"Rebekah also looked up and saw Isaac. She got down from her camel and asked the servant, 'Who is that man in the field coming to meet us?' 'He is my master,' the servant answered. She she took her veil and covered herself." Gen.24:64-65

It is obvious that Rebekah covered her face as a sign of modesty and respect, but in later years Hebrew women normally did not wear veils.

When Abraham's servant first met Rebekah at the well she wasn't wearing a veil, for he could tell that "the girl was very beautiful" Gen.24:16

This is similar to what is said about Sarah in Gen.12:14 "When Abram came to Egypt, the Egyptians saw that she was a very beautiful woman."

In 1 Sam.1:12, it is written: "As she (Hannah) kept on praying to the LORD, Eli observed her mouth." He could not have seen her mouth if she had been wearing a veil.

At some point in Hebrew history, it became the prostitutes, or harlots, who wore veils. Judah thought that his daughter-in-law Tamar was a harlot because she wore one: "And she (Tamar) put her widow's garments off from her, and covered her with a veil, and wrapped herself, and sat in an open place, which is by the way to Timnath; for she saw that Shelah was grown, and she was not given unto him to wife. When Judah saw her, he thought her to be an harlot; because she had covered her face." Gen.38:14,15

It is said by some that the Hebrew word tzaiph, translated veil in Gen.24:65 and in Gen.38:14 did not mean simply a face covering, but a large wrap or loose flowing robe that was worn outdoors. The upper part of it could be used to cover the face and head, as they are in women in fundamental Muslim areas of the world today.