clothing: what a person puts on, whether garments in general or one particular garment
TranslatabilityApproximateCertaintySettled
This word is built on the verb meaning "to put on", so it names clothing from the wearer's side: the thing you get dressed in. That is why it stretches so easily from clothing in general, the daily need Jesus tells his hearers to stop worrying about, to one specific outfit that tells you something about the person wearing it.
Seven of its eight appearances are in Matthew, and Matthew keeps reaching for it in scenes where what someone has on carries a message:
the rough camel hair that marks John out as a prophet in the wilderness
the dazzling white of the angel sitting at the opened tomb
the wedding clothes a guest was expected to be wearing at the king's banquet
the sheep's fleece pulled over a wolf's appetite
Greek had sharper words for particular items of dress: the loose outer wrap thrown over everything (ἱμάτιον), the tunic worn next to the skin (χιτών), the long flowing robe of honor (στολή). This word is the plainer one. It does not name a cut or a shape, only that the thing is worn, which is why it serves equally well for a camel hair coat, a wedding outfit, and a disguise.
Nuances
1aclothing in general: what covers the body, named alongside food as a basic human need
TranslatabilityDirect
Mat 6:25Mat 6:28Luk 12:23
1ba particular garment, described because what the person is wearing says something about them
Mat 3:4Mat 22:11Mat 22:12Mat 28:3
1cclothing standing for an outward appearance that hides what a person really is
Names the whole outfit, the overall look of a person, rather than one piece of cloth you could pick up and hand over. Matthew introduces John the Baptist by his clothing of camel hair, and the angel at the tomb by clothing white as snow.Mat 3:4Mat 28:3
Stands for clothing as one of life's basic needs, set beside food in the teaching about worry. Here it is a category, what people need to cover them, not any particular coat.Mat 6:25Mat 6:28Luk 12:23
In its picture uses nothing is ever done with the cloth itself; the word carries the claim a person's appearance makes. A wolf arrives in sheep's clothing, and a guest is thrown out for turning up without what the wedding called for.Mat 7:15Mat 22:11Mat 22:12
Both
Both are general words for what people wear, not a name for one specialized item like a belt or a sandal, and English Bibles render both with the same handful of words: "clothing", "clothes", "garment".Mat 6:28Luk 7:25
Either can describe blazing white clothing in a scene of glory. The angel at the tomb is dressed in white as snow, and on the mountain what Jesus wore turned white as the light.Mat 28:3Mat 17:2Mrk 9:3
Either can size up a person by how they dress. Rough camel hair marks the prophet in the wilderness, and soft fabric marks the people who live in palaces.Mat 3:4Mat 11:8Luk 7:25
Often the outer cloak worn over the inner garment, a nameable item separate from the rest of what someone has on: hand over the cloak too when sued, do not run back for the cloak left in the field, sell the cloak and buy a sword.Mat 5:40Luk 6:29Mat 24:18Luk 22:36
A physical thing people in the story handle. Blind Bartimaeus throws it off, crowds spread theirs on the road, Jesus lays his aside and takes them up again, the high priest rips his, and officials strip them off prisoners.Mrk 10:50Mrk 11:8Jhn 13:4Jhn 13:12Mat 26:65Act 16:22
Property worth enough to fight over or leave in someone's care. Soldiers cast lots to split what Jesus was wearing, and the witnesses stacked theirs at the feet of a young man named Saul.Mat 27:35Jhn 19:24Act 7:58
Actual cloth, with the wear and texture of real fabric: it can be patched with a scrap, reached out for and touched in a crowd, and it grows old the way a coat does.Mat 9:16Mrk 2:21Mrk 5:27Heb 1:11
χιτώνthe tunic worn next to the body, the inner layer under the wrap, a named item rather than clothing in general
It names clothing as a whole category, what a person has to wear at all, rather than any one item you could point at. That is why it fits the questions about worry and provision, where the issue is having something to put on, not which piece.Mat 6:25Mat 6:28Luk 12:23
It describes how a figure looks at first glance, the whole appearance that tells you who someone is. John the Baptist is known by his rough camel hair, and the angel at the tomb by a white that startles.Mat 3:4Mat 28:3
It carries the picture of disguise and of belonging: whether the outside matches the person inside, and whether someone is dressed to be here at all. Wolves come in sheep's covering, and a guest is thrown out for lacking the wedding clothes.Mat 7:15Mat 22:11Mat 22:12
Both
Both name actual cloth on an actual body, and both land in the same teaching about needing very little: stop fretting over what you will wear, and do not pack a spare.Mat 6:25Luk 12:23Mat 10:10Luk 9:3
At its loose end the tunic word widens into plain "clothes" and comes close to the broader word. When Mark says the high priest tore his tunics, nobody is counting undershirts, and English Bibles read "clothing" or "garments" for both words here.Mrk 14:63Mat 3:4
