Hebrew word · H3830

לְבוּשׁ

levush

clothing

Clothing, garment, robe, apparel. It comes from lāvash, 'to put on, wear'. It is often used for fuller or finer dress (royal robes, Esth 6:8; 8:15), and also figuratively (Job 29:14, 'righteousness... was my robe').

Appears 33 times in 33 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

clothing, garment, apparel, raiment

Aramaic equivalent: le.vush (לְבוּשׁ "garment" H3831)

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 Psalm 22:18

Range of meaning

Clothing, garment, robe, apparel. It comes from lāvash, 'to put on, wear'. It is often used for fuller or finer dress (royal robes, Esth 6:8; 8:15), and also figuratively (Job 29:14, 'righteousness... was my robe').

Against the English

KJV's 'vesture' (an old word for clothing) suits its slightly elevated tone. 'Clothing' is accurate. NIV's singular 'garment' narrows it to one item, which may be influenced by John 19.

Used elsewhere in the period

Hebrew poetry often pairs beged and levush as near-synonyms. The Septuagint uses himatismos ('clothing') for it, and John 19:24 keeps that word.

From the study of Proverbs 31:22

Range of meaning

Garment, clothing, attire. The root לבשׁ means 'to put on, wear'. It is also used figuratively for qualities that 'clothe' a person (Job 29:14; Psalm 93:1).

Against the English

'Clothing' is accurate in all versions. The loss is in the connection: few translations let the reader see that the same word recurs in v.25.

Used elsewhere in the period

Verse 21 uses the related verb (lābuš, 'clothed') for her household. Verse 25 reads 'strength and dignity are her clothing (lᵉbûšāh)'. Job 29:14: 'I put on righteousness and it clothed me.'

From the study of Proverbs 31:25

Range of meaning

Garment, clothing, robe; often used figuratively for qualities that 'clothe' a person (Job 29:14, 'I put on righteousness and it clothed me').

Against the English

'Clothing' is accurate. What English cannot show is that the same word, levushah, ends verse 22.

Used elsewhere in the period

In biblical idiom being 'clothed' with a quality means being visibly marked by it and identified with it (Job 29:14; Ps 132:9, 'let your priests be clothed with righteousness'; Isa 59:17).

Similar words

Where it appears

Genesis · 1
  1. Genesis 49:11 לְבֻשׁ֔וֹ clothing his

    He ties his donkey to the vine, his colt to the choicest branch. He washes his garments in wine, his robes in the blood of grapes.

2 Samuel · 2
  1. 2 Samuel 1:24 לְבוּשְׁכֶֽן׃ clothing your

    O daughters of Israel, weep for Saul, who clothed you in scarlet and luxury, who decked your garments with ornaments of gold.

  2. 2 Samuel 20:8 לְבֻשׁ֗וּ clothing his

    And while they were at the great stone in Gibeon, Amasa joined them. Now Joab was dressed in military attire, with a dagger strapped to his belt. And as he stepped forward, he slipped the dagger from its sheath.

2 Kings · 1
  1. 2 Kings 10:22 לְב֔וּשׁ clothing

    And Jehu said to the keeper of the wardrobe, “Bring out garments for all the servants of Baal.” So he brought out garments for them.

Esther · 6
  1. Esther 4:2 בִּלְב֥וּשׁ in clothing of

    But he went only as far as the king’s gate, because the law prohibited anyone wearing sackcloth from entering that gate.

  2. Esther 6:8 לְב֣וּשׁ clothing of

    have them bring a royal robe that the king himself has worn and a horse on which the king himself has ridden—one with a royal crest placed on its head.

  3. Esther 6:9 הַלְּב֜וּשׁ the clothing

    Let the robe and the horse be entrusted to one of the king’s most noble princes. Let them array the man the king wants to honor and parade him on the horse through the city square, proclaiming before him, ‘This is what is done for the man whom the king is delighted to honor!’”

  4. Esther 6:10 הַלְּב֤וּשׁ the clothing

    “Hurry,” said the king to Haman, “and do just as you proposed. Take the robe and the horse to Mordecai the Jew, who is sitting at the king’s gate. Do not neglect anything that you have suggested.”

  5. Esther 6:11 הַלְּב֣וּשׁ the clothing

    So Haman took the robe and the horse, arrayed Mordecai, and paraded him through the city square, crying out before him, “This is what is done for the man whom the king is delighted to honor!”

  6. Esther 8:15 בִּלְב֤וּשׁ in clothing of

    Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal garments of blue and white, with a large gold crown and a purple robe of fine linen. And the city of Susa shouted and rejoiced.

    Here: A general word for garments. The same phrase, 'clothing of royalty', appears in 6:8, where Haman asks for it thinking it was meant for himself, and Mordecai ends up wearing it. In 8:15 the phrase comes back.

Job · 7
  1. Job 24:7 לְב֑וּשׁ clothing

    Without clothing, they spend the night naked; they have no covering against the cold.

  2. Job 24:10 לְב֑וּשׁ clothing

    Without clothing, they wander about naked. They carry the sheaves, but still go hungry.

  3. Job 30:18 לְבוּשִׁ֑י clothing my

    With great force He grasps my garment; He seizes me by the collar of my tunic.

