1 A piece of fabric worn by a woman to conceal her face or cover her head (Song 4:1; Song 3; Song 6:7; Isa 47:2). Apparently, an Israelite woman wore a veil at the time of her wedding. When Rebekah first saw Isaac, she put on her veil and, afterward, they were married (Gen 24:65-67). Likewise, Jacob’s inability to recognize that Leah had been substituted for Rachel on his first wedding night can be explained if Leah was veiled. On the other hand, Tamar wore a veil to trick Judah into thinking that she was a prostitute so that he would lie with her and fulfill the levirate duty (Gen 38:14; Gen 38:19). According to Paul, women should wear veils when praying or prophesying (1Cor 11:4-16). 2 A covering Moses wore to conceal his face after he received the second set of tablets of the testimony at Mt. Sinai (Exod 34:29-35). Paul claimed that this was to conceal the temporary nature of the old covenant (2Cor 3:13). 3 The covering over the entrance to the Holy of Holies in the Temple (2Chr 3:14), which also hung before the Ark in the wilderness tabernacle (Exod 26:33; Exod 35:12; Exod 39:34; Lev 24:3). Only Aaron and his sons were permitted to pass beyond the veil (Num 18:7). At a later time, only the high priest could enter the Holy of Holies and only on the Day of Atonement (Lev 6:2). According to the Gospels, the veil (curtain) of the Temple tore at Jesus’s death, exposing the Holy of Holies (Matt 27:51; Mark 15:38; Luke 23:45).
