the curtain' to the biblical verse
and the word choke for Joseph's garment, Jonathan linked the 'coat of

ISBN 1-84127-082-2 1. J. Bowker, The Targu/1/s alld Rabbinic Literatllre: All Il1troduclion to Jewish
i/llerpretaUolls of Scripture (London: Cambridge UniverSity Press, 1969), p. 237.
 .....',UH14\..' "HU fiIJl
O;' BLEDSfEIN Tamar and the 'Coat ofMallY Colors' 67

many colors' to the heayenly curtain from behind which the divine 1959 Israeli archaeologists pOinted to a fifteenth-century BCE Egyp­
speaks to divine messengers and humans in post-biblical Jewish mid­ tian tomb painting found at Thebes. Several wealthy, tribute-bearing
rash. This essay on Tamar's 'coat of divers colors' explores the mean­ Canaanites wore long-sleeved fitted garments
ing of this costume in the biblical world and surrounding cultures. I made of pieces of cloth stitched together with embrOidery that empha­
suggest that Jonathan's linking of the garment with receiving divine sized the lines of the garment. The sleeves were unusually long. reach­
words has ancient rOots. ing to the elbow and sometimes even as far as the wrists. Usually a scarf
What, then, would the meaning of the costume imply regarding of the same cloth was worn with the coat, being wound in a spiral
each narrative, especially for Tamar? Post-biblical interpretations of round the waist. Sometimes the doth was of a different colour inside
and out and therefore had a multi-coloured appearance when worn in
the k"tOllet passim im'ite speculation.
folds and wound round the body: the lower edge of the garment was
hemmed.s
Post-Bibliml Translations However, this garment is depicted on many men and no women.
Joseph's (and Tamar's) 'technkolor dream coat' may not be distinctive Three years later, editors of The Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible
because of its coloring: the kttollet indicates a garment of some sort, looked for garments worn by both men and women and pOinted to a
but ptlssfm does not mean color. The striped robe popular in child(en's nineteenth-century BeE extended mural on a wall of the tomb of an
illustrated Bibles may have arisen from the modem Hebrew meaning Egyptian noble at Beni-hasan. Asiatics appear in sleeveless tunics
o(pas as 'strip' or 'stripe', or from an Aramaic translation in Targum reaching to the knee or midway down the calf, and attached at one
011qelos.2 Because pas in biblical Hebrew means 'extremity', 'border' shoulder. Reflecting the post-biblical meaning of pas as 'strip' or
and 'vanishing', rabbinic commentators conjured a garment 'so light 'stripe', colorful geometric designs decorate lengthwise stripes.6 As
and delicate that it could be crushed and concealed in the closed palm the garment is worn by several men and women, one may wonder if
of one hand'.) For others, pas as 'extremity' indicated the sole of the this common garment would incite murderous hatred in Joseph's
foot or palm of the hand, giving rise to various translations such as 'a brothers.
long robe with sleeves' (NRSV), 'an ankle-length garment', 'a long­ In 1964, E.A. Speiser took another tack and bluntly asserted: 'The
sleeved robe'; or, in combination, 'a long-sleeved tunic reaching to the traditional "coat of many colors", and the variant "coat with sleeves"
ankle'.4 are sheer guesses from the context; nor is there anything remarkable
Adopting 'long robe with sleeves' as the preferred translation, in about either colors or sleeves'? Drawing upon A. Leo Oppenheim's
suggestion, Speiser wondered ifthe garment was distinguished as an
2. B. Grossfeld, TIle TargulII Ollqc1os to Genesis: Trans/ated 'witll a Critical Intra­
duetion, Apparatlls, and Notes {Wilmington, DE: Michael Glazier, 1988), p. 126.
3. L. Ginzburs- Legcnds of the Jews (7 vols.; Philadelphia: Jewish Publication 5. B. Mazar (ed.), Views of fbe Biblical World {4 vols.; Jerusalem; International
Society, 1909), II, p. 7. Publishing Company, 1959), I, p. 94: Also ANEP, p. 47; TIle ll/ustrated Bible Dictio­
4. For 'ankle-length', see also the Oxford Bible. C. Westermann surmises; 'It /lary (Leicester. Inter-Varsity Press, 1980), I, p. 396; Tomb 63 at the British Museum,
is a special gannent, a sleeved tunic (not a "coat of many colors"), according to no. 37991.
2 Samuel 13.18 the costume of a princess, an ankle-length tunic ..• that designates 6. Editors of the Interpreter's Dictionary of tlte Bible also offered from written
high rank. This gift to Joseph is the first occurrence of the clothing motif, which records 'the colorful garment decorated with bimlu, which is a narrow band woven
will tum up repeatedly throughout the narrative. The author presupposes the from wool threads of assorted colors' worn by both Pharaoh Necho and women.
great social significance of clothing, for millennia one of the most striking evi­ These narrow, bright strips are described in the Annals of Ashumasirpal II [883­
dences of social stratification. It is this tunic, not Joseph's dreams, that first poses 859 BeE] as the garb of two hundred females' (lOB, II, p. 983). Also, Tynda/e's Illus­
the question: Maya brother be thus exalted above his other brothers?' (Genesis trated Bible Dictionary (Leicester. lnter-Varsity Press, 1980), II, p. 813, 'Joseph' (at
[Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1987l, pp. 262-63). Because the garment was worn Beni Hasan, on the wall of the tomb of I<hnum-hotep III).
by both a man and a woman, the rabbis imagined; 'Joseph had grown very vain, 7. E.A. Speiser, Gellesis (AB, 1; Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1964), p. 289;
daubed his eyes with kohl, dressed his locks like a woman, walked mincingly, and also Radak (David Kimchi, 1160-1235 eE, a rabbinic commentator); JPSV; AV; LXX
wore a long-s\eeved tunic which Jacob had given him' (Gen. R. 84; R. Graves and and V.; and S.R. Driver, Notes on thc Hebrew Text and the Topography of tlte Books of
R. Patai, Hebrew Myths [New York: Greenwich House, 19831, p. 250). Samuel (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1960), pp. 299-300
IXS Samuel and Kings BLEDSTEIN Tamar and the 'Coat ofMallY Colors' 69

