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Bible Dictionaries
Cloke
Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament
or (φαιλόνης, etc.)
The most important passage in which this word figures is 2 Timothy 4:18, where the cloke, left behind at Troas with Carpus, is mentioned together with the books, especially the parchments. This grouping has led to the cloke being identified with a bag or case for books (since the time of Chrysostom). In Hasting's Dictionary of the Bible (5 vols) it is stated that the cloke ‘may have been a light mantle like a cashmere dust-cloak, in which the books and parchments were wrapped.’ In Dict. of Christ and the Gospels it is taken as ‘a heavy woollen garment, generally red or dark yellow in colour, worn as a protection against cold and rain, at first especially by travellers and by artisans and slaves.…’ It appears to have been of one piece, circular or ellipsoid in shape, with a hole in the middle for the insertion of the head, and with no sleeves. According to Seyffert’s Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, s.v. ‘Paenula,’ it was buttoned or stitched up in front, in the direction of its length-a description which would lead to some modification of the idea of there being a simple opening for the head. An interesting addition to the last-named account is the mention of the cucullus or hood, to serve as a head-covering. Most accounts agree in describing it as a travelling-cloke, for rich and poor, and for both sexes. It belongs to the category of vestimenta clausa. It was worn in Rome (see Suet. Nero, 48), and was also in common use throughout the East, being well known to Greeks, Jews, and Syrians. The Jewish and Syriac forms of the word have caused it to be confused with the pallium (ἱμάτιον) or mantle.
The Latin paenula (= φαινόλης, φενόλης) is interesting in view of the transposition of ν and λ, as found in φαιλόνης, φελόνης of the NT, which are said to be erroneous forms. There seems to be great diversity of opinion among lexicographers on the point. For the relation of the cloke to the chasuble and other matters connected with ecclesiastical vestments, see Dict. of Christ and the Gospels , s.v. ‘Cloke.’ In this connexion R. Sinker, Essays and Studies, Cambridge, 1900, pp. 87-97, and W. Lowrie, Christian Art and Archaeology, New York, 1901, p. 396ff., should also be consulted.
The phrase ‘before winter’ (2 Timothy 4:21) is a fortuitous sequence, and is not to be brought into relation to v. 13. As to this and further speculations regarding the history of St. Paul’s cloke, see F. W. Farrar, Life and Work of St. Paul, London, 1897, p. 682, where a noteworthy parallel is cited. Cf. also A. Plummer, The Pastoral Epistles (Expositor’s Bible), 1888, p. 411ff.
The word ‘cloke’ appears in an extended meaning: (1) ἐν προφάσει πλεονεξίας, ‘a cloke of covetousness’ (1 Thessalonians 2:5); and (2) ἐπικάλυμμα τῆς κακίας, ‘a cloke of wickedness (or malice)’ (1 Peter 2:16). These passages call for no remark.
W. Cruickshank.
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Hastings, James. Entry for 'Cloke'. Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/hdn/c/cloke.html. 1906-1918.
