Prohibited Mixtures: Mixed Clothing and Social Class

Abstract

Abstract Prohibiting mixed fabric in Leviticus 19:19d and Deuteronomy 22:11 has often been interpreted as maintaining the created order or avoiding a holy mixture. However, weaving together two kinds of cloth does not make a hybrid that disrupts cosmic order. Also, the consecration ritual is the origin of holiness in the priestly clothing. I argue that mixed clothing is prohibited because the priestly class is strictly inherited. I will show how the Israelites must wear the national/ethnic clothing, tassels with a cord of blue, but cannot wear the clothing of the solely inherited class, mixed fabric.