'ornamented tunic' (adopted by the NJPSV), like a ceremonial robe The idea of a 'patchwork tunic' resembles a suggestion by Nahum
listed as draped about the statue of a goddess during the time Sarna two decades later. He drew attention to an eighteenth-century
of Nebuchadnezzar II (605-562 BCE).8 The description resembles BCE mural 'in the palace of King Zimri-lim at Mari, in southeast Syria,
an embroidered divine· and royal garment which became fashionable [which] shows figures dressed in garments made of many small
in Assyria during the ninth through seventh centuries BCE. Twenti­ rectangles of multicolored doth'.ll The dress he points to occurs
eth-century discoveries of other Aramaic translations support this frequently in Mesopotamia on steles, plaques, statues, wall reliefs,
interpretation, with an 'embroidered ornamented garment'.9 Though paintings, amulets and hundreds of cylinder seals from c. 2400 to 1400
Speiser and Oppenheim connect the ornamented garment of the god­ BCE, encompassing the lifetime of Joseph.
dess Nana with Joseph's, they do not spell out the implications for the These ankle-length, flounced garments with stripes or strips which
biblical texts in which Joseph and Tamar wear the apparel of a god­ are thick or thin, straight or wavy, are represented with five to as
dess. Furthermore, Speiser dates the composition of the Joseph narra­ many as twelve tiers of either pleated fabric or strips of woven or
tive to the tenth century BCE, when Tamar the daughter of David felted wool. Archaized versions of both flouncing and the divine
lived, three hundred years before Nebuchadnezzar. The search goes homed headdress appear as late as 740 BCE. Sarna makes no mention
on. of the status of those who wore flounced garments and what that
Drawing on Greek, Latin, Syriac and Arabic cognates, folklorist might mean in the biblical texts.
T. Gaster (1969) speculated 'coat of lengths', 'a quilted or patchwork With all these imaginative proposals, one may safely assume that so
10
tunic', though he preferred imagining an ankle-length, priestly robe. far there is no consensus regarding the meaning of k'tonet passim.
What we know is that both a favorite son of a chief and a virgin
daughter of a king wore the k'tollet passIm. Each of them was
commissioned by his or her father: the man as a deputy to oversee his
8. Both the New Jewish Publication Society translation and E. Fox's In tIle
Beginning: A Nezo Rel/diliOIl of IIle Book of Genesis (New York: Schoeken Books, 1983)
brothers and his father's possessions; the woman to attend an ailing
'ornamented coat' are subsequent to Speiser's discussion: 'Cuneiform inventories member of the royal family. Other dues emerge as we examine
may shed light on the garment in question. Among various types of clothing listed biblical texts.
in the texts, there is one called Idtu (or kufinllu) pisa1l11u (d. A.L Oppenheim, 'The
Golden Garments of the Gods', INES 8 [1949], p. 177). The important thing there,
besides the close external correspondence with the Heb. phrase, is that the article
.so.. described was a ceremonial robe which could be draped about statues of god­
desses, and had various gold ornaments sewed on it. Some of these ornaments
would occasionally come undone and need to be sent to the proper craftsmen for
repairs, hence the notation in the inventories. If the comparison is valid-and there
are several things in its favor-the second element in the Heb. phrase, i.e., passim, dation is needed".) The Greek Septuagint and some of the other ancient translators
would be an adaptation of Akk. pisanllu, a technical term denoting appliqu~ orna­ took this to mean a garment /nade out of various lengths of different materials­
ments on costly vests and bodices' (p. 290). The garment in question is put in the that is, a kind of quilted or patchwork tunic, 19: LXX poikilos c/liton; Vulg.: tunica
Joseph tale by a narrator Speiser places in the tenth century BeE, possibly a con­ polymita; similarly the Syriac Peshitta at II Sam. 13.18-19.], and it is from this inter­
temporary of the Court Narrator of 2 Samue113 (Speiser, Gellesis, p. xxviii). In 'The pretation that the familiar "coat of many colors" is derived'. T.H. Gaster, Myth,
Golden Garments of the Gods', the INES article cited above by Speiser, A. Leo Legend, lind Cllstom ill the Old Testament (New York: Harper & Row, 1969), pp. 216
Oppenheim dates the garment of the goddess to the Neo-Babylonian period, speci­ and 37. Gaster's connection of Hebrew 00 with Arabic psy is questioned by Cyrus
fically to the 19th and 32nd years of Nebuchadnezzar II (pp. 177 and 179). Gordon in correspondence.
9. M. McNamara, Targu1II Neofiti 1: Genesis: Translated, with Apparatus and 11. N. Sarna, Genesis (Jewish Publication Society Torah Commentary; Philadel­ .'::,
Notes (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1992), p. 171. phia/Ierusalem: The Jewish Publication Society, 1989), p.255. The wall paintings f
10. T.H. Gaster elaborated: 'Now pasim (sic) is the plural of the word pas, which from Zimri-lim's palace are on display at the Louvre. The colors represented are
normally means "Iengths, extension". Literally, therefore, the garment was a "coat those natural to sheep: 'Sheep's wool ranges in color from black and dark brown,
of lengths". IS: "the word occurs in this sense in post-Biblical Hebrew and in through the reddish and buff or grey colors typical of wild sheep, to white'. E.J.W.
Syriac. Cognate are Arabic f-sh-y, 'extend' and Heb. p-s-h. In Ps. 72.16 the expres­ Barber, Prehistoric Textiles (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1991), p; 21. The
sion pissat bar means simply 'an expanse (RSV:abundance) of com', and no emen- occasional pale blue strip /nay be dyed white wool.
 .... _ . . . _~I U,," J"'l~:;' BLEDSTEIN Tamnr and the 'Coat of Mnlly Colors' 71

