Hebrew word · H155

אַדֶּ֫רֶת

'aderet

clothing

ʾAdderet is a wide outer cloak or mantle. It is linked with the root ʾdr, 'to be majestic, glorious', and is often a garment of rank or office: Elijah's mantle (1 Kgs 19:13, 19; 2 Kgs 2:8–14), the king of Nineveh's robe (Jonah 3:6), the 'hairy mantle' of prophets (Zech 13:4; cf. Esau, Gen 25:25).

Appears 12 times in 12 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) glory, cloak

1a) glory, splendour, magnificence (of a vine, shepherds)

1b) mantle, cloak made of fur or fine material

1b1) prophet's garment

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 Joshua 7:21

Range of meaning

ʾAdderet is a wide outer cloak or mantle. It is linked with the root ʾdr, 'to be majestic, glorious', and is often a garment of rank or office: Elijah's mantle (1 Kgs 19:13, 19; 2 Kgs 2:8–14), the king of Nineveh's robe (Jonah 3:6), the 'hairy mantle' of prophets (Zech 13:4; cf. Esau, Gen 25:25). Šinʿār is the biblical name for southern Mesopotamia (Gen 10:10; 11:2; Dan 1:2).

Against the English

KJV 'goodly Babylonish garment', WEB 'Babylonian robe', NIV 'robe from Babylonia': these identify the region correctly. BSB, ESV and NASB keep 'Shinar', which preserves the echo of Babel but means little to most readers. 'Garment' or 'robe' can sound ordinary. This was a prestige import.

Used elsewhere in the period

Mesopotamian textiles were traded widely in the second millennium BC. Old Assyrian merchant letters, for example, record shipments of fine cloth to Anatolia. Aramaic Targum tradition also understands the garment as Babylonian. The Septuagint describes it instead as a beautiful multi-coloured piece, and the Vulgate as a scarlet cloak.

From the study of 2 Kings 2:14

Range of meaning

A wide outer cloak. The word appears only 12 times. It can describe a fine Babylonian garment (Joshua 7:21), a king's robe (Jonah 3:6) or a hairy cloak (Genesis 25:25; Zechariah 13:4, where a hairy cloak is what a prophet is expected to wear). In a few places the same word means splendor or glory (Ezekiel 17:8; Zechariah 11:3). Lexicons such as BDB and HALOT list both senses, but in this verse it plainly means the garment.

Against the English

"Cloak" (BSB, NIV) gives the physical object accurately. "Mantle" (KJV, WEB) was once ordinary English for a loose outer garment, but it now survives mostly as a metaphor. YLT's "robe" suggests something more formal than the text requires.

How it drifted

This story itself gave English the idiom "to take up someone's mantle," meaning to succeed them in a role. Later preaching sometimes went further and treated "mantle" as an invisible anointing passed from one leader to another. The symbolism of succession is really present in the story, but the word itself names a piece of clothing.

Used elsewhere in the period

The Greek Septuagint translates it here as mēlōtē, a sheepskin, the same word Hebrews 11:37 uses for the faithful who went about in sheepskins. Israel's world treated garments as extensions of a person's standing: Aaron's priestly garments were moved onto his son Eleazar at his death (Numbers 20:26–28), and Saul's torn robe stood for his lost kingdom (1 Samuel 15:27–28). At Mari, on the Euphrates, in the 1700s BC, letters report that a prophet's hair and garment hem were sent to the king along with an oracle, so that the message could be checked.

From the study of Jonah 3:6

Range of meaning

A wide outer mantle or cloak, often costly or marking status. It is linked to the adjective ʾaddîr, 'majestic, mighty, glorious', and in a few places the noun itself means 'glory, splendour' (Zech 11:3, 'their glory is ruined'; Ezek 17:8, a 'splendid' vine).

Against the English

'Robe' (KJV, ESV, NASB) is accurate but flat. 'Royal robe(s)' (BSB, WEB, NIV, NLT) brings out the rank. YLT's 'honourable robe' comes closest to the word's link with splendour.

