Acts 12:8

ζῶσαι, gird thyself. To gird up the loose Oriental robe was a necessity before undertaking any expeditious movement. So to Gehazi, (LXX.) 2 Kings 4:29, Elisha says Ζῶσαι τὴν ὀσφύν σου, and uses the same phrase (2 Kings 9:1) to that one of the sons of the prophets whom he is about to send to Ramoth-Gilead.

περιβαλοῦ τὸ ἱμάτιόν σου, cast thy garment about thee. The ἱμάτιον was the outer garment as distinguished from the under one, which is χιτών. The ἱμάτια were stripped off by those who stoned Stephen (Acts 7:58), and in the LXX. the constant phrase for rending the loose robe as a sign of horror is διέῤῥηξαν τὰ ἱμάτια αὐτῶν, while the dress made for Adam and Eve is described as χιτῶνες δερμάτινοι (Genesis 3:21), and it was the χιτών which Ahab (1 Kings 21:27) rent, that he might put sackcloth upon his flesh. Cf. also ‘Teaching of the Twelve Apostles,’ chap. i. ἐὰν ἄρῃ τις τὸ ἱμάτιόν σου, δὸς αὐτῷ καὶ τὸν χιτῶνα.