CategoryCultural Term / Archaic Word
Modern Equivalentrough, coarse cloth worn as a sign of mourning or repentance.
KJV Word TypeNoun
DefinitionA coarse, dark fabric — often woven from goat hair — worn next to the skin as an outward expression of mourning, repentance, or humiliation. Throughout the OT, putting on sackcloth signified genuine grief over loss or sin. It is often paired with ashes.
Key Verses"And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes." (Daniel 9:3); "And Mordecai rent his clothes, and put on sackcloth with ashes." (Esther 4:1)