tion in Isaiah (22.15-25). Isaiah predicted that Eliakim would become

'father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah' (lsa.
22.21). just as Joseph was a 'father to Pharaoh' in Egypt (Gen. 45.S).
However, the predicted rise of Eliakim to high office is part of a build­
up curse. This kind of curse first paints a detailed, glowing picture of
greatness or good fortune. The punch line turns everything upSide
down in one devastating statement. Through this curse, Isaiah makes
dear that neither Shebna nor Eliakim will be protected by the special
garment.
As one who regularly made sacrifices, Job wore a priestly garment,
called '''1)1:), m('ilO in Job 1.20. Later he referred to his garment as a
k'tonet (30.18). The woman in the Song of Songs (5.3) has removed her
k'tollet in preparation for retiring for the night. She is the only woman
aside from Tamar, daughter of King David, who wears a k'tonet, so
Figure 1. Priest and Minor Goddess Wearing Flounced Garmenls, from a mural at/he the connotation may be intended to imply royal status. Whether or
palace ofZimri-lim, Mori, 171/1 century BCE. not the 'Cuitic Theory' or 'sacred marriage' mode of interpretation is
correct about elements in the cultural background of the development
Textual Clues of the Song, k'tollet here may indicate that the woman playfully por­
trays herself wearing a sacred garment as a priestess-bride, and that
In the Bible, a k'tonet is a garment which appears 29 times, of which 20 her lover is a god. A Sumerian 'sacred marriage' song is suggestive. In
indicate a protective, sacred tunic worn by priests. 'The holy linen response to her lover's complaint that she shut herself in her house,
coat' (Lev. 16.4) was worn by Aaron, the high priest, when he went the goddess sings that she washed and dressed herself 'in the gar­
within the holy of holies of the tabernacle to burn incense before the ments of queenship, of the queenship of heaven'.14
Ark of the Covenant. k'tonet here served as an undergarment and was It is remarkable that six of the nine non-priests and two of Aaron'S
part of the 'holy dothing' (Exod. 28.4) which included the breast­ four sons who wore a k'tol1et suffered disaster. As we have seen,
plate, ephod, robe (me'if) and 'broidered' (AV), 'chequered' (NEB), or Adam and Eve were unique in that YHWH gave them k(tonet of skins
'fringed' (NJPSV) tunic (k<tollet tasbes).I2 It is the garment made for to protect them outside of Eden. Tamar, Joseph, Job, the woman in the
Aaron and his four sons, the priests (Exod. 28.39, 40; 29.5; 39.27; Song of Songs, Shebna and Eliakim were not so blessed. For them,
40.14). the k'tollet served to symbolize a high status lost. The only non-priest
There are notable exceptions to the priestly garment. For Adam and who wore the k'tollet and remained relatively unscathed was Hushai,
Eve, YHWH made 'coats of skins' (Gen. 3.21) to shield them as they David's friend. From this review we see that, for the majority who
w~re sent away from the Garden of Eden. Three high officials wear a
wore the k'tonet, there was an element of danger. Wearing a k'tollet
ktllt, an emblem of high office: Hushai (King David's 'friend', 2 Sam. appears to indicate aristocratic but, most often, sacred status. The
15.32,37),13 Shebna and Eliakim, two who were doomed to destruc­ k<tonet passllll, it seems to me, was a special form of this high-status,
sacred garb.
Another term provides information concerning the garment Tamar
12. The 'broidered' or 'checkered' garment may be reminiscent of a flounced wore. After Amnon raped her and commanded his servant: 'Put this
garment of strips. Elsewhere this term is 'weave in chequer or plaited work' (BOB,
p. 990). See the following discussion of the history of the flounced garment
13. 'Friend of the'king' is an official title held also by Solomon's officer, Zabud, non-Levitical priesthood indicated in 2 Sam. 8.18 and separate from those respon­
son of Nathan 'priest' (1 Kgs 4.5). He could be a son of Nathan the prophet or sible for the Ark.
Solomon's brother, another son of Bathsheba (1 Chron. 3.5). Neither is identified as 14. M. Pope, SOllg ofSollgs (AB, 7C; Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1977), p. 515;
Levitical or a descendant of Aaron. This seems to be another example of a royal, see also pp.42-44 and 514-17.
 BLEDSTEIN Tamar and the 'Coat of MallY Colors' 73

