LOINS. The Heb. and Gr. terms normally rendered by “loins” in the Eng. VSS refer to the lumbar region or the hips in general. The Heb. word מָתְנַ֫יִם, H5516, described the mid-portion of the back (Exod 28:42) around which a belt could be fastened (2 Kings 1:8) or a sword hung (2 Sam 20:8). It was regarded as the thickest part of the body (1 Kings 12:10), and the area where sackcloth was worn (Gen 37:34; 1 Kings 20:32). Throughout the ancient Near E it was customary for the lower garments to be gathered or tied up around the hips when a person began to run (1 Kings 18:46). In conformity with the Heb. custom of assigning emotional qualities to organs of the human body, the loins were regarded as the locale of a man’s physical strength (Nah 2:1). They were deemed liable to attack by such noxious influences as disease or calamity (Ps 66:11; Isa 21:3), or to that kind of enervation which would “make their loins tremble” (Ps 69:23) or would “ungird the loins” (Isa 45:1).

Another word which occurred in the dual form, חֲלָצַ֫יִם, H2743, was used in a similar fashion to denote the mid-body area, with the same general range of meanings. However, it also symbolized the functions or organs of generation, and was used in this manner of a man’s offspring as “those who come out of his loins” (cf. Gen 35:11). In such cases the term יֶ֫לֶק, H3540, sometimes occured as a synonym for חֲלָצַ֫יִם, H2743, (46:26; Exod 1:5). The idea of the loins was also conveyed by the word כֶּ֫סֶל֒, H4072, but this was always used in the literal sense of physical tissue with one exception (Ps 38:7).

The NT writers followed the general usage of the OT, but employed one word, ὀσφύς, to cover the various meanings of the Heb. terms. It indicated the waist (Matt 3:4), the place where garments were tied, but was used metaphorically in Luke 12:35; Ephesians 6:14; 1 Peter 1:13, nevertheless two references (Acts 2:30 KJV; Heb 7:5, 10) mentioned the source of offspring. “Loins” as a literal rendering appears more often in the KJV than in other VSS.