Used elsewhere in the period

It is the costly 'mantle from Shinar' (Babylonia) Achan could not resist (Josh 7:21). It is Elijah's prophetic mantle, thrown over Elisha and later used to part the Jordan (1 Kgs 19:13, 19; 2 Kgs 2:8, 13–14). The 'hairy mantle' became the mark of a prophet (Zech 13:4; compare Esau 'like a hairy cloak', Gen 25:25). About a dozen occurrences in all.

Where it appears

Genesis · 1

  1. Genesis 25:25 כְּאַדֶּ֣רֶת [was] like a cloak of

    The first one came out red, covered with hair like a fur coat; so they named him Esau.

Joshua · 2

  1. Joshua 7:21 אַדֶּ֣רֶת <the> cloak of

    When I saw among the spoils a beautiful cloak from Shinar, two hundred shekels of silver, and a bar of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them. They are hidden in the ground inside my tent, with the silver underneath.”

    Here: A wide outer cloak, often a mark of status. The same word is used for Elijah's mantle and the Ninevite king's robe. It comes first in the list because it is the most exotic item.

  2. Joshua 7:24 הָאַדֶּ֣רֶת the cloak

    Then Joshua, together with all Israel, took Achan son of Zerah, the silver, the cloak, the bar of gold, his sons and daughters, his oxen and donkeys and sheep, his tent, and everything else he owned, and brought them to the Valley of Achor.

    Here: 'The mantle', the 'beautiful mantle of Shinar' (Babylonia) of v. 21. It was a costly imported robe, the most eye-catching item in the plunder.

1 Kings · 2

  1. 1 Kings 19:13 בְּאַדַּרְתּ֔וֹ in cloak his

    When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Suddenly a voice came to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

  2. 1 Kings 19:19 אַדַּרְתּ֖וֹ cloak his

    So Elijah departed and found Elisha son of Shaphat. He was plowing with twelve teams of oxen, and he was with the twelfth team. Elijah passed by him and threw his cloak around him.

2 Kings · 3

  1. 2 Kings 2:8 אַדַּרְתּ֤וֹ cloak his

    And Elijah took his cloak, rolled it up, and struck the waters, which parted to the right and to the left, so that the two of them crossed over on dry ground.

  2. 2 Kings 2:13 אַדֶּ֣רֶת [the] cloak of

    Elisha also picked up the cloak that had fallen from Elijah, and he went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan.

  3. 2 Kings 2:14 אַדֶּ֨רֶת [the] cloak of

    Then he took the cloak of Elijah that had fallen from him and struck the waters. “Where now is the LORD, the God of Elijah?” he asked. And when he had struck the waters, they parted to the right and to the left, and Elisha crossed over.

    Here: The large outer cloak that readers already know as Elijah's. It is a real object, and it also carries the memory of Elisha's call in 1 Kings 19:19, when Elijah threw this same cloak over him.

Ezekiel · 1

  1. Ezekiel 17:8 אַדָּֽרֶת׃ ס splendor

    It had been planted in good soil by abundant waters in order to yield branches and bear fruit and become a splendid vine.’

Jonah · 1

  1. Jonah 3:6 אַדַּרְתּ֖וֹ cloak his

    When word reached the king of Nineveh, he got up from his throne, took off his royal robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.

    Here: 'His mantle.' A fine outer cloak whose name comes from a root meaning 'majestic, glorious'. It is the garment of his rank, so taking it off means laying down his royal glory.

Zechariah · 2

  1. Zechariah 11:3 אַדַּרְתָּ֑ם splendor their

    Listen to the wailing of the shepherds, for their glory is in ruins. Listen to the roaring of the young lions, for the thickets of the Jordan are destroyed.

    Here: The noun means both 'glory, magnificence' and a fine 'cloak, mantle' (Elijah's mantle; Achan's fine Babylonian robe). Here 'their glory' most likely means their rich pasture-land, the splendid grazing that was the shepherds' pride (compare Jer 25:36, 'YHWH is ravaging their pasture'), with a possible echo of the robe of office of rulers. It also plays on 'addirim, 'the majestic ones' (trees), in v. 2.

  2. Zechariah 13:4 אַדֶּ֥רֶת a cloak of

    And on that day every prophet who prophesies will be ashamed of his vision, and he will not put on a hairy cloak in order to deceive.

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