Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Exodus 25:4
And blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats’ [hair],
4. Materials spun or woven.
blue ] more exactly, purple-blue (LXX. , , ‘dark blue’), or violet (Est 1:6 AV.), i.e. yarn or stump so coloured by means of a dye obtained from a shell-fish, found adhering to rocks in the Medit. Sea (cf. Eze 27:7), and said to be the Helix Ianthina (Ges. Thes. 1503; DB. i. 457 a ). Both this and the next named stuff were highly prized in antiquity, on account of their costliness and brilliancy. Violet is mostly mentioned in connexion with the Tent of meeting: but see also Jer 10:9, Eze 23:7; Eze 27:7; Eze 27:24, Est 1:6; Est 8:15, Sir 6:30 .
purple ] more exactly, purple-red (LXX. ), a dye extracted from a small gland in the throat of two other species of shell-fish, the Murex brandaris and Murex trunculus, found on the coasts of Phoenicia (cf. Verg. ‘ Tyrio que ardebat murice laena’). Robes of this colour were particularly distinctive of wealth and royalty: comp. Jdg 8:26, Eze 23:6, Son 3:10, 1Ma 4:23 ; 1Ma 10:20 , Mar 15:17, Luk 16:19; and the frequent mention of purpura, purpureus by Latin authors in connexion with royalty.
scarlet ] lit. ‘worm of shn,’ i.e. probably (comp. the Arab, san, to shine) ‘of brilliancy’ (cf. Pliny, H.N. xxxiii. 40 ‘cocci nitor ’). The ‘worm’ is the cochineal insect, which resembles a berry, and is found attached to the leaves and twigs of the Syrian Holm-oak (whence its technical name of coccus ilicis): the colouring matter is obtained from the dried body of the female. (Our word ‘crimson’ comes from irmiz, the Arabic name of the same insect.) See further NHB. 319, EB. i. 956, DB. iv. 416 b . For allusions to this colour (outside the following chapters), see Isa 1:18, Jer 4:30, 2Sa 1:24, Pro 31:1.
fine linen ] Heb. shsh, prob. of Egypt, origin (cf. Eze 27:7; and Copt. shens = byssus): linen was much worn in Egypt by men of rank; see Erman, Index, or DB. s.v.; and cf. Gen 41:42. LXX. , , from b, the later Heb. syn. of shsh (found exclusively in Chr., Est., as 1Ch 15:27). The marg. cotton is less probable: see EB. iii. 2800. There was a superior quality of fine linen, called ‘fine twined linen’ (Exo 26:1; Exo 26:31; Exo 26:36, Exo 27:9; Exo 27:16; Exo 27:18, Exo 28:6; Exo 28:8; Exo 28:15, Exo 39:28-29): this was made from yarn of which each thread was composed of many delicate strands. The Egyptians excelled in work of this kind: Amsis (b.c. 564 526) was said to have sent to Rhodes a corslet of which each thread consisted of 360 separate strands (Hdt. iii. 47, cited by Kn.; cf. Wilkinson-Birch, ii. 166 f.).
goats’ hair] This was spun by women into yarn (Exo 35:26): the fabric woven from it formed the ‘tent,’ or first covering, over the curtains constituting the ‘Dwelling’ (Exo 26:7). See also Exo 1Sa 19:13.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 4. Blue] techeleth, generally supposed to mean an azure or sky colour; rendered by the Septuagint , and by the Vulgate hyacinthum, a sky-blue or deep violet.
Purple] argaman, a very precious colour, extracted from the purpura or murex, a species of shell-fish, from which it is supposed the famous Tyrian purple came, so costly, and so much celebrated in antiquity. See this largely described, and the manner of dyeing it, in Pliny, Hist. Nat., lib. ix., c. 60-65, edit. Bipont.
Scarlet] tolaath, signifies a worm, of which this colouring matter was made; and, joined with shani, which signifies to repeat or double, implies that to strike this colour the wool or cloth was twice dipped: hence the Vulgate renders the original coccum bis tinctum, “scarlet twice dyed;” and to this Horace refers, Odar., lib. ii., od. 16, v. 35: –
————Te BIS Afro
Murice TINCTAE
Vestiunt LANAE.—–
“Thy robes the twice dyed purple stains.”
It is the same colour which the Arabs call al kermez, whence the French cramoisi, and the English crimson. On this subject much may be seen in Bochart, Calmet, and Scheuchzer.
Fine linen] shesh; whether this means linen, cotton, or silk, is not agreed on among interpreters. Because shesh signifies six, the rabbins suppose that it always signifies the fine linen of Egypt, in which six folds constituted one thread; and that when a single fold was meant, bad is the term used. See Clarke on Ge 41:42.
Goats’ hair] izzim, goats, but used here elliptically for goats’ hair. In different parts of Asia Minor, Syria, Cilicia, and Phrygia, the goats have long, fine, and beautiful hair, in some cases almost as fine as silk, which they shear at proper times, and manufacture into garments. From Virgil, Georg. iii., v. 305-311, we learn that goats’ hair manufactured into cloth was nearly of equal value with that formed from wool.
Hae quoque non cura nobis leviore tuendae;
Nec minor usus erit: quamvis Milesia magno
Vellera mutentur, Tyrios incocta rubores.
