Word study
Robe
3 Hebrew and 3 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with “robe”. 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 “robe” 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)
- מְעִיל meîlrobetranslated this way 21 times of its 25 uses · Strong’s H4598Noun · Translated: robe 20, cloak 3, like a robe 1, robes 1Full study and all 25 verses →
Exodus 28:4 These are the garments that they shall make: a breastpiece, an ephod, a robe, a woven tunic, a turban, and a sash. They are to make these holy garments for your brother Aaron and his sons, so that they may serve Me as priests.
Leviticus 8:7 He put the tunic on Aaron, tied the sash around him, clothed him with the robe, and put the ephod on him. He tied the woven band of the ephod around him and fastened it to him.
- כְּתֹנֶת kethônethtunictranslated this way 13 times of its 29 uses · Strong’s H3801Noun · Translated: robe 13, tunic 6, tunics 5, garments 4Full study and all 26 verses →
Genesis 37:3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than his other sons, because Joseph had been born to him in his old age; so he made him a robe of many colors.
2 Samuel 13:18 So Amnon’s attendant threw her out and bolted the door behind her. Now Tamar was wearing a robe of many colors, because this is what the king’s virgin daughters wore.
- לְבוּשׁ lebûshgarment, clothing, raimenttranslated this way 4 times of its 32 uses · Strong’s H3830Noun · Translated: clothing 7, garments 4, robe 4, garment 3Full study and all 32 verses →
Esther 6:8 have them bring a royal robe that the king himself has worn and a horse on which the king himself has ridden— one with a royal crest placed on its head.
Esther 6:9 Let the robe and the horse be entrusted to one of the king’s most noble princes. Let them array the man the king wants to honor and parade him on the horse through the city square, proclaiming before him, ‘This is what is done for the man whom the king is delighted to honor!’”
Greek words (New Testament)
- ἱμάτιον himátionouter garmenttranslated this way 4 times of its 56 uses · Strong’s G2440Noun · Translated: cloak 13, garments 12, clothes 8, cloaks 7Full study and all 55 verses →
John 19:2 The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns, set it on His head, and dressed Him in a purple robe.
Revelation 19:13 He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and His name is The Word of God.
- στολή stolḗa long robetranslated this way 3 times of its 9 uses · Strong’s G4749Noun · Translated: robes 4, robe 3, long robes 2Full study and all 9 verses →
Mark 16:5 When they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.
Luke 15:22 But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.
- χλαμύς chlamýsa short cloaktranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s G5511Noun · Translated: robe 2Full study and all 2 verses →
Matthew 27:28 They stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on Him.
Matthew 27:31 After they had mocked Him, they removed the robe and put His own clothes back on Him. Then they led Him away to crucify Him.
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 robe: 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.