out from me and bolt the door after her', we read: 'Now she had a sacred garment he wore when alive. In Exodus and Leviticus, the
k'tollet passfm on her; for ,,,:ith such robes (me'ililll, C:l'?'[!J]O) were the high priest Aaron and his four sons wore mc'ilimP
king'sdaughters that were \'irgins apparelled' (2 Sam. 13J8-19,JPSV). In each instance, the garment indicates sacred and/or royal attire.
In English translation, that virgin princesses wore some sort of dis­ The use of me'il in these contexts, combined with Tamar's performing
tinguishing robe seems straightforward. However, the kind of robe a healing or purification rituaL 18 leads me to surmise that we are
Tamar wore has made translators uncomfortable. The NRSV emends meant to understand that Tamaz:'s k'tollet paSSIm, identified as a me'fl,
the Hebrew me'flfm to me'iiliim (tt>1.110), 'from of old', so translates: served to confirm that she was a royal priestess. In support of this pos­
'for this is how the virgin daughters of the king were clothed ill ear­ sibility 2 Sam. 8.18 may be read, 'and David's children were priests
lier times'. P. Kyle McCarter prefers a different emendation, me-ailim/Ill (Cl'Ji1:J)', indicating there was at the time a royal priesthood, which
o:n:n?!JO), 'from puberty on'.15 Other commentators read the state­ might have included daughters, and was separate from the male
ment as a gloss, and translations often enclose the remark in paren­ priesthood responsible for the Ark of the Covenant.
If we acknowledge that Tamar could have been a royal priestess,
theses. For example, NRSV:
then the insertion regarding her apparel becomes an emphatic state­
He caJled the young man who served him and said, 'Put this woman ment rather than a parenthetic gloss:
out of my presence, and bolt the door after her". (Now she was wearing
a long robe with slee\'es; for this is how the virgin daughters of the king Though she had on her k'tollei pilssim, for such priestly robes (/IIe'jIiIll)
were clothed in earlier times.) So his servant put her out, and bolted the will virgin daughters of the king wear, nonetheless, his servant brought
door after her(2 Sam. 13.18-19}. her out and bolted the door after her. So Tamar put ashes on her head,
tore the k'tollet passim that was on her, put her hand on her head, and
Though me'il in modem Hebrew is an outer garment as common as went her way crying aloud.19
a scarf or a shoe, the apparent need of translators to emend the word
prompted me to inquire: who wore a me'i/ln the Bible? Except for The reader is reminded at this dramatic juncture that Tamar was
Tamar, me'ililll were worn only by men, primarily priests. One was commissioned by her father the king to attend to her ailing brother,
the priest-prophet-Ieader of the people Samuel. His mother, before he the first~born son of David. The identification of Ptonet passIm as a
was physically conceived, devoted him to serve YHWH and yearly me'll strongly suggests that Tamar waS a royal priestess whose duties
made him the garment (me'il) to wear in his service at the sanctuary included some sort of divine inquiry/ritual purification for ill mem­
(1 Sam. 2.19). Later Samuel wore a me'fl in his official capacity as bers of the royal house?O In a Hittite text by a woman healer, feeding
prophet-priest (1 Sam. 1527). King Saul wore a me'il to battle (1 Sam.
245, 12). This was part of jonathan's princely attire which he con­ 17. Priests: Exod. 28.4,31, 14; 29.5, 39; Lev. 8.7. M. Jastrow notes that the robe
ferred on David after Goliath was slain (1 Sam. 18.4). In a procession was especially worn by the high priest (Dictionary of tire Ta/mlld Babli, Yen/sllalmi,
Midrasllic Uterature and Targumim (2 vols.; New York: Pardes Publishing House,
~ith the Ark of the Covenant King David, the Levites and singers all 19431. II, p.8]5).
wore the sacred robe (me'il, 1 Chron. 15.27).16 It may have been a 18. A. Bledstein, Was Habbiya a Healing Ritual Performed by a Woman in
divine garment as well. The ghost of Samuel, raised by the woman of King David's House?', BR 38 (1992), pp. 15-31. From my current research, [have
Endor in 1 Samuel 28, appeared as an 'elaltim, a divine being who was come to suspect that she was performing a purification ritual called, perhaps,
in the form of 'an old man enveloped with me'il' (1 Sam. 28.13-14), the 'purityofYa', bOr-YIiIl.
19. For variety in translating the conjunction i as 'notwithstanding' and 'so',
see BOB, pp. 252-53
20. 'Religion plays an important part in the hi$tory of costume. &'lrly in human
15. P.K McCarter, Samuel (2 vols.; AB; Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1984), II, history the man Isicl of insight must have been set apart from his fellows as
definitely as was the man of brawn. In the hands of such a man certain objects
pp. 315 and 318-19.
16. According to 1 ehron. 25.5-6, some women may have been singers in the seemed to be endowed with supernatural power to cure the sick and expel evil.
House of the Lord. The daughters of 'Heman, the seer of the king' are mentioned, Symbols of these fearful and beneficent agents were adopted, the one to appease,
though not named, along with his sons: 'all these were under the charge of their the other to revere, and there we have the beginning of religious vestments and
father for the singing in the House of ihe Lord, to the accompaniment of cymbals, ritual' (B. Payne, The History of Costume: From the A/lcimt Egyptians to tile Twentieth
Ce/ltury INew York: Harper and Row, ] %51, p. 4,)
harps and lyres' (1 Chron. 25.6):
 - " " " " tI U I ILl l'.111 gs BLEDSTEIN Tamar {llld tile 'Coat of MallY Colors' 75 ~ ~

