StrongerBible

lavash

לָבֵשׁ

HebrewH3847clothe, put on, ...

Appears 110 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Gen 3:21Gen 27:15Gen 27:16Gen 28:20Gen 38:19Gen 41:42Exo 28:41Exo 29:5Exo 29:8Exo 29:30Exo 40:13Exo 40:14Lev 6:10(3) (2×)Lev 6:11(4)Lev 8:7Lev 8:13Lev 16:4 (2×)Lev 16:23Lev 16:24Lev 16:32Lev 21:10Num 20:26Num 20:28Deu 22:5Deu 22:11Jdg 6:341Sa 17:51Sa 17:38 (2×)1Sa 28:82Sa 1:242Sa 13:182Sa 14:21Ki 22:101Ki 22:301Ch 12:18(19)2Ch 5:122Ch 6:412Ch 18:92Ch 18:292Ch 24:202Ch 28:15 (2×)Ezr 3:10Est 4:1Est 4:4Est 5:1Est 6:8Est 6:9Est 6:11Job 7:5Job 8:22
Root family
Word studyla-VASHverb

What lavash means

to put a garment on a body: to get dressed, to wear, or to dress someone else

TranslatabilityPartialCertaintySettled

At its heart this word is about putting clothing onto a body. It covers the whole simple act: pulling a garment on yourself, having it on as you go about your day, and putting it on someone else. Hebrew lets one word carry both sides of that act, so the same verb means "to get dressed" and "to dress another person," with the form of the word telling you which.

Because clothing in the Bible says so much about who a person is, their rank, their mood, their state of mourning or celebration, the word reaches naturally into word-pictures. A person can be "clothed" with righteousness, with salvation, with strength, or with shame, the way a body is wrapped in a robe. The image is always the same: something settles over a person and becomes how they appear and what they are known by.

The sharpest of these pictures is when God's Spirit "clothes" a person. The Spirit comes over a man like a garment pulled on, taking hold of him for a task. The plain act of dressing and the deepest pictures of character and divine power are all the same verb, held together by one idea: what covers you shows what you are.

Nuances

1ato put on or wear a garment yourself
Gen 28:20Gen 38:19Lev 6:10(3) (2×)Lev 6:11(4)Lev 16:4 (2×)Lev 16:23Lev 16:24Lev 16:32Lev 21:10Deu 22:5Deu 22:111Sa 17:5
1bto clothe or dress another person, including the formal robing of a priest or official
Gen 3:21Gen 27:15Gen 27:16Gen 41:42Exo 28:41Exo 29:5Exo 29:8Exo 29:30Exo 40:13Exo 40:14Lev 8:7Lev 8:13
1cto be clothed with a quality, power, or state, as if wrapped in it like a garment
Jdg 6:341Ch 12:18(19)2Ch 6:412Ch 24:20Job 7:5Job 8:22Job 10:11Job 29:14 (2×)Job 39:19Job 40:10Psa 35:26Psa 65:13(14)

What scholars say about lavash

The standard lexica treat this as a single verb meaning to put on or wear clothing, with the causative forms meaning to clothe another, and a well-attested figurative extension to being clothed with abstract qualities or with the Spirit. The investiture of priests and the Spirit coming upon a person like a garment are recognized idiomatic uses, not separate roots.

Sources

  • HALOT, s.v. לבשׁlexicon
  • BDB, s.v. לבשׁlexicon
  • G. Vanoni, "לבשׁ lābaš," TDOT 7:457-468theological-dictionary

All attested forms of לָבֵשׁ

hiphil consecutive-imperfect 3ms

וַיַּלְבֵּשׁ, וַיַּלְבִּשֵׁ

Gen 41:42, Lev 8:7, Num 20:28, 1Sa 17:38, 1Sa 17:38, Est 6:11, Gen 3:21, Lev 8:13

qal imperfect 3mp

יִלְבְּשׁוּ, יִלְבָּשׁוּ

2Ch 6:41, Job 8:22, Psa 35:26, Psa 109:29, Psa 132:9, Zec 13:4, Ezk 26:16, Ezk 44:17

