WG: Garment
Overview
The garment concept in Hebrew Scripture involves a primary generic term (beged) surrounded by specific garment types, the verbs that act on garments (clothe, wash, rend), and the purity vocabulary that garments participate in.
Word Group Members
| Strong's |
Word |
Transliteration |
POS |
Occurrences |
Role in Concept |
Library Entry |
| H899 |
בֶּגֶד |
beged |
m. noun |
190 |
Generic garment — the default term |
H899-beged.md |
| H3847 |
לָבַשׁ |
labash |
verb |
102 |
The action of putting on / clothing |
H3847-labash.md |
| H7167 |
קָרַע |
qara |
verb |
60 |
The action of rending / tearing |
TODO(need H7167 study) |
| H3526 |
כָּבַס |
kabac |
verb |
48 |
The action of washing (garments) |
H3526 |
| H2930 |
טָמֵא |
tame |
verb |
142 |
The contamination state — "be unclean" |
H2930-tame.md |
| H8071 |
שִׂמְלָה |
simlah |
f. noun |
28 |
Outer wrapper / traveling cloak |
TODO(need H8071 study) |
| H3801 |
כְּתֹנֶת |
kethoneth |
f. noun |
26 |
Undertunic worn next to body |
TODO(need H3801 study) |
| H3830 |
לְבוּשׁ |
lebuwsh |
m. noun |
33 |
What is worn — clothing/garb |
TODO(need H3830 study) |
Relationships
Shared Roots
- beged (H899) and bagad (H898) — same root b-g-d: "covering" → "acting covertly"
- lebuwsh (H3830) from labash (H3847) — noun derived from the verb "to clothe"
Co-occurrence (appear in same verses)
| Word A |
Word B |
Shared Verses |
Typical Context |
| beged (H899) |
kabac (H3526) |
34 |
"wash his clothes" — Levitical purity formula |
| beged (H899) |
labash (H3847) |
32 |
"put on garments" — priestly investiture, dressing |
| beged (H899) |
qara (H7167) |
29 |
"rent his clothes" — grief, distress, repentance |
| beged (H899) |
tame (H2930) |
20 |
"wash clothes... be unclean" — contamination + purification |
| kabac (H3526) |
tame (H2930) |
18 |
"wash clothes and be unclean until even" — purity formula |
| labash (H3847) |
kethoneth (H3801) |
10 |
"put on the coat" — priestly dressing (Gen 3:21, Lev 16:4) |
| beged (H899) |
lebuwsh (H3830) |
4 |
Rare co-occurrence — distinguishing inner vs. outer garment |
| qara (H7167) |
simlah (H8071) |
3 |
"rent his clothes" — simlah variant of grief formula |
LXX Overlaps
| Hebrew Words |
Shared Greek |
Notes |
| beged + simlah + salmah + lebuwsh |
ἱμάτιον (himation) G2440 |
LXX uses one generic Greek word for multiple Hebrew garment terms |
| labash + kethoneth |
ἐνδύω (enduo) G1746 + χιτών (chiton) G5509 |
Greek preserves Hebrew verb+noun distinction |
| beged + lebuwsh |
στολή (stole) G4749 |
Both rendered as "stole" in ceremonial/priestly contexts |
| kabac |
πλύνω (pluno) G4150 |
Consistent garment-washing verb |
| qara (+ beged) |
διαρρήσσω (diarrhesso) G1284 |
"tear/rend" — consistent garment-rending verb |
Roles in the Concept
- Generic Object: beged (בֶּגֶד) — the garment itself, any type
- Specific Types: kethoneth (כְּתֹנֶת) = undertunic; simlah (שִׂמְלָה) = outer wrap; lebuwsh (לְבוּשׁ) = what is worn (poetic/literary)
- Positive Action: labash (לָבַשׁ) — putting on, investing with garments
- Destructive Action: qara (קָרַע) — tearing/rending garments in grief
- Purifying Action: kabac (כָּבַס) — washing garments to restore purity
- Condition: tame (טָמֵא) — the unclean state that necessitates garment washing
Key Passages Where Multiple Group Words Appear Together
- Lev 11:25 — [beged + kabac + tame] "whosoever beareth ought of the carcase of them shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even"
- Lev 13:56 — [beged + qara + kabac] "if the plague be somewhat dark after the washing of it; then he shall rend it out of the garment"
- Lev 16:4 — [beged + labash + kethoneth] "He shall put on the holy linen coat... these are holy garments"
- Exo 29:5 — [beged + labash + kethoneth] "thou shalt take the garments, and put upon Aaron the coat"
- Est 4:1 — [beged + labash + qara] "Mordecai rent his clothes, and put on sackcloth with ashes"
- Num 19:7 — [beged + kabac + tame] "the priest shall wash his clothes, and he shall bathe his flesh in water"
Generated from: gather_word_group_data.py, search_strongs.py, co-occurrence queries
Last updated: 2026-05-05