the sacrificer in his home at his bedside-as Tamar was about to do religiously and politically innovative and set a literary standard for
with Amnon-was meant to induce a dream which would be inter­ centuries. 22 On an inscribed fragmentary calcite disc, Enheduanna is
preted by the woman performing the rite. It is possible that Tamar depicted performing a ritual and wears an ankle-length version of the
was considered a 'mistress of dreams', as Joseph was indeed a 'master flounced garment portrayed later at Mari. A cape of two flounces
of dreams', though contemptuously called so by his brothers (Gen. covers both shoulders and arms.23 Except for a period of exile during
37.19). political disruption, she functioned as high priestess at Ur into the
When I began the search for the k'fonef passim, the emendation reign of her nephew, priest-king Naram-Sin (c. 2300 BeE), portrayed
'from of old' made me wonder if 'virgin daughters of the king' in the on a stele wearing a version of the flounced garment which leaves one
context of performing a ritual for a member of the royal house might shoulder bare. 24
be a title, a designation with a history. What I found convinced me Thus we see that both a royal priestess and a king-priest wore the
that no emendation of me'ilim is necessary once we recognize that flounced garment. This garb was preceded in earliest depictions by
Tamar was a royal priestess. This is borne out when we examine the garments made of sheep and goat skins worn by commoners, leaders
history of 'virgin daughters of the king', who wore (during the period and deities. Mesopotamian artistic representations of these animal
Joseph lived, 17th century BCE) what I believe was meant by the skins make it appear that the fleece or hair was in tiers, the one above
Ic'tonet passim; the tiered garment of White, gray, beige, brown and overlapping the one below, resembling what we call flouncing. This is
black strips worn, for one example, by 'minor goddesses' and the very likely what the narrator had in mind for the k'tonct of skins
priest painted on the palace walls at Mari, alluded to by Sarna. The YHWH made for Adam and Eve in Gen. 3.21. .
status and function of humans who were depicted in ancient art wear­ Wealth and high social·status were indicated by increased length
ing this particular fashion will, I believe, explain why Joseph, the and by the number of rows in what later appear to be manufactured
'master of dreams' (i1lO?iiil ?!':J, Gen. 37.19) who later in Egypt ex­ flounces, probably loosely looped tufts attached to a woven backing
celled at management, as a youth wore the same type of distinguish­ as in carpet making.25 As skins with fleece or hair gave way to man­
ing garment worn by Tamar, a priestess-princess during King David's ufactured wool garments, the aristocracy and deities continued to be
reign. portrayed in ankle-length, flounced garments with stripes, straight or
wavy, instead of rows of tufts. The rows of tufts seem to' me a tran­
'Virgin Daughters of the King' sition from skins to the flounced garment of woven strips, worn by
the high priestess and priest-king in 2300 BCE.
In Mesopotamia, archaeologists have unearthed information about Apparently the flounced garment was gathered or pleated, as evi­
sixteen kings' daughters who were appointed by their royal fathers or denced in figures of gods with one foot on a mountain, so that the
brothers as high priestesses. These women believed they were wed­
ded to the god of the city temple. Though there are gaps in the archae­ 22 W.W. Hallo, TIle Exaltation of IlIal1l1a (New Haven: Yale University Press,
ological evidence, records of these royal priestesses span eighteen 1%8), p. 1.
centuries, from c. 2400 to 540 BCE, encompassing the lifetimes of both 23. A photograph of the unreconstructed disc is found in C.L Woolley, Ur of tile
Joseph and Tamar.21 One of the earliest of these priestesses was Chaldees (revised by P. Moorey; Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1982), p. 127.
Enheduanna, daughter of Sargon of Akkad (C. 2350 BCE). The reconstructed disc, which obscures Enheduanna's conical headdress, is at the
University of Pennsylvania Museum.
In establishing his dynasty, Sargon secured Ur through the reli­
24. Hallo, EXilitatiol1, p. 2. Elsewhere, Naram-Sin is portrayed as a warrior
gious·political installation of Enheduanna as the high priestess at Ur wearing 'the horned cap of divinity' by Tessa Rickards, illustrator in }. Black and
(Abraham'S homeland, Gen. 11.27-31) to serve at the temple which A. Green, Gods, Demons and Symbols ofAncient Mesopotamia: An Illustrated Dictionary
was dedicated to Nanna, the moon god, and his spouse Ningal. This (London: British Museum Press, 1992), fig. 75. The stele of Naram-Sin is at the
royal priestess authored hymns which, according to W.W. Hallo, were Istanbul Museum. See A. Parrot, Sumer <Paris: Gallimard, repro 1980), p. 175, plate
211. . ,tc
I~
,
25. The length of the garment is used by scholars to determine the chronology
21. For a list of royal high priestesses see P.N. Weadock, 'The Giparu at Ur', Iraq of artifacts on which figures are depicted. S. Corbiau, 'Sumerian Dress Lengths as
37 (1975), pp. 127·28. Chronological Data', Iraq 3 (1936), pp.97-1oo. ,j
 \,
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 ....WIIUoC."" ",/U' I\.UJg::> BLEDSTEIN Tamar and tire 'Coat of Many Colors' 77

