Hebrew word · H3836

לָבָן

lavan

white

White or bright. It describes things like milk (Gen 49:12), wool and snow (Isa 1:18), the white streaks in peeled branches (Gen 30:37), the whitened hair or skin of a skin disease (Lev 13), and the bright clothing of a heavenly figure (Dan 7:9, Aramaic ḥiwwār).

Appears 29 times in 24 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

white

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 Ecclesiastes 9:8

Range of meaning

White or bright. It describes things like milk (Gen 49:12), wool and snow (Isa 1:18), the white streaks in peeled branches (Gen 30:37), the whitened hair or skin of a skin disease (Lev 13), and the bright clothing of a heavenly figure (Dan 7:9, Aramaic ḥiwwār). For clothing it means clean, bleached, bright fabric.

Against the English

English versions all say "white," which is correct. The trouble is what the English word suggests. Many readers now hear moral purity or holiness, from Revelation's white robes and from church use. In Ecclesiastes 9 the word is about festive appearance: clean, bright clothes that show you are celebrating and not in mourning.

How it drifted

The moral reading is very old. The Aramaic Targum of Ecclesiastes and the Talmud (b. Shabbat 153a) turned the white garments into purity from sin and readiness for death. Christian readers later linked the phrase to the white robes of Revelation 3:4–5, 18 and 7:9–14. Those uses are applications of the image, not what the word means in this verse.

Used elsewhere in the period

In Mesopotamia, Egypt and Israel, clean and bright linen was the dress for festivals and good fortune, and mourning meant sackcloth, dust, and going about "darkened" (qōdēr, Ps 35:14; 38:6). The Old Babylonian Gilgamesh epic has a close parallel. The alewife Siduri tells Gilgamesh to let his clothes be clean and his head washed (Sippar/Meissner tablet, col. iii). The Egyptian Harper's Song from the tomb of Intef says, "dress in fine linen." The Greek translation (LXX) has leuka, and the Latin Vulgate has candida, "shining white."

From the study of Genesis 30:35

Range of meaning

White: of wool (Isa 1:18), milk, teeth (Gen 49:12), hair (Lev 13), manna, garments. Also the personal name Laban, 'White'.

Against the English

English 'white' is accurate as a colour word, but no English version can carry the pun with Laban's name. A reader of the Hebrew hears 'Laban took away all that had laban on it.'

Used elsewhere in the period

The same sound-play continues in the next verses: Jacob takes rods of poplar (libneh, related to 'white') and peels them to lay bare 'the white' (hallābān, 30:37). Commentators such as Sarna (JPS Torah Commentary) and Wenham (Word Biblical Commentary) point out the play on Laban's name in this section.

Where it appears

Genesis · 4
  1. Genesis 30:35 לָבָן֙ white

    That very day Laban removed all the streaked or spotted male goats and every speckled or spotted female goat—every one that had any white on it—and every dark-colored lamb, and he placed them under the care of his sons.

    Here: 'White': any goat with even a touch of white is taken. The word sounds exactly like Laban's name (Lāḇān), so the sentence says, in effect, that Laban removed every goat with 'laban' on it.

  2. Genesis 30:37 לְבָנ֔וֹת הַלָּבָ֔ן white, the white [wood]

    Jacob, however, took fresh branches of poplar, almond, and plane trees, and peeled the bark, exposing the white inner wood of the branches.

  3. Genesis 49:12 וּלְבֶן־ and white of

    His eyes are darker than wine, and his teeth are whiter than milk.

Exodus · 1
  1. Exodus 16:31 לָבָ֔ן white

    Now the house of Israel called the bread manna. It was white like coriander seed and tasted like wafers made with honey.

    Here: 'White'. It describes the manna, not the coriander. Coriander seed is tan or pale brown, so the comparison is about size and roundness, and 'white' adds the colour (compare Numbers 11:7, 'like bdellium', a pale resin).

Leviticus · 20
  1. Leviticus 13:3 לָבָ֗ן white

    The priest is to examine the infection on his skin, and if the hair in the infection has turned white and the sore appears to be deeper than the skin, it is a skin disease. After the priest examines him, he must pronounce him unclean.

