society
outer garment
At a glance
In short
Aderes is the biblical word: a mantle, an outer garment that, Radak explains, displays the wearer's importance. Glima is its Aramaic counterpart in the Gemara, an unfitted robe, which Rashi explains as a flat sheet of cloth rather than a tailored garment. Itztala is a ceremonial cloak, an outer garment tied to office and rank. Tachrich is a wrap, and in the plural, tachrichin, the burial shrouds. Rashi glosses the first three alike as tallis, but glima and itztala can carry slightly different connotations: glima stresses the garment's shapelessness, itztala the wearer's standing.
Distinctions
Aderes (אדרת)
Eleven occurrences in Tanach. It is a furry article of clothing, rendered variously "robe," "cloak," "cape," "gown," "coat" and "mantle." Eisav is born "ruddy, entirely like a hairy aderes" (Bereishis 25:25). Achan steals a Babylonian aderes from the consecrated spoil of Yericho (Yehoshua 7:21, 7:24). It is above all Eliyahu HaNavi's garment: he hides his face in it at the mountain (Melachim I 19:13), he is called a hairy man, which, Rabbi Klein suggests, is probably a reference to the aderes (Melachim II 1:8), he splits the Yarden with it (Melachim II 2:8), and Elisha takes up the aderes that fell from him as the sign of the succession (Melachim II 2:13-14).
Rashi (Zecharyah 13:4) and Ibn Janach and Radak in their respective Sifrei HaShorashim define aderes as a tallis, a shawl.
- Radak ties it to the root aleph-dalet-reish, adir, greatness and power: the aderes displays its wearer's importance.
- Rabbi Shlomo Pappenheim treats the opening aleph and closing tav as accretions and traces the word to the two-letter element dalet-reish, freedom from restraint, whose family he gives as dror (emancipation), dardar (a thorn growing wild on ownerless ground), dirah (a home, where a man may act as he wishes), dor (a generation, the span of one's residence in this world), medurah (a bonfire spreading unchecked), doher (a horse's neighing when let out to roam), neder (an obligation freely self-imposed), and adir (unrestrained power). He offers two ways to fit the aderes into this: either it hangs loosely on the body, unlike fitted clothing, or only the adirim wear it.
Targum Onkelos renders aderes at Bereishis 25:25 as gelem, cognate to glima; Targum Yonasan at Yehoshua 7:21 and 7:24 renders it itztala.
Glima (גלימא)
Frequent in the Gemara for an outer garment, often formal. It stands in the kesubah, where the husband pledges even "the glima on my shoulders," and today it often names the gold coat of the Rishon LeTzion (on which garments qualify, see Rabbi Yosef Chaim of Baghdad, Torah Lishmah 327). The root seems to be the biblical gimmel-lamed-mem, which occurs three times (Melachim II 2:8; Tehillim 139:16; Yechezkel 27:24) in the sense of wrapping or of unformed matter, and which gives golem, the Mishnah's opposite of the chacham (Avos 5:7), a man not yet formed; the famous legend of the Golem is of a soulless man with the outer trappings of a human being and no intellect from a soul.
Shabbos 77b expounds glima as "made like a golem."
- Rashi there: a garment uncut to the limbs, essentially a flat sheet covering the whole body, unfitted and therefore shapeless beside tailored clothing.
- Rabbi Nosson of Rome (Sefer HeAruch) reads it the other way: a man wrapped up in a glima is somewhat stuck in place and unable to move freely, and so resembles a golem.
Rashi's own glosses vary. Once he defines glima as aderes (Shabbos 10a), once as sudar (Bava Metzia 47a), in at least one place as tachrichin, where the sugya concerns a corpse's clothing (Shabbos 150b), but in the great majority of places as tallis (Shabbos 110b, 138b; Eruvin 94a, 96b, 102b; Kesubos 79b; Bava Kamma 119b; Bava Metzia 28a, 114b; Bava Basra 128a; Sanhedrin 7a; Chullin 127a).
