Word study
Linen
5 Hebrew and 3 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with “linen”. 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 “linen” or one of its forms.
Compare the Hebrew words side by side Compare the Greek words side by side
Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)
- שֵׁשׁ shêshid.translated this way 37 times of its 40 uses · Strong’s H8336Noun · Translated: linen 20, fine linen 17, marble 3Full study and all 37 verses →
Genesis 41:42 Then Pharaoh removed the signet ring from his finger, put it on Joseph’s finger, clothed him in garments of fine linen, and placed a gold chain around his neck.
Exodus 25:4 blue, purple, and scarlet yarn; fine linen and goat hair;
- בַּד badwhite linentranslated this way 21 times of its 22 uses · Strong’s H906Noun · Translated: linen 20, around 1, wore a linen 1Full study and all 18 verses →
Exodus 28:42 Make linen undergarments to cover their bare flesh, extending from waist to thigh.
Leviticus 6:10 And the priest shall put on his linen robe and linen undergarments, and he shall remove from the altar the ashes of the burnt offering that the fire has consumed and place them beside it.
- פִּשְׁתֶּה pishtehlinen, cardedtranslated this way 12 times of its 16 uses · Strong’s H6593Noun · Translated: linen 11, flax 4, wear linen 1Full study and all 15 verses →
Leviticus 13:47 If any fabric is contaminated with mildew— any wool or linen garment,
Deuteronomy 22:11 Do not wear clothes of wool and linen woven together.
- בּוּץ bûtsbyssustranslated this way 7 times of its 8 uses · Strong’s H948Noun · Translated: fine linen 6, linen 1, fine white 1Full study and all 8 verses →
1 Chronicles 4:21 The sons of Shelah son of Judah: Er the father of Lecah, Laadah the father of Mareshah and the clans of the linen workers at Beth-ashbea,
2 Chronicles 2:14 He is the son of a woman from the daughters of Dan, and his father is a man of Tyre. He is skilled in work with gold and silver, bronze and iron, stone and wood, purple, blue, and crimson yarn, and fine linen. He is experienced in every kind of engraving and can execute any design that is given him. He will work with your craftsmen and with those of my lord, your father David.
- סָדִין sâdînlinen wrappertranslated this way 4 times of its 4 uses · Strong’s H5466Noun · Translated: linen garments 4Full study and all 4 verses →
Judges 14:12 “Let me tell you a riddle,” Samson said to them. “If you can solve it for me within the seven days of the feast, I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty sets of clothes.
Proverbs 31:24 She makes linen garments and sells them; she delivers sashes to the merchants.
Greek words (New Testament)
- σινδών sindṓna linen clothtranslated this way 5 times of its 6 uses · Strong’s G4616Noun · Translated: linen cloth 5, cloth 1Full study and all 5 verses →
Matthew 27:59 So Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth,
Mark 14:51 One young man who had been following Jesus was wearing a linen cloth around his body. They caught hold of him,
- ὀθόνιον othóniona linen bandagetranslated this way 5 times of its 5 uses · Strong’s G3608Noun · Translated: linen cloths 5Full study and all 5 verses →
Luke 24:12 Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. And after bending down and seeing only the linen cloths, he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.
John 19:40 So they took the body of Jesus and wrapped it in linen cloths with the spices, according to the Jewish burial custom.
- βύσσινος býssinosof fine linen, cottontranslated this way 5 times of its 5 uses · Strong’s G1039Adjective · Translated: fine linen 5Full study and all 4 verses →
Revelation 18:12 cargo of gold, silver, precious stones, and pearls; of fine linen, purple, silk, and scarlet; of all kinds of citron wood and every article of ivory, precious wood, bronze, iron, and marble;
Revelation 18:16 saying: “Woe, woe to the great city, clothed in fine linen and purple and scarlet, adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls!
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 linen: 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.