Word study
Cloak
7 Hebrew and 1 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: cloak, cloaks. English often uses one word where Hebrew or Greek has several, each with its own shade of meaning. Under each word are verses where it is translated this way; choose the word itself for its full study: every verse, how else it is translated, the forms it takes and what the dictionaries say.
At a glance
How often each original word is translated “cloak” or one of its forms.
Compare the Hebrew words side by side
Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)
- אַדֶּרֶת adderethglory, cloaktranslated this way 8 times of its 12 uses · Strong’s H155Noun · Translated: cloak 8, like a fur coat 1, splendid 1, royal robe 1Full study and all 12 verses →
Joshua 7:21 When I saw among the spoils a beautiful cloak from Shinar, two hundred shekels of silver, and a bar of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them. They are hidden in the ground inside my tent, with the silver underneath.”
1 Kings 19:13 When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Suddenly a voice came to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
- בֶּגֶד begedtreacherytranslated this way 7 times of its 213 uses · Strong’s H899Noun · Translated: clothes 76, garments 61, clothing 16, garment 13Full study and all 189 verses →
Genesis 39:12 She grabbed Joseph by his cloak and said, “Sleep with me!” But leaving his cloak in her hand, he escaped and ran outside.
Deuteronomy 24:17 Do not deny justice to the foreigner or the fatherless, and do not take a widow’s cloak as security.
- חֵיק chêqbosomtranslated this way 4 times of its 34 uses · Strong’s H2436Noun · Translated: arms 6, bosom 4, laps 4, lap 3Full study and all 31 verses →
Exodus 4:6 Furthermore, the LORD said to Moses, “Put your hand inside your cloak.” So he put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out, his hand was leprous, white as snow.
Exodus 4:7 “Put your hand back inside your cloak,” said the LORD. So Moses put his hand back inside his cloak, and when he took it out, it was restored, like the rest of his skin.
- שַׂלְמָה salmâhid.translated this way 4 times of its 16 uses · Strong’s H8008Noun · Translated: cloak 4, clothes 4, clothing 3Full study and all 16 verses →
Exodus 22:26 If you take your neighbor’s cloak as collateral, return it to him by sunset,
Deuteronomy 24:13 be sure to return it to him by sunset, so that he may sleep in his own cloak and bless you, and this will be credited to you as righteousness before the LORD your God.
- שִׂמְלָה simlâhwrapper, mantletranslated this way 3 times of its 28 uses · Strong’s H8071Noun · Translated: clothes 9, clothing 8, cloak 3, garment 2Full study and all 27 verses →
Deuteronomy 22:3 And you shall do the same for his donkey, his cloak, or anything your brother has lost and you have found. You must not ignore it.
Proverbs 30:4 Who has ascended to heaven and come down? Who has gathered the wind in His hands? Who has bound up the waters in His cloak? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is His name, and what is the name of His Son— surely you know!
- מְעִיל meîlrobetranslated this way 3 times of its 25 uses · Strong’s H4598Noun · Translated: robe 20, cloak 3, like a robe 1, robes 1Full study and all 25 verses →
Ezra 9:3 When I heard this report, I tore my tunic and cloak, pulled out some hair from my head and beard, and sat down in horror.
Isaiah 59:17 He put on righteousness like a breastplate, and the helmet of salvation on His head; He put on garments of vengeance and wrapped Himself in a cloak of zeal.
- כְּסוּת kesûthcoveringtranslated this way 2 times of its 8 uses · Strong’s H3682Noun · Translated: covering 4, cloak 2, vindication 1, clothing 1Full study and all 8 verses →
Deuteronomy 22:12 You are to make tassels on the four corners of the cloak you wear.
Job 31:19 if I have seen one perish for lack of clothing, or a needy man without a cloak,
Greek words (New Testament)
- ἱμάτιον himátionouter garmenttranslated this way 20 times of its 56 uses · Strong’s G2440Noun · Translated: cloak 13, garments 12, clothes 8, cloaks 7Full study and all 55 verses →
Matthew 5:40 if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well;
Mark 5:27 When the woman heard about Jesus, she came up through the crowd behind Him and touched His cloak.
How to study a word well
- Start from the verse, not the dictionary. Find which Hebrew or Greek word stands in the verse you are studying. One English word often translates several different original words.
- Read every place the word is used. A word means what its writers used it to mean. The list of verses and the count by book show its range, and who uses it most.
- Look at how it is translated. A word rendered five different ways has a wider meaning than any one English word can carry.
- Notice the form. A command is not a statement, and a passive verb is something done to the subject. The form in your verse is part of the meaning.
- See what it keeps company with. The words that appear beside it again and again show how the Bible itself connects ideas.
- Then read the dictionaries. They give the considered view of scholars, with their evidence.
- Come back to the verse. Context decides. A word does not carry every one of its meanings into every verse, and where a word came from does not settle what it means in a sentence written centuries later.
What the Bible says about cloak: passages by topic →
Scripture text and translation counts: Berean Standard Bible. Full entry: Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906, public domain), in the digital edition Brown-Driver-Briggs Enhanced by unfoldingWord (Joel Ruark, J. de Joode), based on data by Eliran Wong and Stephen Ku; its additions are used under CC BY 4.0. Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary: Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible Project, CC BY 4.0. Hebrew-to-English verse numbering: original work of the Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible available at https://github.com/openscriptures/morphhb, CC BY 4.0. We reformatted the data, linked the references to this site’s Bible text and left out words in other scripts that the source holds only as images. These are historical reference works; an entry gives its authors’ view, and a word’s meaning in any verse depends on how it is used there.