Hebrew word · H7897

שִׁית

shit

garment

Garment, attire, outfit. It is probably related to the verb šît, "to put, set", so it means "what one puts on". The word is rare.

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

What it means

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 Psalm 73:6

Range of meaning

Garment, attire, outfit. It is probably related to the verb šît, "to put, set", so it means "what one puts on". The word is rare.

Against the English

Most versions say "garment", which is adequate. NIV and NLT turn the noun into a verb ("they clothe themselves"). That keeps the clothing image but drops the word that marks a recognisable outfit.

Used elsewhere in the period

Its only other use is Proverbs 7:10, "the attire (šît) of a prostitute". There it is clothing that announces identity and intention. Biblical poetry often speaks of character as clothing: "I put on righteousness, and it clothed me" (Job 29:14). "He clothed himself with cursing as his garment" (Psalm 109:18). "Let my accusers be clothed with dishonour" (Psalm 109:29).

Where it appears

Psalms · 1

  1. Psalm 73:6 שִׁ֝֗ית a garment of

    Therefore pride is their necklace; a garment of violence covers them.

    Here: "A garment of". This rare word for clothing appears elsewhere only in Proverbs 7:10, where it describes the dress of a prostitute, meaning the outfit that announces who she is. Here it is the outfit that announces who they are.

Proverbs · 1

  1. Proverbs 7:10 שִׁ֥ית [the] garment of

    Then a woman came out to meet him, with the attire of a harlot and cunning of heart.

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