It names one specific piece of clothing, the shirt worn next to the skin under the outer cloak, so the two can be set side by side in a single sentence about who takes what.Mat 5:40Luk 6:29
Being a countable object, it can be owned in twos, which is what makes it the test case for traveling light and for sharing with someone who has none.Mat 10:10Mrk 6:9Luk 3:11Luk 9:3
Because it is a real object with a construction and a history, the text can say how it was made and what happened to it: woven in one piece with no seam, sewn by a woman whose friends still hold it up, ripped in a fit of outrage, or fouled past touching.Jhn 19:23Act 9:39Mrk 14:63Jud 1:23
στολήa long flowing robe that signals rank or honor, dressier and more ceremonial than plain clothing
Names clothing as one of life's basic needs, the whole category set alongside food when Jesus tells people not to worry.Mat 6:25Mat 6:28Luk 12:23
Can be a disguise: what someone puts on so that onlookers take them for something they are not.Mat 7:15
Used for the particular outfit an occasion calls for, so that turning up without it is an insult to the host.Mat 22:11Mat 22:12
Both
Both describe the dazzling white clothing of a heavenly figure at the empty tomb, where the brightness of what he wears is the first thing the women notice.Mat 28:3Mrk 16:5
Both let clothing announce who a person is, so that what someone wears tells the crowd what to think of him before he says a word.Mat 3:4Mrk 12:38
Names one specific kind of garment, the long flowing robe worn to be seen, which Jesus points to when he warns about teachers who love to parade in public.Mrk 12:38Luk 20:46
Can be handed to someone as an act of honor and restoration, the father calling for the best one to be brought out for the son who came home.Luk 15:22
Becomes a settled image in Revelation for the white robe given to the faithful, washed clean and worn as the sign that they have been vindicated.Rev 6:11Rev 7:9Rev 7:14Rev 22:14
ἐσθήςclothing viewed as the impression it makes, often striking or fine attire noticed by onlookers
Names clothing as one of life's basic needs, listed beside food in the command not to worry about staying alive.Mat 6:25Mat 6:28Luk 12:23
Names the garment as a thing you can simply be missing, or be wearing the wrong one of, at an occasion that requires it: the guest with no wedding clothes.Mat 22:11Mat 22:12
Named by the material it is made of, so the garment itself tells you what sort of person is inside, honestly in the case of a prophet in camel hair or falsely in the case of a wolf in sheep's clothing.Mat 3:4Mat 7:15
Both
Both name the outer clothes a person actually has on, and either can carry the whole answer to what someone was wearing.Mat 3:4Act 12:21
Both describe the blazing white clothing of heavenly messengers in the very same kind of scene, at the empty tomb and at the ascension.Mat 28:3Luk 24:4Act 1:10
With both words, what someone wears delivers a verdict on where he stands: the guest without wedding clothes is thrown out, while the man in fine clothes is shown to the best seat.Mat 22:11Jas 2:3
Never stands as a bare object; every use answers the question of how a person looked, with a describing word attached: bright, flashing, white, royal, or filthy.Luk 23:11Act 10:30Jas 2:2
Used for dress that announces rank and power: the robes a king puts on to address a crowd, and the splendid robe thrown over Jesus to mock his claim to a throne.Act 12:21Luk 23:11
Sets two grades of clothing against each other so that strangers get sized up by what they are wearing, fine against shabby, deciding who is offered the good seat.Jas 2:2Jas 2:3
ἱματισμόςa person's clothing taken together as a whole outfit, often costly apparel, rather than any single garment
Names a single garment as a countable item, one piece of clothing a person puts on or fails to put on: the camel hair John wore, the wedding clothes the guest showed up without.Mat 3:4Mat 22:11Mat 22:12
Stands for clothing as one of life's bare necessities, set next to food in the sayings that tell people to stop worrying.Mat 6:25Mat 6:28Luk 12:23
Works as an image for a disguise, the outer layer that hides what someone underneath actually is.Mat 7:15
Both
Both are general words for what a person has on, not the name of a particular kind of dress, so the scene around them has to supply the detail.Mat 3:4Luk 7:25
Both describe clothing turned dazzling white in a scene where heaven breaks in, which is how the glory of the figure gets shown to the onlookers.Mat 28:3Luk 9:29
Treats clothing as property with value attached, something soldiers gamble over or a preacher can say he never coveted, listed right beside silver and gold.Mat 27:35Jhn 19:24Act 20:33
Carries the note of fine or expensive dress: the splendid outfit of people who live in palaces, and the costly clothes a congregation is told not to make a display of.Luk 7:251Ti 2:9
enduma in the other biblical languages
לְבוּשׁHebrew“clothing”the Hebrew word for clothing formed the same way, from the verb for putting a garment on, and the closest counterpart in the Old Testament