hiphil consecutive-perfect 2ms

וְהִלְבַּשְׁתָּ

Exo 28:41, Exo 29:5, Exo 29:8, Exo 40:13, Exo 40:14, Num 20:26

qal consecutive-imperfect 3ms

וַיִּלְבַּשׁ, וַיִּלְבָּשֵׁ

1Sa 28:8, Est 4:1, Psa 109:18, Isa 59:17, Isa 59:17, Job 29:14

qal imperfect 3ms

יִלְבַּשׁ, יִלְבָּשׁ, יִלְבָּשָׁ

Lev 6:10, Deu 22:5, Ezk 7:27, Lev 16:4, Job 27:17, Exo 29:30

m s absolute

לָבֻשׁ, לָבוּשׁ, לָּבֻשׁ

Pro 31:21, Ezk 9:2, Zec 3:3, Dan 10:5, Ezk 9:3

m s construct

לְבֻשׁ, לְבוּשׁ

Ezk 10:2, Ezk 10:6, Ezk 10:7, Dan 12:6, Dan 12:7

qal consecutive-perfect 3ms

וְלָבַשׁ, וּלְבֵשָׁ

Lev 6:10, Lev 6:11, Lev 16:24, Lev 16:32, Lev 16:4

qal perfect 3ms

לָבַשׁ, לָבֵשׁ

Lev 16:23, Est 6:8, Job 7:5, Psa 93:1, Psa 93:1

pual passive-participle m p absolute

מְלֻבָּשִׁים

1Ki 22:10, 2Ch 5:12, 2Ch 18:9, Ezr 3:10

qal imperative 2fs

לִבְשִׁי

2Sa 14:2, Isa 51:9, Isa 52:1, Isa 52:1

hiphil imperfect 1cs

אַלְבִּישׁ

Psa 132:16, Psa 132:18, Isa 50:3

m p construct

לְבֻשֵׁי

Ezk 23:6, Ezk 23:12, Ezk 38:4

qal perfect 3fs

לָבְשָׁה

Jdg 6:34, 1Ch 12:18, 2Ch 24:20

hiphil consecutive-imperfect 3mp

וַיַּלְבִּשֻׁ, וַיַּלְבִּשׁוּ

Zec 3:5, 2Ch 28:15

hiphil imperfect 2ms

תַלְבִּישׁ, תַּלְבִּישֵׁ

Job 39:19, Job 10:11

qal consecutive-imperfect 3fs

וַתִּלְבַּשׁ

Gen 38:19, Est 5:1

qal consecutive-perfect 3cp

וְלָבְשׁוּ

Ezk 42:14, Ezk 44:19

qal imperative 2ms

לְבַשׁ

1Ki 22:30, 2Ch 18:29

qal imperfect 2fs

תִלְבְּשִׁי, תִלְבָּשִׁי

Jer 4:30, Isa 49:18

qal imperfect 2ms

תִלְבַּשׁ, תִּלְבָּשׁ

Deu 22:11, Job 40:10

qal infinitive-construct construct

לְבֹּשׁ

Gen 28:20, Lev 21:10

hiphil consecutive-imperfect 1cs

וָאַלְבִּישֵׁ

Ezk 16:10

hiphil consecutive-imperfect 3fs

וַתַּלְבֵּשׁ

Gen 27:15

hiphil consecutive-perfect 1cs

וְהִלְבַּשְׁתִּי

Isa 22:21

hiphil consecutive-perfect 3cp

וְהִלְבִּישׁוּ

Est 6:9

hiphil imperfect 3fs

תַּלְבִּישׁ

Pro 23:21

hiphil infinitive-absolute absolute

הַלְבֵּשׁ

Zec 3:4

hiphil infinitive-construct construct

הַלְבִּישׁ

Est 4:4

hiphil participle m s construct

מַּלְבִּשְׁ

2Sa 1:24

hiphil perfect 3cp

הִלְבִּישׁוּ

2Ch 28:15

hiphil perfect 3fs

הִלְבִּישָׁה

Gen 27:16

hiphil perfect 3ms

הִלְבִּישַׁ

Isa 61:10

qal consecutive-imperfect 3mp

וַיִּלְבְּשׁוּ

Jon 3:5

qal imperative 2mp

לִבְשׁוּ

Jer 46:4

qal imperfect 1cp

נִלְבָּשׁ

Isa 4:1

qal imperfect 1cs

אֶלְבָּשֶׁ

Sng 5:3

qal imperfect 2mp

תִּלְבָּשׁוּ

Ezk 34:3

qal imperfect 3fp

תִּלְבַּשְׁןָ

2Sa 13:18

qal infinitive-absolute absolute

לָבוֹשׁ

Hag 1:6

5 further parsings are listed under Syntax.