H6809 H6809
veil, wrapper, shawl; a head covering or garment used by women for modesty or identity concealment
This noun refers to a veil or head covering worn by women. Genesis 24:65 describes Rebekah covering herself with a veil when she sees Isaac approaching—an act of modesty before meeting her future husband. Genesis 38:14, 19 shows Tamar using a veil to disguise herself as a prostitute and then removing it afterward. The garment serves both modesty (Rebekah) and disguise (Tamar), functioning as a marker of identity and social status. Cross-linguistic translations uniformly recognize this as a veil or shawl (Spanish 'velo', French 'voile', German 'Schleier').
Senses
1. sense 1 — The two Genesis narratives use the veil differently: Rebekah's veil signals proper bridal modesty, while Tamar's veil enables deception. In both cases, the covering transforms the woman's social presentation—one honorably, one duplicitously. The definite article and possessive forms ('the veil', 'her veil', 'with a veil') mark specific narrative moments of covering or uncovering. The garment communicates female status and can either reveal or conceal identity depending on context and intention. 3×
AR["الْبُرْقُعَ", "بُرْقُعَهَا", "بِ-الْ-بُرْقُعِ"]·ben["-ঘোমটায়", "ঘোমটা", "তার-ঘোমটা"]·DE["den-Schleier", "ihren-Schleier", "mit-dem-Schleier"]·EN["the-veil", "veil-her", "with-a-veil"]·FR["avec-un-voile", "le-voile", "voile-sa"]·heb["ב-ה-צעיף", "ה-צעיף", "צעיפה-ה"]·HI["अपना-घूँघट", "घूँघट", "घूँघट-से"]·ID["dengan-selubung", "selubung", "selubung-nya"]·IT["con-un-velo", "il-velo", "velo-suo"]·jav["kudhungipun", "mawi-kudhung", "slendhang"]·KO["그-너울을", "그녀의-면사포를", "면사포로"]·PT["com-o-véu", "o-véu", "véu-dela"]·RU["покрывало", "покрывало-своё", "покрывалом"]·ES["con-el-velo", "el-velo", "velo-de-ella"]·SW["kwa-shela", "shela", "shela-yake"]·TR["-peçeyi", "-peçeyle", "peçesini"]·urd["-غونگھٹ", "سے-چادر", "چادر-اپنی"]
Related Senses
H3808 1. simple negation (not) (4839×)G1722 1. locative: in, within (2442×)H1004b 1. house, dwelling, building (2015×)G3756 1. not (negation particle) (1635×)H4480a 1. source or separation (1198×)H5892b 1. city, town (1093×)G1519 1. direction: into, to, toward (1061×)H3427 1. Qal: to dwell, inhabit (937×)G1537 1. from, out of (source/origin) (886×)H8034 1. Name (designation / identifier) (856×)G3361 1. subjective negation (not) (834×)G1909 1. on, upon (spatial surface) (757×)H0369 1. existential negation: there is not (738×)H5869a 1. in the eyes/sight of (evaluative) (734×)H5650 1. Servant, attendant, subject (723×)H0408 1. prohibitive negation do-not (712×)G2443 1. so that, in order that (purpose/result) (665×)G0575 1. from (649×)G1223 1. through, by means of (582×)H3541 1. thus, so, in this manner (569×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† צָעִיף n.[m.] wrapper, shawl, or veil;—abs. צ׳ Gn 24:65; 38:14; sf. צְעִיפָהּ v 19 (all J).