Rabbi David Golumb (Targumna to Bereishis 49:26) and Rav Hirsch (Vayikra 13:59; Tehillim 139:16) suggest a connection between glima and klimah, humiliation, through the interchange of gimmel and kaf. Rav Hirsch explains: as a golem lacks shape, so the humiliated man feels stripped of his form, part of his humanity taken from him. Rabbi Golumb notes the parallel to Chazal's reading of levush as lo bushah, no shame.
- As for the word's outside origins, Dr. Michael Sokoloff, in his dictionary of Jewish Babylonian Aramaic, relates glima to an apparent Akkadian cognate gulenu, "coat".
- Dr. Alexander Kohut takes it as Persian, "as he often does."
Itztala (איצטלא)
An outer garment worn as a mark of status. Targum renders Achan's Babylonian aderes by it, and Rav (Sanhedrin 44a) specifies that what Achan coveted was a silk itztala; Rashi there (and at Bechoros 34b) glosses it tallis. It appears in the Mishnah at Gittin 6:5 as something a husband might demand as the condition of a get. In the Gemara it is nearly always a status garment: a silk itztala written into a woman's kesubah (Yevamos 66b; Bava Metzia 17a), and the rule that where one litigant stands in rags and the other in a costly itztala, the court tells the wealthy one either to dress like his opponent or to clothe his opponent like himself (Shevuos 31a). So too the idiom itztala d'rabbanan, the cloak of the sages, standing for the honor of rabbinic authority.
Sefer HeAruch notes that the word is also spelled with a samech, istala; so Targum to Esther 7:6, where Esther charges Haman with wanting to wear the king's istala, and Targum to Bereishis 45:22, where Yosef's gifts to his brothers are istalvan. Rabbi Eliyahu HaBachur (Meturgeman) already noted the inconsistency. It makes more sense once one realizes that the word is a loanword rather than native. Itztala comes from Latin stola and Greek στολή (stolē), words for a garment or equipment, which The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo-European Roots traces to the root stel-, "standing, putting," behind English still, apostle, epistle, install, pedestal, gestalt and more; the closest English cognate is stole, the long narrow scarf-like garment often worn by Christian clergy as a sign of the duties of the ministry, which Rabbi Klein compares to Eliyahu's aderes. On the spelling, a cursory look at the Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon Project suggests to him that the samech spelling belongs to Jewish Palestinian Aramaic, while Jewish Babylonian Aramaic writes the word either way. David Curwin of the Balashon blog relates in the name of the late Rabbi Dr. Seth Mandel that tallis derives from the same Greek etymon as itztala, both borrowed from Latin stola and Greek stolē. Rabbi Tanchum HaYerushalmi (HaMadrich HaMaspik) also notes the similarity between the two words, which Rashi equates (to Sanhedrin 44a and Bechoros 34b, above).
Rabbi Klein takes itztala as the word that acquired a figurative sense similar to that of English "mantle," as in "to assume the mantle," the outer garment standing for the duties of the role; he lists as further English parallels investiture (with vest and vestment), "stepping into the shoes," and defrocking (from frock).
Tachrich (תכריך)
Mordechai is dressed in a tachrich of butz and argaman (Esther 8:15). The root kaf-reish-kaf means to wrap or surround, and gives Rabbinic krach, a walled city, and Modern Hebrew karich, a wrap. Targum to Esther 8:15 renders tachrich as glima, another garment one wraps around oneself. In Rabbinic Hebrew the plural tachrichin is the standing term for burial shrouds.
Also discussed in
Radak on these roots
Sefer HaShorashim
א-ד-ר
Greatness and mighty strength, in all that comes from this root: אַדִּיר, mighty, the noun אֶדֶר, greatness, and אַדֶּרֶת, a mantle, for its worth.
Might
מָה אַדִּיר שִׁמְךָ (Tehillim 8:2), how mighty is Your name. Everything found from this root, he says, is a language of greatness and the strength of might, as יַגְדִּיל תּוֹרָה וְיַאְדִּיר (Yeshayahu 42:21), He will make the Torah great and mighty.
