body
clothing
בגד · לבוש · מלבוש · כסות · שמלה · שלמה
Bottom line
Beged is the general word, garment, and covers the rest (Malbim). Levush is not a garment-type but what one dresses in, so apparel, and in practice the distinctive dress of a station (levush malchus). Kesus is a covering, draped rather than put on; simlah (or salmah) a cloak, a kesus that also confers honor. Mad is the fitted garment, me'il the outer robe, maateh any wrap. The trap: beged and levush both come out "clothing," and the difference between them carries two separate derashos.
At a glance
| Hebrew | translit | English | what sets it apart |
|---|---|---|---|
| בגד | beged | garment | the general term (Malbim); the facade, cf. begidah (Rabbi Moshe Shapiro) |
| לבוש | levush | apparel, dress | what one dresses in; lo bushah (Shabbos 77b) |
| כסות | kesus | covering | draped, not donned (Malbim); protective (Pappenheim) |
| שמלה | simlah | cloak, mantle | a kesus that honors its wearer (Malbim); linen (Wertheimer) |
| מד | mad | fitted garment | measured to its wearer, from moded |
| מעיל | me'il | robe | the outermost layer, from mei'al (Malbim); thin and fine (Wertheimer) |
| מעטה | maateh | wrap | enveloping in general; need not be clothing |
Where the authorities disagree
beged against kesus. Malbim: beged is the general term and kesus the draped covering. The Maharik (Rabbi Yosef Kolon) reverses the axis: beged is a plain cloth like a tallis, unfitted to its wearer, while kesus is a garment specially sewn to his shape and dimensions. Rabbi Shlomo Aharon Wertheimer is the one who points out that the two stand in contrast, and he leaves it there. The Bottom line follows Malbim, but keep the Maharik where a sugya turns on tailoring.
What kesus names. Malbim: the manner of wearing, draped rather than donned. Rabbi Shlomo Pappenheim: the function, protection from heat and cold. Compatible, but they will not always give the same English.
simlah against salmah. The consensus treats them as one word with the lamed and mem transposed. Ibn Ezra (to Shemos 22:25) dissents: simlah is the general category and salmah one item within it.
Distinctions
beged (בגד)
Malbim: the general term, taking in every sort of clothing, against the other words, which each name a type. Rabbi Moshe Shapiro: beged is kin to begidah, treachery, since a man who puts one on conceals his inner self and shows the world a front.
levush (לבוש) and malbush (מלבוש)
Neither inherently names clothing, as many commentators note: both are conjugations of lovesh, "he dresses," so they mean that with which one dresses. In usage a levush is worn the ordinary way but is nonetheless special, since most people do not wear that sort of garment; it is the dress reserved to certain people, hence levush malchus, levush sak. Against beged, levush is the plain, honest use of clothing: Shabbos 77b reads it as lo bushah, "no shame," since its purpose is to cover a man respectably, with no dastardly motive in it. Rabbi Yochanan called his clothes "my honorers" (Bava Kamma 91b), seeing them as the means of presenting himself respectably in public rather than as a mask to hide behind. Rabbi Shlomo of Karlin: every deed clothes the soul, a good deed weaving a levush and a bad deed a beged. The man makes the clothes.
kesus (כסות), simlah (שמלה) and salmah (שלמה)
Kesus literally means "cover," and names the garment one covers oneself with, a shawl or poncho rather than something put on in the usual manner; the kaf sometimes drops and it appears as sus (Bereishis 49:11; the article prints 41:11). A kesus worn at night is a salmah or simlah, and Malbim adds a second difference: kesus only covers, while simlah also honors its wearer. Wertheimer describes it as a linen cloth that can be folded to cover head, neck and upper torso, much like a kefiyeh, and doubles as a bed sheet when opened to its full size; he agrees that as worn it generally serves as a badge of honor.
mad (מד), me'il (מעיל), maateh (מעטה)
Mad is cut to its wearer's measure, from moded; Modern Hebrew madim is a uniform. Me'il is the outermost layer, from mei'al (Malbim), thin and delicate (Wertheimer), and Rabbi Moshe Shapiro ties it to me'ilah, betrayal. Maateh is wrapping or enveloping, and need not be clothing.
Rendering guidance
- Trap: "clothing" will absorb beged, levush and malbush. Where a passage plays beged against levush (the Karliner's two dressings of the soul, or a mussar piece on the facade), use two English words: "garment" and "apparel."
- Levush malchus is "royal apparel"; the point is the station, not the cloth.
- Kesus in halachah (kesus ishto, a pledge) is "covering" as a maintenance category, not a specific item.
- Me'il in the Mishkan chapters is the Kohen Gadol's "robe"; do not vary it to "cloak," which belongs to simlah.
- Where beged and kesus appear together and tailoring is at issue, decide first whether the source follows Malbim or the Maharik.
Sources
Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein, "My Clothes and Me," What's in a Word?, Ohr Somayach, 9 Adar II 5778 (2018-02-24): raw text in sources/whats-in-a-word/raw/7658-my-clothes-and-me.md. Primary loci cited: Bereishis 49:11 for sus (the article prints 41:11, where the word does not appear); Shemos 22:25 (Ibn Ezra); Shabbos 77b; Bava Kamma 91b; Malbim and Rabbi Shlomo Pappenheim on the set; Wertheimer pointing out the contrast with the Maharik.