spread of material becomes dear.2b The expense in time and labor for worshiper and the major god or goddess. This ubiquitous female
the quantity of material of the finest quality woven wool required figure in a flounced gown often wears a headdress with one set of
would limit the fashion in those days to be wom by only the highest horns, indicating that she is a minor goddess who serves to intercede
class. Indeed, gradually the costume was reserved for representations between the mortal and the divine.
of deities, and the fashion is much less in evidence after the fifteenth The Sumerian term for entu, the title of the high priestess, is
century BeE. NIN.DINGER, meaning 'lady (who is) a deity' or NIN-DINGlRA,
Due to disruptions in history and the fortuitous nature of archae­ 'lady/spouse of a god,.3l From extant writings by two princess­
ology, a hiatus appears in the visual record. 'At the end of the 2nd priestesses, the previously mentioned Enheduanna and Enanedu
and the beginning of the 1st millennium BCE we have another of the daughter of Kudur-Mabuk and sister of Warad-Sin and Rim-Sin of
mysterious gaps in our knowledge which have occurred from time Larsa (c. eighteenth century BCE), we hear that each prays for the life
to time throughout the three-thousand-year history of the cylinder of the king. 32 Also, Naram-Sin's daughter, Enmenanna, successor to
seal' .27 Nonetheless, archaized representations of flounced garments Enheduanna, characterized herself as 'spouse of Nanna [moon god],
appear from 1300 to as late as 700 BCE. Furthermore, cylinder seals high priestess of Suen' .33 The virginity of these women is suggested
with figures wearing the flounced garment appear far afield in both by Enanedu who describes herself as having 'loins suitable by (their)
space and time, as seals were traded and reused for jewelry and purity for·the entu-ship,.34 These texts indicate that the high priestess,
amulets.28 Recently unearthed, two inscribed Israelite seals from the considered the wife of a god, functioned as an intermediary between
latter half of the eighth century BCE depict high officials wearing the royal house and the divjne.
flounced skirts--one short, one long. 29 Each seal reflects Egyptian Furthermore, statues dedicated to goddesses look very much like
artistic representation. However, the skirts and poses of each figure seated priestesses wearing flounced garments. Their hands are folded
resemble the representation of a god from Ashur, in glazed brick from in a gesture associated with receiving a revelation. In exile, Enhed­
the same period.30 The seals may depict the garment Isaiah had in uanna complained: '(My) hands are no longer folded on the ritual
mind when he declared against the arrogance of Shebna and Eliakim couch, I may no tonger reveal the pronouncements of Ningal to
(Isa.22.15-25). man'.35 In another inscription, Enheduanna appears as 'the entu
By the fifteenth century BCE, the flounced garment of strips in Mes­ priestess, chosen for the pure "divine decrees" '.36 Hallo discusses two
opotamia clothes gods and goddesses, especially a figure art histori­ functions of the high priestess. She performed lustration (purification
ans call a 'minor goddess' or 'interceding goddess' who is seen lead­ rites) and was a dream interpreter. 'Ningal, like some other
ing by the hand a worshiper, often a king or high official, toward a goddesses, was known as a patroness of dream interpretation, and the
major deity. She holds her other hand up in supplication. Sometimes mention of the ritual couch (literally "fruitful, shining couch") sug­
she is depicted standing behind the worshiper or between the gests an incubation technique for eliciting the divine response: 37
Besides the above textual indications that priestesses conveyed
divine words, a list of gods receiving offerings included two deceased
26. Parrot, Sumer, p. 193, fig. 237. entu' priestesses as deities. The record of these offerings combined
27. D. Collon, First Impressions: Cylillder Seals ill tile Allcient Ncar East (Chicago:
University of Chicago Press; London: British Museum Publications, 1987), pp.75
and 130. .31. CAD E 7' b, p. 173; Cyrus Gordon, correspondence.
28. A Babylonian seal was found at Platanos, Crete. See C.H. Gordon, The 32. Weadock, 'Giparu', p. 103. Benjamin Leftowitz wrote a valuable discussion
Commoll Background of Greek and Hebrew Civilizatiolls (New York: W.W. Norton, of the duties and functions of high priestesses ('The En ofUr from Sargon of Akkad
1965), p. 320. For distribution of seals in space and time see Donald M. Matthews, to Rim-Sin', unpublished manuscript, June 1, 1976).
Principles of Composition ill Near Eastern Glyptic of tile LIlter Second MiIlelllliulII B.c. 33, Hallo, Exaltation, p. 11 n. 69.
(GOttingen: Vandenhoeck« Ruprecht, 1990), pp. 9-11. 34. Weadock, 'Giparu', p. 101.
29. A. Lemaire, 'Name of Israel's Last King Surfaces in a Private Collection', 35. Hallo, Exaltatioll, p. 31.
BAReu 21.6 (1995), p. 51. 36. A. Sj0berg and E. Bergmann, 'The Collection of the Sumerian Temple
30. ANEP, #535; A. Parrot, The Arts of Assyria (New York: Golden Press, 1961), Hymns', rcs (5 vols.; Locust Valley, NY: J.J. Augustin, 1969), III, p. 5 n. 1.
p.71. 37. Hallo, Exaltation, pp. 57,59,60.
 tlLElliTElN Tamar alld the 'Coat Of Mally Colors' 79