Who the אדירים are
בְּסֵפֶל אַדִּירִים (Shoftim 5:25), in a bowl of the אַדִּירִים, he reads as a bowl fit for great and honoured men to drink from, or else of the great shepherds, as אַדִּירֵי הַצֹּאן (Yirmiyahu 25:34), the mighty ones of the flock. בְּאַדִּיר יִפּֽוֹל (Yeshayahu 10:34) he reads as falling by the hand of a mighty one.
Made mighty in strength
נֶאְדָּרִי בַּכֹּחַ (Shemos 15:6), made mighty in strength, has an added yud. Rabbi Yonah offers, among his explanations, that the tav of the feminine has fallen and the word is really נאדרית. The first account is then called the right one, in words that may still be Rabbi Yonah's or may be Radak's own, since no word marks where Rabbi Yonah stops. On it, נאדרי goes with the right hand, spoken of in the masculine, or else its sense goes with Hashem.
The feminine, and the noun אֶדֶר
The feminine adjective is לְגֶפֶן אַדָּֽרֶת (Yechezkel 17:8), a mighty vine, and כִּי שֻׁדְּדָה אַדַּרְתָּם (Zecharyah 11:3), for their mighty one is laid waste. The noun is אֶדֶר, as אֶדֶר הַיְקָר (Zecharyah 11:13), the precious greatness, and אֶדֶר תַּפְשִׁטוּן (Michah 2:8), you strip off the אֶדֶר. It may be, he says, that אַדַּרְתָּם is that noun and not the adjective.
The mantle
כְּאַדֶּרֶת שֵׂעָר (Bereishis 25:25), like a mantle of hair, and אַדֶּרֶת שִׁנְעָר (Yehoshua 7:21), a mantle of Shinar. It was called an אדרת, he says, for its worth and its greatness. And אֶדֶר תַּפְשִׁטוּן (Michah 2:8), you strip off the אֶדֶר, may be like it, a mantle.
מָֽה־אַדִּיר שִׁמְךָ (תהלים ח, ב) נֶאְדָּרִי בַּכֹּחַ (שמות טו, ו), נפעל והיו"ד נוסף. ורבי יונה אמר באחד מהפנים, שהתי"ו סימן הנקבה נופלת ועקרו נאדרית, והראשון הוא הנכון, וענין נאדרי על הימין בלשון זכר, או טעמו על השם יתברך. וְצִי אַדִּיר (ישעיה לג, כא), בְּאַדִּיר יִפּֽוֹל (ישעיה י, לד) פירוש ביד אדיר, בְּסֵפֶל אַדִּירִים (שפטים ה, כה), פירוש בספל הראוי לשתות בו גדולים ונכבדים, או פירושו הרועים הגדולים, כמו אַדִּירֵי הַצֹּאן (ירמיה כה, לד), והתאר לנקבה להיות לְגֶפֶן אַדָּֽרֶת (יחזקאל יז, ח), כִּי שֻׁדְּדָה אַדַּרְתָּם (זכריה יא, ג). והשׁם אֶדֶר הַיְקָר (זכריה יא, יג), אֶדֶר תַּפְשִׁטוּן (מיכה ב, ח), בשש נקודות, ויתכן להיות כִּי שֻׁדְּדָה אַדַּרְתָּם שם זולתי תאר. והפועל הכבד [הִפְעִיל] יַגְדִּיל תּוֹרָה וְיַאְדִּֽיר (ישעיה מב, כא), כל אשר המצא מעקר זה הוא לשון גדולה ועוצם גבורה, כְּאַדֶּרֶת שֵׂעָר (בראשית כה, כה), טלית בעלת שער כמו אווזה שקורץ אשקלוינ"ה בלע"ז. וקראוה אדרת לחשיבותה וגדולתה, וכן אַדֶּרֶת שִׁנְעָר (יהושע ז, כא), ויתכן להיות כמהו אֶדֶר תַּפְשִׁטוּן (מיכה ב, ח).