  4. Job 31:19 לְב֑וּשׁ clothing

    if I have seen one perish for lack of clothing, or a needy man without a cloak,

  5. Job 38:9 לְבֻשׁ֑וֹ clothing its

    when I made the clouds its garment and thick darkness its blanket,

  6. Job 38:14 לְבֽוּשׁ׃ clothing

    The earth takes shape like clay under a seal; its hills stand out like the folds of a garment.

  7. Job 41:13 לְבוּשׁ֑וֹ clothing its

    Who can strip off his outer coat? Who can approach him with a bridle?

Psalms · 6
  1. Psalm 22:18 לְ֝בוּשִׁ֗י clothing my

    They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing.

    Here: 'My clothing', singular. A word that is often a little more formal or literary than beged and can mean a robe or outfit. Here it echoes 'my garments' in the line before.

  2. Psalm 35:13 לְב֬וּשִׁי clothing my

    Yet when they were ill, I put on sackcloth; I humbled myself with fasting, but my prayers returned unanswered.

    Here: 'My clothing.' The Hebrew has no verb here, just 'my clothing: sackcloth.' That makes it a description of how things were while they were sick, not one act on one day.

  3. Psalm 45:13 לְבוּשָֽׁהּ׃ clothing her

    All glorious is the princess in her chamber; her gown is embroidered with gold.

    Here: 'Her clothing'. The second half of the verse makes the first half concrete: the splendor is her gold-worked wedding dress.

  4. Psalm 69:11 לְבוּשִׁ֣י clothing my

    I made sackcloth my clothing, and I was sport to them.

  5. Psalm 102:26 כַּלְּב֖וּשׁ like <the> clothing

    They will perish, but You remain; they will all wear out like a garment. Like clothing You will change them, and they will be passed on.

    Here: 'Like clothing': a second word for clothes, from the verb 'to put on'. It sits in parallel with 'garment' and moves the picture on from clothes wearing out to clothes being taken off and replaced.

  6. Psalm 104:6 כַּלְּב֣וּשׁ like <the> clothing

    You covered it with the deep like a garment; the waters stood above the mountains.

Proverbs · 3
  1. Proverbs 27:26 לִלְבוּשֶׁ֑ךָ [are] for clothing your

    the lambs will provide you with clothing, and the goats with the price of a field.

  2. Proverbs 31:22 לְבוּשָֽׁהּ׃ clothing her

    She makes coverings for her bed; her clothing is fine linen and purple.

    Here: 'Her clothing'. The same word comes back in v.25: 'strength and dignity are her clothing'. The fine clothes she literally wears here become a picture of her character three verses later.

  3. Proverbs 31:25 לְבוּשָׁ֑הּ clothing her

    Strength and honor are her clothing, and she can laugh at the days to come.

    Here: 'Her clothing.' The exact same word ends verse 22, where her clothing is real fine linen and purple. Verse 25 repeats the word and shifts from cloth to character: under the purple she is dressed in strength and splendor.

Isaiah · 3
  1. Isaiah 14:19 לְב֥וּשׁ [the] clothing of

    But you are cast out of your grave like a rejected branch, covered by those slain with the sword, and dumped into a rocky pit like a carcass trampled underfoot.

  2. Isaiah 63:1 בִּלְבוּשׁ֔וֹ in clothing his

    Who is this coming from Edom, from Bozrah with crimson-stained garments? Who is this robed in splendor, marching in the greatness of His strength? “It is I, proclaiming vindication, mighty to save.”

    Here: "In his clothing": another clothing word, balancing bᵊgādîm. Isaiah 59:17 has already described YHWH putting on "garments of vengeance for clothing (tilbōšet)".

  3. Isaiah 63:2 לִלְבוּשֶׁ֑ךָ [belong] to clothing your

    Why are Your clothes red, and Your garments like one who treads the winepress?

    Here: 'To/on your clothing': the redness belongs to the robe. It is the same word as in v.1, where the figure is 'splendid in his clothing', so the fine robe and the stained robe are one and the same.

Jeremiah · 1
  1. Jeremiah 10:9 לְבוּשָׁ֔ם clothing their

    Hammered silver is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz—the work of a craftsman from the hands of a goldsmith. Their clothes are blue and purple, all fashioned by skilled workers.

Lamentations · 1
  1. Lamentations 4:14 בִּלְבֻשֵׁיהֶֽם׃ ס <in> clothes their

    They wandered blind in the streets, defiled by this blood, so that no one dared to touch their garments.

Ezekiel · 1
  1. Ezekiel 9:11 לְבֻ֣שׁ <the> clothed of

    Then the man clothed in linen with the writing kit at his side reported back, “I have done as You commanded.”

Malachi · 1
  1. Malachi 2:16 לְבוּשׁ֔וֹ clothing his

    “For I hate divorce,” says the LORD, the God of Israel. “He who divorces his wife covers his garment with violence,” says the LORD of Hosts. So guard yourselves in your spirit and do not break faith.

    Here: 'His garment'. A man's clothing showed who he was and how he stood in public. Spreading a garment over a woman could also signal taking her as a wife under protection (Ruth 3:9; Ezek 16:8).

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