Collar:

By: Emil G. Hirsch , Gerson B. Levi

• 1. A rendering in Judges viii. 26 of the Hebrew word . In the other passage (Isa. iii. 19) in which it occurs it is translated "chains." In both cases the word is used in the enumeration of ornaments: in Isaiah of the Jewish women, and in Judges of the Midianite kings. The root ( )means "to drop," and the word may therefore mean "drops," "pendants from the cars," etc. Targum to Judges renders it by , which Jastrow, s.v., translates "wreaths," "crowns." Rashi, as is his wont, agrees with the Targum; understanding by it, however, pendants falling upon the breast, as a string of pearls (see Rashi on Isa. iii. 19, where he interchanges and ). Ḳimḥi, starting from the root "drop," finds in "naṭifah" the idea "dropper," which he interprets to mean a bottle in which perfume was carried, and from which it was dropped as occasion required. Gersonides agrees with Ḳimḥi.
• 2. A rendering, in Job xxx. 18, of the Hebrew word ) where, however, the translation is scarcely warranted. The reference is merely to an opening for the head in a garment, and does not imply the elaborate idea conveyed by the word "collar" (Ex. xxviii. 32). The same word is found in Ps. cxxxiii. 2, where it indicates the top edge of the garment.