StrongerBible

levush

לְבוּשׁ

HebrewH3830clothing, garment, ...

Appears 33 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Gen 49:112Sa 1:242Sa 20:82Ki 10:22Est 4:2Est 6:8Est 6:9Est 6:10Est 6:11Est 8:15Job 24:7Job 24:10Job 30:18Job 31:19Job 38:9Job 38:14Job 41:13(5)Psa 22:18(19)Psa 35:13Psa 45:13(14)Psa 69:11(12)Psa 102:26(27)Psa 104:6Pro 27:26Pro 31:22Pro 31:25Isa 14:19Isa 63:1Isa 63:2Jer 10:9Lam 4:14Ezk 9:11Mal 2:16
Root family
Word studyleh-VOOSHnoun

What levush means

clothing: an article of clothing worn on the body, or a covering pictured as one

TranslatabilityDirectCertaintySettled

This is a general word for what a person wears. It does not name a particular item like a robe, a tunic, or a cloak, and it does not carry a built-in social level: the same word covers the rags of the poor who freeze without it, the fine gold-worked dress of a princess, and the royal apparel the Persian king puts on. Context, not the word itself, tells you how grand the clothing is.

Because the word is tied to the idea of being clothed and covered, biblical poetry stretches it beyond human dress. The sky can be spoken of as a garment that wears out, the storm cloud as the swaddling of the newborn sea, the ocean deep as a garment thrown over the earth at creation. In these images the thing being described is not really clothing at all, but the writer covers it the way a garment covers a body.

The two uses are the same idea seen from two angles: first the literal clothing people put on, then that picture borrowed to describe how something is wrapped, covered, or draped. Nothing in the range is obscure, and translators reach for it easily with common English words for dress.

Nuances

1aclothing worn on the body; what a person is dressed in, from a beggar's covering to royal attire
Gen 49:112Sa 1:242Sa 20:82Ki 10:22Est 4:2Est 6:8Est 6:9Est 6:10Est 6:11Est 8:15Job 24:7Job 24:10
1ba covering spoken of as clothing: something wrapped or draped over another thing the way a garment covers a body
Job 38:9Job 41:13(5)Psa 104:6Isa 14:19

What scholars say about levush

The standard lexica (BDB, HALOT, DCH) treat lᵉḇûš as a single noun from the root lbš, glossing it as clothing, garment, raiment, or apparel, with no homonymy in view. They register three overlapping applications: ordinary human dress (the majority of occurrences), figurative or poetic covering (the clouds as the garment of the sea in Job 38:9, the deep as a garment over the earth in Psalm 104:6, the heavens wearing out like a garment in Psalm 102:26), and, once, an animal's covering or hide (Leviathan in Job 41:13). TDOT (Gamberoni) surveys the whole lbš word group and notes the noun's freedom of social level, covering both the destitute who lack it and royal or festal attire. The word is well attested and its sense is not in dispute.

Sources

  • BDB, s.v. לְבוּשׁlexicon
  • HALOT, s.v. לְבוּשׁlexicon
  • DCH, s.v. לְבוּשׁlexicon
  • J. Gamberoni, "לָבַשׁ lāḇaš," TDOT 7:457-468theological-dictionary

All attested forms of לְבוּשׁ

m s absolute

לְבוּשׁ, לְּבוּשׁ

2Ki 10:22, Job 24:7, Job 24:10, Job 31:19, Job 38:14, Est 6:9, Est 6:10, Est 6:11

m s construct

לְבוּשׁוֹ, לְבֻשׁוֹ, לְבֻשׁוּ

Job 41:13, Isa 63:1, Mal 2:16, Gen 49:11, Job 38:9, 2Sa 20:8

m s construct

לְבוּשׁ, לְבֻשׁ

Est 4:2, Est 6:8, Est 8:15, Isa 14:19, Ezk 9:11

m s construct

לְבוּשִׁי

Job 30:18, Psa 22:18, Psa 35:13, Psa 69:11

m s construct

לְבוּשָׁהּ

Psa 45:13, Pro 31:22, Pro 31:25

m s construct

לְבוּשֶׁךָ

Pro 27:26, Isa 63:2

m p construct

לְבֻשֵׁיהֶם

Lam 4:14

m s construct

לְבוּשְׁכֶן

2Sa 1:24

m s construct

לְבוּשָׁם

Jer 10:9