ג-ל-ם
To fold over and wrap up, and a garment a man wraps himself in. In another sense גולם, a thing not yet finished into its form, and a man empty of wisdom.
Folding and wrapping
אֶת־אַדַּרְתּוֹ וַיִּגְלֹם (Melachim II 2:8), his mantle, and he wrapped it: he folded it over and rolled it up, and struck the water with it. So בִּגְלוֹמֵי תְּכֵלֶת וְרִקְמָה (Yechezkel 27:24), in wraps of blue and embroidery, is a garment a man covers and wraps himself in, called in la'az קפ"א; and so in the words of Chazal, גלימא דמיכסא (Bava Metzia 65a), a cloak for covering. Some explain the word as rolls of garments, טרושל"ש in la'az.
גולם, the unfinished thing
In another sense, גָּלְמִי רָאוּ עֵינֶיךָ (Tehillim 139:16), Your eyes saw my body: גָּלְמִי is גופי, my body, since the body of a thing that does not yet have all its forms and is not finished into a vessel is called גולם. So גלמי כלי עץ, גלמי כלי מתכות (Chullin 25a), unfinished wooden vessels, unfinished metal vessels, are called so before their work into a vessel is done. A man empty of wisdom is called גולם too, as Chazal say, שבעה דברים בגולם ושבעה בחכם (Avos 5:10 in his edition), seven things are in a golem and seven in a wise man.
אֶת־אַדַּרְתּוֹ וַיִּגְלֹם (מלכים ב' ב, ח) כפל אותה וכרך אותה ובה הכה את המים. וכן בִּגְלוֹמֵי תְּכֵלֶת וְרִקְמָה (יחזקאל כז, כד), מלבוש שיתכסה ויתעטף, האדם בה קורין לו בלע"ז קפ"א. וכן בדברי רבותינו ז"ל (בבא מציעא סה, ע"א) גלימא דמיכסא. ויש מפרשים אותו כרכי הבגדים טרושל"ש בלע"ז. וענין אחר גָּלְמִי רָאוּ עֵינֶיךָ (תהלים קלט, טז), גופי כי גוף הדבר שאין בו כל צורותיו ולא נגמר לכלי נקרא גולם. גלמי כלי עץ, גלמי כלי מתכות, (חולין כה, ע"א) קודם שנגמרה מלאכתן לכלי יקראו כן. וכן יקרא האדם הרק מאין חכמה גולם באמרם (אבות פרק ה, משנה י) שבעה דברים בגולם ושבעה בחכם.
ט-ל-ל
To roof over, to set a covering above; and in another sense טַל, dew.
Roofing over
הוּא יִבְנֶנּוּ וִֽיטַלְלֶנּוּ (Nechemiah 3:15), he shall build it and roof it over: that is, יסכהו, he shall cover it, meaning he shall set a roof above it. So too Chazal say לסוכא מטללתא (Sukkah 28b), of a sukkah that has been roofed; the Targum renders בַּסֻּכֹּת (Vayikra 23:42), in booths, as בִּמְטַלַּיָּא, in coverings, and בְּצֵל קֹֽרָתִֽי (Bereishis 19:8), in the shadow of my roof beam, as בִּטְלַל שֵׁרוּתִי, in the covering of my roof beam.
טַל, dew
In another sense the word is dew: כִּי טַל אוֹרֹת טַלֶּךָ (Yeshayahu 26:19), for your dew is a dew of lights, נִמְלָא־ טָל (Shir HaShirim 5:2), filled with dew, and וְהַשָּׁמַיִם יִתְּנוּ טַלָּם (Zecharyah 8:12), and the heavens shall give their dew. The dagesh stands in place of the doubled letter that is missing, and the plural is טַלִים or טְלָלִים, dews, on the pattern of צְלָלִים, shadows.