    Here: The hair has become white. Paired with the bright spot of v. 2 (baheret), whiteness is the key color of this condition.

  2. Leviticus 13:4 לְבָנָ֨ה לָבָ֑ן white

    If, however, the spot on his skin is white and does not appear to be deeper than the skin, and the hair in it has not turned white, the priest shall isolate the infected person for seven days.

    Here: The spot is white. This alone does not decide the case. White hair inside the spot is the color that counts as a decisive sign.

  3. Leviticus 13:10 לְבָנָה֙ לָבָ֑ן white

    The priest will examine him, and if there is a white swelling on the skin that has turned the hair white, and there is raw flesh in the swelling,

  4. Leviticus 13:13 לָבָ֖ן white

    the priest shall examine him, and if the disease has covered his entire body, he is to pronounce the infected person clean. Since it has all turned white, he is clean.

  5. Leviticus 13:16 לְלָבָ֑ן to white

    But if the raw flesh changes and turns white, he must go to the priest.

  6. Leviticus 13:17 לְלָבָ֑ן to white

    The priest will reexamine him, and if the infection has turned white, the priest is to pronounce the infected person clean; then he is clean.

  7. Leviticus 13:19 לְבָנָ֔ה לְבָנָ֣ה white

    and a white swelling or a reddish-white spot develops where the boil was, he must present himself to the priest.

  8. Leviticus 13:20 לָבָ֑ן white

    The priest shall examine it, and if it appears to be beneath the skin and the hair in it has turned white, the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is a diseased infection that has broken out in the boil.

  9. Leviticus 13:21 לָבָ֔ן white

    But when the priest examines it, if there is no white hair in it, and it is not beneath the skin and has faded, the priest shall isolate him for seven days.

  10. Leviticus 13:24 לְבָנָ֥ה לְבָנָֽה׃ white

    When there is a burn on someone’s skin and the raw area of the burn becomes reddish-white or white,

  11. Leviticus 13:25 לָבָ֜ן white

    the priest must examine it. If the hair in the spot has turned white and the spot appears to be deeper than the skin, it is a disease that has broken out in the burn. The priest must pronounce him unclean; it is a diseased infection.

  12. Leviticus 13:26 לָבָ֔ן white

    But if the priest examines it and there is no white hair in the spot, and it is not beneath the skin but has faded, the priest shall isolate him for seven days.

  13. Leviticus 13:38 לְבָנֹֽת׃ white

    When a man or a woman has white spots on the skin,

  14. Leviticus 13:39 לְבָנֹ֑ת white

    the priest shall examine them, and if the spots are dull white, it is a harmless rash that has broken out on the skin; the person is clean.

  15. Leviticus 13:42 לָבָ֣ן white

    But if there is a reddish-white sore on the bald head or forehead, it is an infectious disease breaking out on it.

  16. Leviticus 13:43 לְבָנָ֣ה [is] white

    The priest is to examine him, and if the swelling of the infection on his bald head or forehead is reddish-white like a skin disease,

Ecclesiastes · 1
  1. Ecclesiastes 9:8 לְבָנִ֑ים white

    Let your garments always be white, and never spare the oil for your head.

    Here: White, bright, clean. It describes laundered festive clothing, the opposite of the dark, dirty sackcloth of mourning. It does not refer to moral purity here.

Zechariah · 3
  1. Zechariah 1:8 וּלְבָנִֽים׃ and white

    I looked out into the night and saw a man riding on a red horse. He was standing among the myrtle trees in the hollow, and behind him were red, sorrel, and white horses.

    Here: 'And white': the ordinary word for white, as in milk, snow or wool. Here it simply names a coat colour.

  2. Zechariah 6:3 לְבָנִ֑ים white

    the third white horses, and the fourth dappled horses—all of them strong.

  3. Zechariah 6:6 וְהַלְּבָנִ֔ים and the white [horses]

    The one with the black horses is going toward the land of the north, the one with the white horses toward the west, and the one with the dappled horses toward the south.”

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