April 23, 1997

gird one's loins

What is the meaning of "gird one's loins"?

The phrase gird one's loins means 'to prepare oneself for something requiring strength and endurance; ready oneself for action'.

The main meaning of gird is 'to encircle or bind with a belt or band'; loins, though often used to refer to the genitals, actually refers to the part of the human body between the hips and the lower ribs, regarded as the seat of physical strength. To gird one's loins literally means 'to wrap a belt around one's waist', the point being that in the days of loose garments, belting oneself would confine one's clothing and allow freer motion of the body.

In general, gird is used chiefly in figurative ways. Gird one's loins is one such example, and the phrase's currency stems from its frequent use in the Bible. The King James Version (the phrase is found in other translations as well) has, among a number of other uses, "Gird up thy loins, and take my staff in thine hand, and go thy way" (2 Kings iv.29); "Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me" (Job xviii.3); and, for an obviously figurative example, "Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ" (1 Peter i.13).

Some other uses of gird include 'to surround; enclose; hem in'; 'to prepare oneself for action; brace' (that is, the same thing we've been discussing, but without "loins"); and 'to equip or invest' (as "to gird oneself with a sword" or "to gird oneself with endurance"). The word goes back to the Old English period, and is ultimately related to the Modern English word yard through the idea of 'something enclosed'.