Hebrew Word Study – Adam’s Garment – Begad Adam אָדָ֛ם בִּגְדֵ֨ Beth Gimmel Resh Alep Daleth Mem
Genesis 27:15,27: “And Rebekah took goodly raiment of her eldest son Esau, which [were] with her in the house, and put them upon Jacob her younger son: 27 And he came near, and kissed him: and he smelled the smell of his raiment, and blessed him, and said, See, the smell of my son [is] as the smell of a field which the LORD hath blessed:”
Remember the story of Easu and Jacob from Sunday School and how Jacob and his mother plotted to deceive Jacob’s father into giving him his brother Easu’s inheritance by Jacob dressing up in his brother’s clothes.
The word for garment or raiment in Hebrew is the word begad which is really not the word for garment at all but is the word for treachery and deceit. Semitic story telling is filled with metaphoric language and it is most likely begad is used metaphorically for clothes worn for deceitful purposes like stealing a birthright. There is evidence in ancient literature that begad is used to express something else. It is possible these were not Esau’s garments but garments Esau obtained through a treacherous act, that is the killing of Nimrod. In fact the Mishnah Rabbah teaches that these were the garments stolen from Nimrod when Esau ambushed him in the field. But why steal his clothes?
On a recent visit to the University of Chicago’s library I wasted a whole afternoon reading an ancient book called the Book of Jasher. The book of Jasher, is not part of the canon nor is it inspired Scripture and may just be a book of urban legends, however, many Jewish rabbis will attest to a degree of historical accuracy.
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In the Book of Jasper the 27th chapter we see some gaps in the story of Esau being filled. It is believed that as the story of the creation was passed down orally, the original garments that God gave Adam to wear still existed and were in Nimrod’s possession. Apparently, as the legend goes, the garments given to Adam by God were given to Enoch which were given to Methuselah who handed them down to Noah who gave them to his son Ham and eventually worked their way into the hands of Nimrod. By this time legend grew up that these garments contained some mystical powers.
Such a garment would be considered as sacred as the Shroud of Turin and I am sure the authenticity would be just as questionable. But suppose the garments of Adam did survive until the time of Esau or someone put together a garment and called it Adams garments. People would assume and/or someone would convince others it had special powers. It is believed that Esau coveted these garments and with the blessing of his father Isaac sought to steal them and in the process got into fight and Esau ended up murdering Nimrod and taking off with Adam’s alleged garments. Of course it would be these garments he would wear when he was to receive the blessing from Abraham. Surely, with the garment of Adam God would double and maybe triple His blessing. Of course now that Jacob was planning his coup, what better way to ensure God’s blessing than to wear the sacred, blessed garments of Adam.
To be honest, I don’t know where I am going with this. Maybe I am just trying to convince myself that I didn’t waste a perfectly good afternoon studying the writings of some ancient storyteller trying to build a platform with a lot of myth. But you know what, the whole idea of relics having mystical powers and people killing others to possess these relics is not an ancient one. Hitler killed thousands of people in his quest for the Spear of Destiny, because he actually believed that if he possessed it he would be invincible. Some years ago a movie called the Raiders of the Lost Ark spurred the imagination of millions of Christians over the thought of recovering the lost Ark of the Covenant and the powers it might contain. It’s a box, for crying out loud, just a box. It would have great historical and archaeological significance but that is all.
People want to see what they worship. They need an idol, a relic, a thing that they can touch and see. They want a preacher to pray over them because they can see the preacher. They want a beautiful church building because they can see it. Before long they begin to believe that the preacher has special powers or that God will surely bless them more if they attend church in a building designated for worship. I remember as a pastor I had a person ask for prayer. I was in his home and I immediately reached out to pray and he stopped me and said: “No, no, let’s go to the church to pray. I want this to be a good prayer.” I’m thinking: “Good prayers are all I got buddy.”
My point is, we worship God with our hearts, not our eyes.
Note: This study is found in Chaim’s book Treasures of the Deep which may be ordered off of Amazon:
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Thanks & Blessings, it means a lot to me!
There is a parallel here to the possibly true story of Elijah’s garments being passed down to John the Baptist.
Indeed Yeshua confirmed by His words that John actually WAS Elijah
Matthew 6:22-23: “The eye is the lamp of the body. ‘So if you have an ‘ayin-tovah’ [‘good eye,’ that is, if you are GENEROUS], your whole body will be full of light; but if you have an ‘ayin-raah’ [‘evil eye,’ if you are STINGY], your whole body will be dark. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!”
AYIN letter of Tevet month 10 , do not judge by appearances ,learn first to remove wodden Beam from your eyes
This was exactly what I needed to read today; the history, the scholarship, the anecdotes, curious research, and a very insightful message. Thank you.
I strongly suggest that you explore the works of Jeff Benner
I believe you mean well, but you ought to do a little more research before suggesting that. There is no such thing as “Ancient Hebrew”. Chaim does not use the Canaanite script as he does for a reason, and if you would like to learn why, take Chaim’s alphabet class http://www.HebrewWordStudy.com (it’s free). Chaim has his PhD in the field, this ministry is not just a hobby, and he has done his dissertation on the esoteric meanings of the Hebrew letters. Also, if you would like learn more about the meanings of the Hebrew letters, you would do well by getting a copy of Chaim’s book “Beyond the Lexicon” or joining us on our Learning Channel (www.HebrewWordStudy.com). Chaim teaches the letters the way it’s been taught for thousands of years by people who have studied scripture in the Semitic languages. No need to re invent the wheel. Hope you can j0in us in our live classes. Blessings, Laura
Hello Chaim,
This is Westin and I truly enjoy reading your insights. I am beyond interested in gaining historical perspective of the Bible. It’s fascinating to read comments of scholars giving perspective of biblical personalities and how they thought.
Wonderful!
Our skin is owr, a clothing of our soul, having to wear begad yes? It is hiding our light, the soul from Hashem, hence we need Yeshua to save us, through whom we are clothed with garments of righteousness from the Father of Heavenly Lights.
Chag Hanukkah Sameach!
“People want to see what they worship. They need an idol, a relic, a thing that they can touch and see.”
🙏
LoL 😂 yesterday I was viewing a german film like Indiana Jones searching Longinus sword hidden at Berlín Gate , today Parasha Vayesheva talks about dream visions , about YH revelation of what He Will do to His prophets ,about revelations of Heaven things (Nicodemus) , about faith visión and finally to true worshipers in Breath(Spirit) and Truth … This Tevet 10th month YAH IS moving us to see with His perspective and synchronize with His Visión , GOOD EYE = PURE , GENEROUS, COMPASSI E
Another good and awesome word study, thanks Chaim
That is very interesting, because I to have heard of the book of jasher and the book of Enoch to,I have wondered about those books. I remember hearing that Jasher was a historical account! Thank you for sharing this!
There’s a fine line between faith and folly.
Maccabee is said to be an acronym formed by the Biblical verse mi kamocha b’eilim Hashem – “Who is like You among the gods, O Hashem?” (Ex. 15:11)
The mission of every SON is to change a person who is “other,” who does not appreciate holiness, into someone who is a ben (a child of YAH). In other words, we must transform an ACHER into an ECHAD, a person who is one with YAH.
There is no poor person except the one who is poor in knowledge.
Hope you Enjoy brothers and sisters , happy to tie the loose ends into a three-helix cord
There is a parallel here to the possibly true story of Elijah’s garments being passed down to John the Baptist.
Indeed Yeshua confirmed by His words that John actually WAS Elijah