הוּא יִבְנֶנּוּ וִֽיטַלְלֶנּוּ (נחמיה ג, טו), פירוש יסכהו כלומר ישים עליו תקרה. וכן אמרו רבותינו ז"ל (סוכה כח, ע"ב) לסוכא מטללתא. וכן תרגום בַּסֻּכֹּת (ויקרא כג, מב) בִּמְטַלַּיָּא. ותרגום בְּצֵל קֹֽרָתִֽי (בראשית יט, ח) בִּטְלַל שֵׁרוּתִי. וענין אחר כִּי טַל אוֹרֹת טַלֶּךָ (ישעיה בו, יט), נִמְלָא־טָל (שיר השירים ה, ב), וְהַשָּׁמַיִם יִתְּנוּ טַלָּם (זכריה ח, יב), הדגש לחסרון הכפל. ולשון רבים טַלִים או טְלָלִים על משקל צְלָלִים.
כ-ר-ך
To wind or wrap around; תַּכְרִיךְ is the cloak a man winds about himself, and in Chazal the shrouds of the dead.
תַּכְרִיךְ, the wrap
וְתַכְרִיךְ בּוּץ וְאַרְגָּמָן (Esther 8:15), a wrap of fine linen and purple: a linen cloak, called תכריך because a man winds himself in it and covers himself with it. Chachamim speak of תכריכי המת (Kilayim 9:4), the shrouds of the dead.
The plain verb in Chazal
They use the root in the plain verb, as אפילו נחש כרוך על עקבו לא יפסיק (Berachos 30b), even if a snake is wound around his heel he does not break off, and כרוכה ומנחת בקרן זויות (Kiddushin 66a), it lies wound up and set in a corner.
וְתַכְרִיךְ בּוּץ וְאַרְגָּמָן (אסתר ח, טו), טלית של פשתן ונקרא תכריך על שם שהאדם כורך עצמו ומתעטף בו. ובדברי רבותינו ז"ל (כלאים פרק ט, משנה ד), תכריכי המת. והם נשתמשו בזה השרש בפעל הקל באמרם (ברכות ל, ע"ב) אפילו נחש כרוך על עקבו לא יפסיק. כרוכה ומנחת בקרן זויות (קדושין סו, ע"א).
Radak, Sefer HaShorashim, Berlin 1847. Public domain, digitised by Sefaria from the National Library of Israel.
Sources
Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein, "Toldot: Noble Clothes," What's in a Word?, Ohr Somayach, 30 November 2024.
Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein, "Korach: Growing the Fringes (Part 2/2)," What's in a Word?, Ohr Somayach, 28 June 2025.
Cited in the essay: Bereishis 25:25 with Targum Onkelos, 45:22 in Targum, 49:26 with Rabbi David Golumb, Targumna; Vayikra 13:59 and Tehillim 139:16 with Rav Hirsch; Yehoshua 7:21, 7:24 with Targum Yonasan; Melachim I 19:13; Melachim II 1:8, 2:8, 2:13-14; Yechezkel 27:24; Zecharyah 13:4 with Rashi; Esther 7:6 and 8:15 in Targum; Avos 5:7; Gittin 6:5; Shabbos 10a, 77b, 110b, 138b, 150b; Eruvin 94a, 96b, 102b; Yevamos 66b; Kesubos 79b; Bava Kamma 119b; Bava Metzia 17a, 28a, 47a, 114b; Bava Basra 128a; Sanhedrin 7a, 44a; Shevuos 31a; Bechoros 34b; Chullin 127a; Ibn Janach and Radak, Sifrei HaShorashim; Rabbi Shlomo Pappenheim; Rabbi Nosson of Rome, Sefer HeAruch; Rabbi Eliyahu HaBachur, Meturgeman; Rabbi Yosef Chaim of Baghdad, Torah Lishmah 327; Dr. Michael Sokoloff; Dr. Alexander Kohut; The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo-European Roots; the Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon Project; David Curwin, Balashon, citing Rabbi Dr. Seth Mandel; Rabbi Tanchum HaYerushalmi, HaMadrich HaMaspik.