CILICE
A coarse cloth usually made of goat hair (Rev. 6:12). It was worn as a sign of mourning, of affliction (2 Sam. 3:31; 2 Kings 19:1, 2), and used frequently, if not usually, by prophets (Is. 20:2; Rev. 11: 3) and for the captives (1 Kings 20:31; cp. Is. 3:24).
The clothing probably resembled a sack, slit at the front, and with openings for the head and arms.
The Israelites sometimes used them to cover themselves with them (Gen. 37:34; 1 Kings 20:31), they girded them (2 Sam. 3:31; Ezek. 7:18; Joel 1:8), putting them usually on another article of clothing (Jn. 3:6; cp. 2 Sam. 21:10), but sometimes directly on the skin (1 Kings 21:27; 2 Kings 6:30; Jb. 16:15 ; Isaiah 32:11).