with written evidence that a living entu considered herself a wife of a a minor deity in Mesopotamia. Even if the reader favors a late date
god further confirm that these royal women were deified. 38 for the composition of both narratives, and adopts the Oppenheim!
Although most information about el1tu priestesses is from excava­ Speiser suggestion of the 'ornamented tunic' which was draped about
tions at Ur, there is evidence of giparus, the sacred cloistered resi­ the image of a goddess in the sixth century BCE as the source and
dence, of these priestesses, at other sites such as Haran (the homeland image for the k'tonct passim, a puzzle common to both narratives
of matriarchs Rebekah, Leah and Rachel, mother of Joseph), remains: why would the biblical narratives emphasize that Joseph
indicating that royal priestesses served elsewhere as well.39 The office and Tamar each wore a divine garment? What does awareness of
of cntu-ship is known at Ur from Sargon of Akkad to the Kassite the cultural-historical-religious meaning of the flounced or the orna­
period (C. 18th-12th centuries, 1730-1155 BCE) and to Nebuchad­ mented garment suggest for how we understand the biblical narra­
nezzar I 02th century, 1146-1123 BCE). It was thereafter re-instituted tives?
by Nabonidus (mid-6th century, 555-539 BCE), who reported having With regard to Joseph, the /Ctonet passim which Jacob (roughly a
read inscriptions from Nebuchadnezzar and Sargon of Akkad.40 Thus contemporary of King Zimri-lim of Mari) made for his favorite, gifted
there is evidence of continuity over space and time, with variations on son may have been intended to confer on him priesthood with the
themes depending upon the peculiarities of each culture. For example potential for sacred kingship-perhaps something on the order of
at Emar, the woman chosen and installed in an elaborate ceremony Naram-Sin. Naram-$in is depicted on two steles:in the one mentioned
was not a royal woman. 41 above, as high priest, he wears a flounced garment; in the other, the
However, in establishing a dynasty, the custom of a king appoint­ king is presented as a warrior with 'a horned helmet-a symbol of
ing a daughter as a high priestess had a long history in the homeland deification'.42
of the royal ancestors of Judah-israeL Conceivably, an Israelite version Joseph's gifts of dream interpretation and management, combined
of the custom might have been instituted by David as he established with his role as provider, correspond with the meaning of en in Sume­
his dynasty. This would explain the status and activity of Princess rian. The office of an enll (masculine) or cntll (feminine) included polit­
Tamar as an intermediary between an ill member of the royal family ical as well as spiritual power. The word ell in Sumerian has the basic
andYHWH. meaning of successful economic manager; it implies the possession of
Taking into consideration the history of virgin daughters of the king a power to make things thrive, to produce abundance and prosperity,
installed as high priestesses, I surmise that Tamar, a virgin daughter and from this power the authority to command the affairs of the com­
of King David, was a priestess sent by the king to perform a purifica­ munity:43 Jacob recognized the potential of such gifts in Joseph and
tion rite for her brother who was believed to be ilL She attended her bestowed on him the garment signifying these gifts. Ironically, it was
brother attired in her sacred flounced garment, designated in Hebrew as second to Pharaoh in Egypt that Joseph, stripped of the flounced
by /Ctonetpass/lIl, a special version of the priestly me'f!' garment, performed as an ell from Mesopotamia, the land of his birth.
By invoking the divine-royal Mesopotamian garment in the Joseph
story, the narrator made clear to an ancient audience that YHWH, not
Tamar, Joseph and the 'Coat of Mally Colors'
Jacob, determined the circumstances under which Joseph would
Until more explicit evidence is unearthed, I recommend that we imag­ realize his gifts. Jacob was correct in assessing Joseph's gifts; however,
ine Tamar and Joseph wearing a version of the flounced garment the fond father's form of aCknowledgment conveyed by the kttollet
which indicated high priesthood and was associated with the status of passim was a form of idolatry, by which he deified his son. Joseph,
however, came to understand both his trauma in relation to his family
and his exalted position in Egypt. Interpretation of dreams comes from
38. Weadock, 'Giparu',pp.l03-104. God, he told Pharaoh (Gen. 41.16). 'It was not you', Joseph tells his
39. R. Harris, 'Gipar', in E. Ebeling et al. (eds.), Reallexikon der Assyriologie Imd
vorderasiatischell Archae%gie (8 vols.; Berlin: W. de Gruyter, 1968), III, p. 377.
40. Weadock, 'Giparu', p.l12. 42. Y. Yadin, The Art of Warfare in Biblical LAnds in the Light of Archaeologicnl
41. D. Fleming, The Instal/ation of Baa/'s High Priestess at Emar (Atlanta, GA.: Study (2 vols.; NewYork: McGraw Hill, 1963), I, p. 150.
Scholars Press, 1992), pp. 291-93. 43. Weadock, 'Giparu', p. 102.
uv ::,amue[ and Kings BLEDSTEIN Talllar al1d the 'Coat ofMany Colors' 81

brothers, 'but God who sent me here'-to save life (45.4-8). His words writings are extant. She understood both the political and personal
sound like appalling arrogance to a modern reader. However, to an implications of Amnon's desire and actions.
ancient audience familiar with powerful men, such as Pharaoh and Let us notice what Tamar says in an effort to dissuade Amnon,
Naram-Sin, who literally believed they were gods, Joseph would ap­ when he (as Potiphar's wife coaxed Joseph, Gen. 39.7) said, 'Lie with
pear humble as he acknowledges the divine and makes peace with his me' (2 Sam. 13.11):
brothers. No, my brother, do not force me; for no such thing ought to be done in

With regard to Tamar, David's daughter, the description of her gar­ Israel. Do not this sacrilege.45 And I, where willi carry my shame? And

ment as that worn by virgin princess-priestesses occurs at the moment you, you will be as one of the sacrilegious men in Israel. But now speak

that Amnon orders his servant to throw her out. No longer a virgin to the king, for he will not withhold me from you (2 Sam. 13.12-13).

