What does the biblical statute about a woman not wearing anything that
pertains to a man mean today?
Deuteronomy 22:5 says: "A woman shall not wear anything that pertains
to a man, nor shall a man put on a woman's garment, for all who do so
are an abomination to the Lord your God." Like many of the statutes,
this law had to do with pagan customs of the time, and as we will see,
does not refer to women wearing pants. The Jamieson, Fausset and Brown
Commentary explains:
"Disguises were assumed at certain times in pagan temples.
Maimonides...mentions that a man attired in a coloured female dress,
in honour of Venus, Ashtaroth, or Astarte, and a woman equipped in
armour, worshipped at the shrine of the statue of Mars...
"Asiatics, when they engaged in the worship of Ashtaroth, were
accustomed, according to Philocorus, quoted by Townley (in his edition
of Maimonides, note 33), to exchange the male and female dresses. In
fact, all idolators confounded the sexes of their deities—representing
them sometimes as male, at other times as female; and hence, their
worshippers, male and female, fell gradually into the custom, which
became extensively prevalent, of changing their attire in adaptation
to the sex of a particular divinity."
God's command to Israel forbade the people from incorporating pagan
religious rites into true worship. In spite of this instruction,
today's Christianity commonly mixes paganism in with the worship of
Christ. For more information on this amazing subject, we recommend
that you read Holidays or Holy Days: Does It Matter Which Days We
Keep?
Does Deuteronomy 22:5 forbid women from wearing pants? No, it doesn't.
In fact, even men in the Middle East through the history of the Old
and New Testaments did not wear pants; they wore a robelike garment.
However, there is an underlying principle that applies today. Men
should dress in an appropriately masculine manner and women should
dress in an appropriately feminine manner. Clothing manufacturers make
pants designed for men and pants designed for women.
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