H899 — בֶּגֶד (beged)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: H899
Original: בֶּגֶד
Transliteration: beged
Pronunciation: behg'-ed
Part of Speech: Masculine noun
Root: בָּגַד (bagad, H898) — to cover (with a garment); figuratively, to act covertly/treacherously
Occurrences: 190 unique verses (234 tokens) across 25 books
First Occurrence: Gen 24:53 — "And the servant brought forth jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment, and gave them to Rebekah"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

From H898 (bagad); a covering, i.e. clothing; also treachery or pillage: — apparel, cloth(-es, -ing), garment, lap, rag, raiment, robe, very (treacherously), vesture, wardrobe.

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Verses	%
clothes (his/her/their/your/my/our)	62	32.6%
garment(s) (various forms)	58	30.5%
cloth(s)	11	5.8%
raiment	10	5.3%
robes (thy/their)	5	2.6%
apparel	3	1.6%
wardrobe	2	1.1%
rags	1	0.5%
vestures	1	0.5%
lap	1	0.5%
treacherously/very	2	1.1%
Other (prepositions, articles)	34	17.9%

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Leviticus	45	5.2
2 Kings	19	2.6
Haggai	1	2.6
Zechariah	4	1.9
Numbers	20	1.6
Joel	1	1.4
Esther	2	1.2
Isaiah	14	1.1
2 Samuel	7	1.0
Exodus	12	1.0
Ezekiel	11	0.9
Genesis	13	0.8
Judges	5	0.8
2 Chronicles	6	0.7
Amos	1	0.7
Ezra	2	0.7
1 Samuel	4	0.5
1 Kings	4	0.5
Ecclesiastes	1	0.5
Jeremiah	5	0.4
Proverbs	4	0.4
Job	3	0.3
Nehemiah	1	0.2
Psalms	4	0.2
Deuteronomy	1	0.1

Leviticus dominates with 45 occurrences (5.2/100v) — nearly all in purity regulations (Lev 11, 13–16). The priestly/ritual genre accounts for the majority of uses. Narrative books (Genesis, Samuel, Kings) use it for garment-rending and clothing exchanges. Prophetic usage (Isaiah, Ezekiel, Zechariah) tends toward metaphorical and theological applications.

Semantic Categories¶

1. Priestly/Sacred Garments¶

Exo 28:2 — "thou shalt make holy garments for Aaron thy brother for glory and for beauty"
Exo 29:21 — "sprinkle it upon Aaron, and upon his garments, and upon his sons"
Lev 16:4 — "He shall put on the holy linen coat... these are holy garments"
Lev 16:23 — "Aaron shall... put off the linen garments, which he put on when he went into the holy place"

2. Purity Law — Washing of Clothes¶

Lev 11:25 — "whosoever beareth ought of the carcase of them shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even"
Lev 15:5 — "whosoever toucheth his bed shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water"
Num 19:7 — "the priest shall wash his clothes, and he shall bathe his flesh in water"
Num 31:24 — "ye shall wash your clothes on the seventh day, and ye shall be clean"

3. Purity Law — Contaminated Garments¶

Lev 13:47 — "The garment also that the plague of leprosy is in, whether it be a woollen garment, or a linen garment"
Lev 13:52 — "He shall therefore burn that garment... wherein the plague is"
Lev 13:58 — "the garment... which thou shalt wash, if the plague be departed from them, then it shall be washed the second time"
Lev 15:17 — "every garment, and every skin, whereon is the seed of copulation, shall be washed with water"

4. Rending Garments (Grief, Distress, Mourning)¶

Gen 37:29 — "Reuben returned unto the pit... and he rent his clothes"
2 Sam 1:11 — "David took hold on his clothes, and rent them"
2 Ki 22:11 — "when the king had heard the words of the book of the law... he rent his clothes"
Joel 2:13 — "rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD"

5. Clothing as Provision, Wealth, or Gift¶

Gen 24:53 — "the servant brought forth jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment, and gave them to Rebekah"
Gen 28:20 — "if God will... give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on"
Jdg 14:12 — "thirty sheets and thirty change of garments"
2 Ki 5:22 — "give them... a talent of silver, and two changes of garments"

