H3526 — כָּבַס (kabas)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: H3526
Original: כָּבַס
Transliteration: kabas (kâbaç)
Pronunciation: kaw-bas
Part of Speech: Verb (primitive root)
Root: Primitive root; etymological sense "to trample" — hence to wash by stamping with the feet (the fulling process)
Occurrences: 48 unique verses, 54 tokens in OT
First Occurrence: Gen 49:11 — "he washed (kabas) his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

A primitive root; to trample; hence, to wash (properly, by stamping with the feet), whether literal (including the fulling process) or figurative: — fuller, wash(-ing).

Verb Stem Distribution¶

Stem	Count	Typical Meaning
Piel	46	wash garments/clothes (intensive — the standard ritual usage)
Qal	3	fuller (participle only — the professional tradesman)
Pual	2	be washed (passive of Piel — garments as subject)
Hotpaal	2	be washed (reflexive-passive — Lev 13:55-56, after laundering)

The Piel stem accounts for 90% of all occurrences, reflecting the word's core ritual function. The Qal appears only as the participle kobes "fuller" (2 Ki 18:17; Isa 7:3; 36:2). The Pual and Hotpaal passives occur only in Lev 13 garment-inspection laws.

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Verses	%
wash (all forms: shall wash, he shall wash, wash, etc.)	40	83.3%
fuller's / fullers'	4	8.3%
washed / washing	4	8.3%

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Leviticus	28	3.3
Numbers	8	0.6
Exodus	2	0.2
Isaiah	2	0.2
Psalms	2	0.1
Jeremiah	2	0.1
Genesis	1	0.1
2 Samuel	1	0.1
2 Kings	1	0.1
Malachi	1	1.8

Overwhelmingly concentrated in Leviticus (58% of all uses), with the Pentateuch accounting for 81%. The word is essentially a priestly/ritual term that the prophets repurpose metaphorically.

Semantic Categories¶

1. Ritual Purification of Garments (Levitical Law)¶

The dominant usage. The person who contacts uncleanness must kabas their garments as part of the prescribed cleansing protocol. Always paired with rachats (body washing) and the "unclean until evening" formula. - Lev 11:25 — "whosoever beareth ought of the carcase of them shall wash (kabas) his clothes, and be unclean until the even" - Lev 15:5 — "whosoever toucheth his bed shall wash (kabas) his clothes, and bathe himself in water" - Lev 16:26 — "he that let go the goat for the scapegoat shall wash (kabas) his clothes, and bathe his flesh in water" - Num 19:7 — "the priest shall wash (kabas) his clothes, and he shall bathe his flesh in water"

2. Garment Inspection for Plague/Leprosy¶

Applied to garments themselves as objects that may harbor contamination. The priest commands the garment to be washed and then reinspects. - Lev 13:54 — "the priest shall command that they wash (kabas) the thing wherein the plague is" - Lev 13:55 — "the priest shall look on the plague, after that it is washed (hukabbas)" - Lev 13:58 — "the garment... which thou shalt wash (tekabbes), if the plague be departed... it shall be washed (kubbas) the second time"

3. Consecration Preparation¶

Washing garments before an encounter with God's presence — not cleansing from defilement but preparation for holiness. - Exo 19:10 — "sanctify them to day and to morrow, and let them wash (kabas) their clothes" - Exo 19:14 — "Moses... sanctified the people; and they washed (kabas) their clothes" - Num 8:7 — "let them shave all their flesh, and let them wash (kabas) their clothes, and so cleanse themselves" (Levite consecration)

4. Figurative / Metaphorical Washing¶

The prophets and psalmist apply the ritual term to moral/spiritual cleansing, drawing on its cultic resonance. - Psa 51:2 — "Wash me (kabbeseni) throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin" - Psa 51:7 — "wash me (tekabbeseni), and I shall be whiter than snow" - Jer 4:14 — "O Jerusalem, wash (kabbesi) thine heart from wickedness" - Jer 2:22 — "though thou wash thee (tekabbesi) with nitre, and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked"

5. Fuller (Professional Tradesman)¶

The Qal participle kobes designates the professional washer/launderer — a trade important enough to name a geographic landmark. - 2 Ki 18:17 — "the conduit of the upper pool, which is in the highway of the fuller's (kobes) field" - Isa 7:3 — "at the end of the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller's (kobes) field" - Mal 3:2 — "he is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' (mekabbesim) soap"

6. Poetic / Figurative Abundance¶

Gen 49:11 — "he washed (kibbes) his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes" — Jacob's blessing on Judah; grape abundance so great that wine serves for laundry

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
מַיִם (mayim)	H4325	21x (44%)	"wash clothes... bathe in water" — the medium
עֶרֶב (ereb)	H6153	19x (40%)	"unclean until the even" — the time boundary
רָחַץ (rachats)	H7364	19x (40%)	kabas garments + rachats body = paired ritual
טָמֵא (tame)	H2930	18x (38%)	"shall wash... and be unclean" — the impurity trigger
טָהֵר (taher)	H2891	13x (27%)	"wash... and be clean" — the purity result
בָּשָׂר (basar)	H1320	10x (21%)	"wash clothes... bathe his flesh" — body/garment pair
נָגַע (naga)	H5060	9x (19%)	"whosoever toucheth... shall wash" — contact trigger
כֹּהֵן (kohen)	H3548	6x (12%)	priestly supervision of the washing protocol

Synonyms¶

H2891 טָהֵר (taher) — "be clean/pure" — the broader purity term; kabas is one mechanism for achieving taher status

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
רָחַץ (rachats)	H7364	"wash"	rachats = wash the body (bathe/lave); kabas = wash garments (launder by treading). In ritual law they occur as a mandatory pair: kabas clothes + rachats body.

Semantic Domain¶

[002001001012] Clean — shares domain with bor (H1252), barar (H1305), zaqaq (H2212)

LXX Mapping¶

Greek Equivalent	Co-occurrences	PMI Score	Notes
πλύνω (plyno) G4150	43	32.91	Primary equivalent — nearly 1:1 (wash garments)
λούω (louo) G3068	20	23.69	Secondary — "bathe" (when LXX renders broadly)
γναφεύς (gnapheus) G1102	3	12.32	"Fuller" — professional term matches Qal participle

The kabas → plyno bridge is extremely tight (43 of 48 verses). In Rev 7:14, plyno appears as the washing word for the robes "washed white in the blood of the Lamb," maintaining the Levitical garment-washing resonance.