<P> Sackcloth (Hebrew שַׂק saq) is a term originally denoting a coarsely woven fabric, usually made of goat's hair . It later came to mean also a garment made from such cloth, which was chiefly worn as a token of mourning by the Israelites . It was furthermore a sign of submission (1 Kings 20: 31 - 32), or of grief and self - humiliation (2 Kings 19: 1), and was occasionally worn by the Prophets . It is often associated with ashes . In Christianity, the tradition of wearing a sackcloth, also known as a hairshirt, continued as a self - imposed means of mortification of the flesh that is often worn during the Christian penetential season of Lent, especially on Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, and other Fridays of the Lenten season . </P> <P> The 1906 Jewish Encyclopedia says the Old Testament gives no exact description of the garment, so its shape must be a matter of conjecture . According to Adolf Kamphausen, the sacḳ was like a corn - bag with an opening for the head, and another for each arm, an opening being made in the garment from top to bottom . Karl Grüneisen ("Ahnenkultus", p. 80) thought the saḳ resembled the hairy mantle used by the Bedouins . Friedrich Schwally (in Stade's "Zeitschrift", xi. 174) concludes that it originally was simply the loin - cloth, which is an entirely different conception from that of Kamphausen or of Grüneisen . Schwally bases his opinion on the fact that the word "ḥagar" חָגַר (to gird) is used in describing the mode of putting on the garment (see Joshua 1: 8; Isaiah 3: 24, 15: 8, 22: 12; Jeremiah 6: 26, 49: 3). One fastens the sacḳ around the hips ("sim be-motnayim", Genesis 37: 34; "he'elah' al motnayim", Amos 8: 10), while, in describing the doffing of the sacḳ, the words "pitteaḥ me -' al motnayim" are used (Isaiah 20: 2). According to 1 Kings 21: 37 and 2 Kings 6: 30, it was worn next the skin . </P>

What is sackcloth and ashes in the bible
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