Hebrew word · H3874

לוּט

halot

to wrap

To wrap up, envelop or cover over. Qal (the simple form): "wrapped in a cloth" (1 Sam 21:9 Eng/21:10 Heb); a noun from the same root is the "covering" or shroud cast over all peoples (Isa 25:7). The causative form used here occurs only in this verse.

Appears 3 times in 3 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) to wrap closely or tightly, enwrap, envelop

1a) (Qal) to wrap tightly

1b) (Hiphil) to envelop, wrap

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 1 Kings 19:13

Range of meaning

To wrap up, envelop or cover over. Qal (the simple form): "wrapped in a cloth" (1 Sam 21:9 Eng/21:10 Heb); a noun from the same root is the "covering" or shroud cast over all peoples (Isa 25:7). The causative form used here occurs only in this verse.

Against the English

"Wrapped his face" (KJV, ESV, BSB, WEB) keeps the picture of full enclosure. "Pulled his cloak over his face" (NIV) is natural English but softer, losing the sense of being wrapped up and hidden.

Used elsewhere in the period

A closely related verb, la'at, describes David "covering his face" in grief for Absalom (2 Sam 19:4 Eng/19:5 Heb). Covering the face before God appears with Moses at the burning bush, also at Horeb ("Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God", Exod 3:6), and with the seraphim, who cover their faces with wings (Isa 6:2).

Where it appears

1 Samuel · 1

  1. 1 Samuel 21:9 לוּטָ֣ה [is] wrapped

    The priest replied, “The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you killed in the Valley of Elah, is here; it is wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. If you want, you may take it. For there is no other but this one here.” And David said, “There is none like it; give it to me.”

1 Kings · 1

  1. 1 Kings 19:13 וַיָּ֤לֶט and he wrapped

    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?”

    Here: He wrapped his face completely, as you would wrap something in a cloth (compare Goliath's sword "wrapped in a cloth", 1 Sam 21:9). He hides his face from what he senses is coming.

Isaiah · 1

  1. Isaiah 25:7 הַלּ֖וֹט which covers

    On this mountain He will swallow up the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations;

    Here: The same sounds again, this time as a verb form: 'the wrapping that wraps.' The repetition makes the covering sound thick and inescapable. The same verb describes Elijah wrapping his face in his cloak (1 Kings 19:13).

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