Biblica Analytica

מָ֫דוּ

me.dev (H4063)

garment

2 verses 2 books OT 2 / NT 0
AI Word Study

# Analysis of מָדוּ (H4063): A Rare Garment Term The Hebrew word מָדוּ appears only twice in the biblical text, making it one of the rarest garment terms in the Hebrew Bible. Its basic meaning is "garment"—a general category of clothing. The extreme scarcity of this term contrasts sharply with more common Hebrew words for clothing, suggesting it may have denoted either a specific type of garment rather than clothing in general, or simply a word that fell out of favor during the period when most biblical texts were composed. With only two occurrences, the lexical data provides minimal basis for determining whether מָדוּ referred to a particular style, quality, or function of garment, or whether it was simply an archaic synonym for more prevalent clothing vocabulary. The limited evidence prevents confident claims about its precise role in the biblical garment system or its cultural significance. For scholars and translators, the rarity of this term underscores the challenges in reconstructing details of ancient Hebrew material culture, particularly when certain words are attested so infrequently that their full semantic range remains elusive.

AI synthesis uses only provided lexicon data -- never training knowledge.

2 Samuel 10:4

So Hanun took David’s servants, shaved off one half of their beards, and cut off their garments in the middle, even to their buttocks, and sent them away.

1 Chronicles 19:4

So Hanun took David’s servants, shaved them, and cut off their garments in the middle at their buttocks, and sent them away.