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בֶּגֶד

𐤁𐤂𐤃

beged

H899 noun

SILEX Entry

Root בגד to act treacherously, to betray, to cover or conceal (metaphorically)

Definition

A garment or article of clothing worn to cover the body; extends to mean raiment, apparel, or vesture in general. In metaphorical or abstract contexts, beged refers to clothing as a symbol of status, identity, or moral condition. In a small number of passages, especially in poetical or prophetic texts, beged may also convey a sense of unfaithfulness or treachery (drawing on association with the root), but this is rare and context-dependent.

Semantic Range

garment, article of clothing, apparel, raiment, robe, vesture; by extension, covering; rarely, treachery or unfaithfulness (in metaphor or wordplay); rags or fine clothing depending on context

Root / Etymology

From the root בגד (b-g-d), meaning 'to act treacherously, to be unfaithful, to betray.' The noun beged originally denoted a garment or covering but has possible secondary associations with the root's sense of treachery or deceit, perhaps by metonymy (i.e., clothing as a 'covering' for intent or identity).

Historical & Contextual Notes

In the majority of biblical texts, beged refers straightforwardly to garments or articles of clothing, and is the general term for clothes, ranging from simple everyday attire to priestly or royal garments, depending contextually on modifiers. In post-biblical Hebrew and later Jewish usage, beged retained the sense of 'garment,' while the root acquired more specialized abstract meanings ('treachery,' 'betrayal'). The secondary sense of 'treachery' for the noun form occurs rarely, often due to poetic parallelism or wordplay (e.g., Mic 2:8), with contextual cues needed to distinguish literal clothing from the abstract sense. Standard English translations nearly always render beged as 'garment' or 'clothing,' but the word's breadth includes everything from fine robes to rags, and it serves as a neutral term unless qualified. Beged contrasts with terms like שִׂמְלָה (simlah, outer cloak) and אַדֶּרֶת (adderet, mantle, often with connotations of grandeur), which can denote more specific types of garments.

Original Strong's Gloss (1890)

from בָּגַד; a covering, i.e. clothing; also treachery or pillage; apparel, cloth(-es, ing), garment, lap, rag, raiment, robe, [idiom] very (treacherously), vesture, wardrobe.

Bantu Hebrew

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Root Family

בגד (b-g-d) — to act treacherously, to betray, to cover or conceal

Strong's Lemma SIBI-P1
H898 בָּגַד you have betrayed
H900 בֹּגְדוֹת betraying women
H901 בָּגוֹד outer garment

Word Forms

50 distinct forms

SIDANCE Surface Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1 Occurrences
H899-07 בְּגָדָ֖י/ו begadayv HNcmpc/Sp3ms his clothes his garments 51
H899-16 בִּגְדֵ֨י bigedey HNcmpc garments of garments of 31
H899-11 בְּגָדִ֣ים begadim HNcmpa garments garments 18
H899-12 בֶּ֥גֶד beged HNcmsc a cloth garment of 12
H899-20 בִּגְד/וֹ֙ bigedo HNcmsc/Sp3ms his garment his garment 10
H899-23 הַ/בְּגָדִ֜ים habegadim HTd/Ncmpa the garments the garments 7
H899-09 בְּגָדֶ֑י/ךָ begadeykha HNcmpc/Sp2ms your clothes your garments 6
H899-41 בְגָדִֽים vegadim HNcmpa clothes covering garments 5
H899-17 בִּגְדֵי/הֶ֔ם bigedeyhem HNcmpc/Sp3mp their clothes their garments 4
H899-32 וּ/בְגָדָ֔י/ו uvegadayv HC/Ncmpc/Sp3ms and his clothes and his garments 4

Occurrences in Scripture

218 total occurrences

SIDANCE Reference Word Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1
H899-34 Genesis 24:53 וּ/בְגָדִ֔ים uvegadim HC/Ncmpa and garments garments
H899-16 Genesis 27:15 בִּגְדֵ֨י bigedey HNcmpc garments of garments of
H899-07 Genesis 27:27 בְּגָדָ֖י/ו begadayv HNcmpc/Sp3ms of his garments his garments
H899-35 Genesis 28:20 וּ/בֶ֥גֶד uveged HC/Ncmsa and clothing and a garment
H899-07 Genesis 37:29 בְּגָדָֽי/ו begadayv HNcmpc/Sp3ms his garments his garments
H899-16 Genesis 38:14 בִּגְדֵ֨י bigedey HNcmpc the garments garments of
H899-16 Genesis 38:19 בִּגְדֵ֥י bigedey HNcmpc garments of garments of
H899-15 Genesis 39:12 בְּ/בִגְד֛/וֹ bevigedo HR/Ncmsc/Sp3ms by his garment his garment
H899-20 Genesis 39:12 בִּגְד/וֹ֙ bigedo HNcmsc/Sp3ms his garment his garment
H899-20 Genesis 39:13 בִּגְד֖/וֹ bigedo HNcmsc/Sp3ms his garment his garment
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