After deceiving Judah, pretending to be a (veiled) prostitute, in order to get children from the family she had married into, Tamar puts back on her widow’s habit. Simple question: does anyone know what such a habit was like?
And she arose, and went away, and laid by her vail from her, and put on the garments of her widowhood. (Genesis 38:19, KJV)
The only reference I could find is in Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible that states:
And she put her widow's garments off from her,.... By which it appears that in those times and countries it was usual for widows to have a different apparel from others, especially in the time of their mourning, as it has been since in other nations, and with us at this day, and which is commonly called "the widow's weed"
Just as in some cultures to were black for a funeral, it seems that there was a custom to wear particular clothing for being a widow.
