Hebrew word · H145

אֶ֫דֶר

'eder

robe

'Splendour, magnificence' (Zech 11:13, of a 'magnificent' price, ironically). Closely related to 'adderet, 'mantle, cloak', including a prophet's hair-mantle (1 Kgs 19:13, 19; 2 Kgs 2:13) and a fine Babylonian mantle (Josh 7:21).

Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) glory, magnificence

2) mantle, cloak (as wide)

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Micah 2:8

Range of meaning

'Splendour, magnificence' (Zech 11:13, of a 'magnificent' price, ironically). Closely related to 'adderet, 'mantle, cloak', including a prophet's hair-mantle (1 Kgs 19:13, 19; 2 Kgs 2:13) and a fine Babylonian mantle (Josh 7:21).

Against the English

BSB 'splendid robe', NIV/ESV 'rich robe', KJV 'the robe with the garment', WEB 'the robe and clothing', YLT 'the honourable ornament'.

Used elsewhere in the period

Zech 11:13. The cognate 'adderet in Joshua, Kings and Zech 13:4. The Septuagint renders it δορά, 'skin, hide', perhaps thinking of a hairy mantle, and has the oppressors 'flay off' a skin.

From the study of Zechariah 11:13

Range of meaning

'Eder comes from the root 'dr, 'to be wide, majestic, glorious.' Compare 'addir, 'majestic' (Ps 8:1), and 'adderet, a lordly cloak (Josh 7:21; 1 Kgs 19:13). A homonym means 'robe' (Mic 2:8). Yeqar means preciousness, value, honor or dignity. It is common in later Hebrew and Aramaic (Esth 1:4; Dan 2:6) and here means the price set on someone.

Against the English

KJV has 'a goodly price.' BSB and NASB have 'magnificent price,' WEB 'handsome price,' ESV 'lordly price.' All of them aim at the irony. 'Goodly' risks being heard sincerely, because in modern English 'a goodly sum' means a sizable one.

How it drifted

The KJV's 'goodly' meant 'fine, handsome' in 1611. Today the main sense is 'considerable in amount,' which can turn the sarcasm into a straight statement.

Used elsewhere in the period

Nowhere else does 'eder mean 'magnificence' in quite this phrase, but its family of words consistently carries the sense of grandeur. The Septuagint did not take it as sarcasm. It read the consonants as a verb about testing silver: 'I will see if it is genuine, as I was tested for them.'

Where it appears

Micah · 1

  1. Micah 2:8 אֶ֖דֶר a mantle

    But of late My people have risen up like an enemy: You strip off the splendid robe from unsuspecting passersby like men returning from battle.

    Here: A word linked to 'glory, magnificence' and to 'adderet, the mantle (as Elijah's). Here it is either the cloak itself ('the cloak, the mantle') or its finery ('you strip the splendour off the cloak').

Zechariah · 1

  1. Zechariah 11:13 אֶ֣דֶר [the] magnificence of

    And the LORD said to me, “Throw it to the potter”—this magnificent price at which they valued me. So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them to the potter in the house of the LORD.

    Here: This word comes from a root meaning 'to be majestic, grand.' Here it means 'the splendor of…' and it is heavy with sarcasm: 'what a magnificent price!' The supplied gloss 'robe' belongs to a related noun and does not fit this verse.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.