6. Metaphorical/Theological Usage¶

Isa 50:9 — "they all shall wax old as a garment; the moth shall eat them up"
Isa 61:10 — "he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness"
Isa 64:6 — "all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags"
Zec 3:3–4 — "Joshua was clothed with filthy garments... Take away the filthy garments from him... I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee"

7. Disguise and Deception¶

1 Sam 28:8 — "Saul disguised himself, and put on other raiment"
1 Ki 22:30 — "I will disguise myself, and enter into the battle; but put thou on thy robes"
Gen 27:15 — "Rebekah took goodly raiment of her eldest son Esau... and put them upon Jacob"

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
כָּבַס (kabac)	H3526	34x	"wash his clothes" — purity formula
לָבַשׁ (labash)	H3847	32x	"put on garments" — investiture/dressing
קָרַע (qara)	H7167	29x	"rent his clothes" — grief/distress
מַיִם (mayim)	H4325	25x	"wash... in water" — purification
מֶלֶךְ (melek)	H4428	22x	royal garments, king rending clothes
עֶרֶב (ereb)	H6153	21x	"unclean until the even" — purity period
טָמֵא (tame)	H2930	20x	"wash clothes... be unclean" — contamination
רָחַץ (rachats)	H7364	20x	"wash/bathe" — paired with garment washing
אַהֲרוֹן (Aharon)	H175	18x	priestly garments of Aaron

Word Family / Cognates¶

H898 בָּגַד (bagad) — root verb: to cover (with a garment); figuratively, to deal treacherously
H900 בֹּגְדוֹת (bogdowth) — treacheries (feminine plural noun from H898)
H901 בָּגוֹד (bagod) — treacherous (adjective from H898)

The etymological link between "garment/covering" and "treachery" reflects the semantic shift from "covering" → "concealing" → "acting covertly."

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
שִׂמְלָה (simlah)	H8071	clothes, raiment, garment	simlah = outer wrapper/cloak, often for travel or nightwear (Ruth 3:3); beged = general term for any garment
כְּתֹנֶת (kethoneth)	H3801	coat, garments	kethoneth = specific undertunic worn next to the body (Gen 3:21 "coats of skins"); beged = generic covering
לְבוּשׁ (lebuwsh)	H3830	garment, clothing	lebuwsh = what is worn/put on (from labash "to clothe"); beged = the garment itself as an object
שַׂלְמָה (salmah)	H8008	clothes, garment, raiment	salmah = outer garment/wrap (Ruth 3:3); similar to simlah; beged is broader
אַדֶּרֶת (addereth)	H155	garment, mantle	addereth = majestic/wide cloak (Elijah's mantle); beged = ordinary garment

Semantic Domains¶

Coverings — H1094 belowy, H1852 doq, H2854 chathullah, H3681 kacuwy, H3733 kar
Clothing — H73 abnet, H155 addereth, H232 ezowr, H641 ephod
Unfaithful (via root H898) — H898 bagad, H900 bogdowth, H901 bagod, H2181 zanah

LXX Mapping¶

Greek Equivalent	Co-occurrences	PMI Score	Notes
ἱμάτιον (himation) G2440	130	31.54	Primary equivalent — outer garment, cloak
πλύνω (pluno) G4150	34	22.71	"wash" — LXX translates "wash clothes" phrase
στολή (stole) G4749	34	21.59	Formal/ceremonial robe — priestly garments
διαρρήσσω (diarrhesso) G1284	28	19.04	"rend/tear" — LXX translates "rend clothes" phrase
λούω (louo) G3068	21	18.18	"bathe" — purification context
ἐνδύω (enduo) G1746	26	16.99	"put on/clothe" — investiture context
ἀκάθαρτος (akathartos) G169	25	15.04	"unclean" — contamination context

The LXX mapping shows that beged's primary lexical equivalent is himation (G2440), but many co-occurrences reflect the verbs and adjectives that accompany beged in formulaic purity expressions rather than translating beged itself.