with the pure loins suitable for entu-ship, she can no longer appear as
We can imagine Tamar's words punctuated with physical struggle as
a sanctified being and serve her deity wearing the me'il as David had
Amnon uses his greater strength to overpower her. First, in his grip,
planned. The meaning of her attire is emphasized by the narrator to
she refuses his advance, emphasizing their relationship: 'No, my
make vivid her tragedy as the servant, obeying his master, shoves her
brother, do not force me'. Second, as he continues to hold her, she
out and bolts the door.
points out the larger context: rape is not acceptable in Israel. perhaps
This royal woman consecrated to serve YHWH and act as an inter­
as opposed to other cultures. (Her words echo the Yahwist narrator's
mediary for family members was not safe in the house of a brother.
words regarding Dinah's rape in Gen. 34.7.) Third, she stresses the
Her father David had behaved as if he were a divine being, like the
sacrilegious nature of his act. Fourth, she appeals to any shred of
legendary b'lle 'elaltiln who before the flood (Gen. 6.1-4) took any
feeling he may have for her-'where will I carry my shame?' Fifth,
woman they chose. The king took a married woman, Bathsheba, and
she points out the social consequence for him. Sixth, she proposes
had her husband Uriah killed (2 Sam. 11). Tamar's trauma was pre­
marriage.
sented in the context of David's punishment for setting himself above What does she mean by saying 'the king will not withhold me from
YHWH'slaw. you'? From Tamar's proposal under duress, a narrator in Genesis had
'So Tamar put ashes on her head, and tore the k'tonet passim that
Abraham claim that he and Sarah were half-sister and half-brother,
was on her; put her hand on her head, and went her way crying
with different fathers, in order to explain Abraham's lie (Gen. 20.2,
aloud' (2 Sam. 1;'-19). Her gestures were associated with mourning, 12). Perhaps Abraham's shrewd survival technique arose from
being stunned and devastated. She tore her distinguishing garment Tamar's experience.%
and publicly grieved in the streets of Jerusalem. Her brother Absalom
Tamar's exalted position reflected on her full-brother Absalom.
hushed her: 'Keep silent, my sister, he is your brother, do not take this
Amnon's infatuation, which turned to intense revulsion once he had
thing to heart' (2 Sam. 13.20), as if she should not take the event per­
his way with her, had political implications which Absalom immedi­
sonally. Two years later Absalom avenged her humiliation by having
ately understood. When Absalom saw Tamar wailing with her lCtonet
Amnon killed, then went into exile to their grandfather, King Talmai
passim torn, he did not ask what happened. He said, 'Has Amnon
of Geshur. No longer a public figure, Tamar remained 'desolated',
your brother been with you?' (2 Sam. 13.20), as if he had anticipated
'appalled"l4 in her brother Absalom's house. What more can we know
the possibility. Why?
about Tamar?
The flounced garment of strips is the due. David's appointment of
The remarkable 'Parallels in Joseph's and Tamar's experience with
Tamar to priesthood-like Jacob's singling out of Joseph-set the
the lCtollet passim lead me to speculate, from the history of the flounced
doubly royal siblings, Tamar and Absalom, above their half-brothers.
garment and my sense of the biblical texts. Tamar was a 'mistress of
Amnon, the oldest, had the most to lose. Like the gods and goddesses
dreams', that is why David sent her to the sick-bed of Amnon. She
in other people's imaginations, Amnon's passion for Tamar in part
was literate, like Enheduanna and other kings' daughters whose
.il-_,
i­
45. McCarter, Samuel, pp. 327-28. : :

44. 'wmema', BOB, p. 1030. 46. A. Bledstein, 'The Trials of Sarah', JudaisllI 30.4 (1981), pp.411-17.
I'
';I'­~.

I
lIao to 00 wIth appropriation of her spiritual-political power, signified like the waters of Marah through Moses, our teacher [Exod. 15.22-251.

by the k'ionet passim. The narrator of the Court History of David was As You transformed the curse of the wicked Balaam,

from a curse to a blessing [Num. 22.2-25.251,

well aware of Egyptian, Canaanite and Mesopotamian myths of dei­

so may You transform all my dreams

ties and their (to an Israelite Yahwist) outrageous sexual-political regarding myself and regarding all of Israel and all humankind for

human behavior. Part of the power of these narratives arises from the goodness.

narrator's appreciation of human vulnerability, and the underlying [May Youl guard me,

response of the writer to mythic tales and mythic imagination which [may You I be gracious to me

47

informed the fantasies of people in that time. and [may You I accept me favorably, Amen.
When Tamar proposes marriage to Amnon, she is appealing to
Amnon's fantasy. It is too late. His passion is violent, he wills not to
hear her voice (;"I?1p::l :;r.:id? :1:J~ ~', 2 Sam. 13.14). After he has raped
her and ordered her to leave, she addresses his sense of what is right
in IsraeL 'No, this great wrong to send me away is worse than what
you did to me' (v. 16). Tamar either knew the law or set the precedent.
An Israelite male who had sex with an unmarried woman was mar­
ried to her, responsible for her well-being, and could not divorce her
(Deut. 22.28-29). Again, Amnon 'willed not to hear her voice' (v. 16).
I cannot believe that this learned, gifted woman shriveled up and
died in her brother Absalom's house. We are not told what happened
to Tamar thereafter, as the Court History focuses on David and the
demise of Absalom. I like to imagine that Tamar, like Joseph, came to
understand her trauma and to use her gifts to benefit all Israel. The
flounced gannent distinguished her as a mistress of dreams. Her
commission was to perfonn a ceremony to bring about healing. Bereft
of the garment, she was free from the illusions woven into it by her
father. Perhaps she wrote stories and poetry. I like to think that Tamar
composed the core of the following prayer, recited even to this day by
individual Jewish congregation members as the Priestly Blessing is
chanted:
Master of the World!
I am Yours and my dreams are Yours.
I have dreamed a dream and I do not know its meaning.
May it be Your will, Adonoy, my God, and God of my ancestors,
that all my dreams regarding myself,
and regarding all of Israel be for the good;
those I have dreamed concerning myself,
and those I have dreamed about others,
and those that others have dreamed about me.
If they are good dreams, strengthen and reinforce them
and may they be fulfilled in me and in them,
like the dreams of Joseph [Gen. 37-50).
But if they require curing, cure them like Miriam,
47. Adapted from A. Davis (ed. and trans.)' TIle Complete Metsudah SidtIur; A
the prophetess, from her $!ira 'at [Num. 12.1-15) and
New Linear Prayer Book (New York: Metsudah Publications, 1990), pp. 81$-22.