Names robes of state and royal honor, the apparel that signals rank at court.Est 6:8Est 8:15Psa 45:13
Serves as a poetic figure for what wraps or covers something on a cosmic scale: the sea's cloud, the deep over the earth, the aging heavens.Job 38:9Psa 104:6Psa 102:26
Denotes the garb of grief, sackcloth worn as one's clothing in mourning.Psa 35:13
בֶּגֶדHebrew“garment”the broad Hebrew word for a garment or clothes of any kind, used far more widely and across every social setting
Its most memorable New Testament uses put clothing on trial. False prophets arrive in sheep's clothing while inwardly they are ravenous wolves (Matthew 7:15), and a guest with no wedding clothes on is picked out by the king and thrown out of the banquet (Matthew 22:11,Matthew 22:12). What someone has on is the thing being examined, and it decides whether that person stays.Mat 7:15Mat 22:11Mat 22:12
The Greek word names clothing as a whole category, the general covering of a body, rather than one countable item. Jesus asks why anyone should be anxious about clothing at all (Matthew 6:28) and sets the body itself over against clothing as the greater thing (Luke 12:23). The Hebrew word almost always points at a specific piece somebody can hand over, tear, or wash.Mat 6:28Luk 12:23
Both
Both are the plain, ordinary word for what a person wears, so both can stand for clothing as one of the basic necessities of life, named right beside food. Jacob asks God for nothing more than bread to eat and clothing to wear (Genesis 28:20), and Jesus says that life is more than food and the body more than clothing (Matthew 6:25). The Greek word is the general New Testament term for clothing, filling the same everyday role the Hebrew word fills across the Old Testament.Gen 28:20Mat 6:25
Both can introduce a person by naming what they have on, so a set of clothes works as shorthand for who someone is at that moment. Joseph is dressed in fine linen to mark his new rank in Egypt (Genesis 41:42), John the Baptist is introduced by clothing made of camel hair (Matthew 3:4), and the messenger at the empty tomb is described by clothing white as snow (Matthew 28:3).Gen 41:42Mat 3:4Mat 28:3
The same Hebrew spelling does double duty. Alongside "garment" it also serves a completely unrelated word meaning "treachery", which is why Isaiah cries out that the treacherous have betrayed and betrayed again (Isaiah 24:16) and Jeremiah asks why people who live by betrayal are so comfortable (Jeremiah 12:1). The Greek word carries nothing like this second meaning.Isa 24:16Jer 12:1
It is a physical piece of cloth that the law can rule on. Clothing picks up uncleanness and has to be laundered before anyone can rejoin the camp (Leviticus 11:32,Leviticus 15:5), and a stubborn spreading blight in a garment gets it shut away for inspection and finally burned (Leviticus 13:47,Leviticus 13:52).Lev 11:32Lev 15:5Lev 13:47Lev 13:52
It is the working dress of the priesthood, a set of holy clothes commissioned by name and put on the priests when they are installed (Exodus 28:2,Exodus 28:4), placed on Aaron and his sons by Moses (Exodus 29:5,Leviticus 8:2), and listed with the sanctuary furnishings as part of the equipment for worship (Exodus 31:10).Exo 28:2Exo 28:4Exo 29:5Lev 8:2Exo 31:10
It is property that changes hands. Clothing goes out as a gift beside silver and gold (Genesis 24:53), is staked as the prize in a riddle contest (Judges 14:12,Judges 14:13), is taken from a poor neighbor as security for a loan and slept on beside the altar (Deuteronomy 24:17,Amos 2:8), and is left behind in a grasping hand to be produced later as evidence (Genesis 39:12).Gen 24:53Jdg 14:12Jdg 14:13Deu 24:17Amo 2:8Gen 39:12
It is the cloth people rip when grief or horror hits, a gesture repeated all through the Old Testament stories: Reuben at the empty pit (Genesis 37:29), David at the news of the death of Saul (2 Samuel 1:11), Josiah hearing the rediscovered book read aloud (2 Kings 22:11), and Ezra at the report of unfaithful marriages (Ezra 9:3).Gen 37:292Sa 1:112Ki 22:11Ezr 9:3
What scholars say about enduma
BDAG treats ἔνδυμα as a single lemma glossed "garment, clothing," with a general use (Matt 6:25, 28; Luke 12:23) alongside uses of specific garments (ἔνδυμα γάμου, Matt 22:11-12; John's camel-hair garment, Matt 3:4; the angel's white clothing, Matt 28:3), and the figurative ἐν ἐνδύμασιν προβάτων of Matt 7:15. The noun derives from ἐνδύω "to put on" and denotes the thing donned rather than a garment of specified cut, which distinguishes it from the item-specific ἱμάτιον (outer wrap) and χιτών (tunic); LSJ documents the same range in Hellenistic authors such as Strabo and Plutarch. In the Septuagint it renders בֶּגֶד and לְבוּשׁ among other terms for clothing. Oepke's TDNT article on the δύω group and the EDNT entry both note the concentration of the term in Matthew, seven of its eight New Testament occurrences, where dress repeatedly functions as a sign of the wearer's status or character; Davies and Allison discuss the wedding garment of Matt 22:11-12 in that light.