Rag, ragged

The words properly translated 'rag' are (1) o';-;3, pieces torn olF, from yifj to rend, which is ti^ 'rags' in Pr 23", but in 1 K Mc 2"' is, of coune, an applieation, not an interpretation, of the prophecy. f See the Itinerary of the Bordeaux Pilgrim, A.D. 333 (in the »erie« of the J'al. PUgrimif Text .Sac. 1. 20 f.), nnd the 1M1- rnuiai,'e of Paula (Vj. p. C, at the end of the vol.) in Jerome's t'p. ad Eustochium (ed. Bcned. Iv. i, 674 ; ed. Vallarei, 1. 692). ! See, further, Ilobltuon, BliP 1. 218, UL 278; Bad.>129f.; PEFMi-m. ill. 120 f. (with a view). I The terms of 1 8 10" hardly enable u» to fix it« »lt« more •peciHi ally : see an ottempt l)v'schi<k, ZDPV Iv. (Igsl) p. 21S1. l=Pi:iyi, 1883, p. Ill); aliaiidoncd I'KFSI. 1808, p. 10. I It -nay 'le worth nhservinif that, thonj^h Joh isia(p) makes the .S. Iwrdcrot lienjaniin pass close to theS. of liilhel, 1 K 161' •cema to Imply Hint the S. Iwrder of the N. kingdom wo» at Bamah ; see also Jg 4'. VOL. IV. — 13 ll"", 2 K 2'- simply 'pieces,' being preceded by the verb ; (2) o-nSs, wotn-out clothes, from [n^r] to wear out, tr'' ' rotten rags ' in Jer 38"- '-, the only place where it occurs; (3) ^d«ro5, tr'' 'rag ' in Ad. Est 14". In Is 64^ ' All our righteousnesses are as lilthy rags' (C'-y n:??), the word tr'' 'rags' {-i:z) is simply ' clotliin" ' 'a garment' ('from the tilthy clothing of the leper to the holj' robes of ihe high prie.st' — Ox/. Heo. Lex.); RV 'as a polluted gar- ment.' The specific allusion here is to a vestii vienstruis polluta ; cf. Is 30-'. The root meaning of the Eng. word 'rag' is neither ' torn ' nor ' worn,' but rough, sluiggij (Swed. rngg or rugg, rough hair), whence the adj. ragged w;is used as we now use ' rugged ' in the sense of jagged, applied to rocks, etc. So in AV Is 2" ' the tops of the ragged rocks ' ; and Sir 32 >"«"»« ' Of a ragged and a smooth way.' Cf. ShakB, Rich. II. v. v. 21— ' How these vain weak nails May tear a p-ossat^e through the flinty ritifl Of this hard world, my ragged prison walla.' And Milton, L' Allegro, 9 — 'There, under ebon shades and low-browed rocks. As ragged as thy locks.' J. Hastings.