Nec minus interea barbas incanaque menta
Cinyphii tondent hirci, setasque comantes,
Usum in castrorum, et miseris velamina nautis.
“For hairy goats of equal profit are
With woolly sheep, and ask an equal care.
‘Tis true the fleece when drunk with Tyrian juice
Is dearly sold, but not for needful use:
Meanwhile the pastor shears their hoary beards
And eases of their hair the loaden herds.
Their camelots, warm in tents, the soldier hold,
And shield the shivering mariner from the cold.”
DRYDEN.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Blue, or sky-coloured; but here you must not understand the mere colours, which could not be offered, but some materials proper for the work, and of the colours here mentioned, to wit, wool, or threads, or some suchlike things, as appears from Heb 9:19, and from the testimony of the Jews. Fine linen, which was of great esteem in ancient times, and used by priests and great officers of state. See Gen 41:42; Rev 19:8,14.
Goats hair; Heb. goats. But that their hair is understood, is apparent from the nature of the thing, and from the use of the word in that sense in other places.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
4. goats’ hairor leather ofgoats’ skin.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And blue, and purple, and scarlet,…. The Jewish doctors are much divided about the sense of the words so rendered by us; some will have one colour, and some another meant; but, according to those learned men, who have taken much pains in searching into the meaning of them, as Bochart and Braunius, it appears that our version of them is most correct: and by these we are not to understand the colours themselves, which could not be brought, nor even the materials for dying them are intended; but wool, or clothes, either silken or linen of those colours: of the former the apostle has taught us to expound them, Heb 9:19 and so Jarchi interprets them of wool thus died, and Josephus a also; which was made up into yarn, and wove, and was much used in the garments of the priests, in the curtains of the tabernacle, and in the vail between the holy and the most holy place:
and fine linen; the best of which was made in Egypt only, as Aben Ezra says, and much wore there, especially by the priests; and they had such an abundance of it that they traded to other nations with it, see
Isa 19:9 and of which the Israelites might bring a considerable quantity with them out of Egypt; and
goats’ [hair]; though the word hair is not in the text, it is rightly supplied, as it is by the Septuagint version, and others, for not goats themselves, but their hair must be meant; of this the curtains for the covering of the tabernacle were made; Jarchi interprets it the down of goats, the short, small, fine hair that grows under the other.
a Antiqu. l. 3. c. 6. sect. 1.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(4) And blue, and purple, and scarlet.The colours intended are probably a dark blue produced from indigo, which was the only blue known to the Egyptians, a purplish crimson derived from the murex trunculus, the main source of the Tyrian dye of the ancients, and a scarlet furnished by the coccus ilicis, or cochineal insect of the holm oak, which was largely employed in antiquity, though now superseded by the brighter tint obtained from the coccus cacti of Mexico. Linen yarn of the three colours mentioned seems to have been what the people were asked to furnish (Exo. 35:25; Exo. 39:1).
Fine lineni.e., white thread spun from flax, which is found to be the material of almost all the Egyptian dresses, mummy cloths, and other undyed fabrics. It is of a yellowish white, soft, and wonderfully fine and delicate. (See Wilkinson in Rawlinsons Herodotus, vol. ii., p. 233).
Goats hair.The covering of an Arab tent is to this day almost always of goats-hair. An excellent fabric is woven from the soft inner hair of the Syrian goat, and a coarse one from the outer coat of the animal. Yarn of goats-hair was to be offered, that from it might be produced the first of the three outer coverings of the Tabernacle (Exo. 26:7-14).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
4. Blue, and purple, and scarlet The exact colours, tints, or shades denoted by the Hebrew words thus translated it is now hardly possible to determine with absolute certainty . The same may be said of the names of colours in all the ancient languages . The use of these different colours in the tabernacle probably served not only for the sake of beauty and variety, but also to suggest thoughts of heavenly excellence and glory . The three colours here named have always and everywhere been regarded as appropriate for the persons and palaces of kings . Blue, as the colour of the heaven, reflected in the sea, would naturally suggest that which is heavenly, holy, and divine . Hence it was appropriate that the robe of the ephod was made wholly of blue, (Exo 28:31; Exo 39:22,) and the breastplate was connected with it by blue cords, Exo 25:28. It was also by a blue cord or ribbon that the golden plate inscribed “Holiness to Jehovah” was attached to the high priest’s mitre, Exo 25:31. The loops of the tabernacle curtains were of this colour, (Exo 26:4,) and the children of Israel were commanded to place blue ribbons as badges upon the borders of their garments, (Num 15:37-41,) as if to remind them that they were children of the heavenly King, and were under the responsibility of having received from him commandments and revelations. Hence, too, it was appropriate that a blue cloth was spread over the holiest things of the tabernacle when they were arranged for journeying forward. Num 4:6-7; Num 4:11-12. Purple and scarlet, so often mentioned in connexion with the dress of kings, have very naturally been regarded as symbolical of royalty and majesty . Jdg 8:26; Est 8:15; Dan 5:7; Nah 2:3. Both these colours, along with blue, appeared upon the curtains of the tabernacle, (Exo 26:1,) and upon the vail that separated the holy place from the most holy . Exo 26:31. A scarlet cloth covered the holy vessels which were placed upon the table of showbread, and a purple cloth the altar of burnt offerings . Num 4:8; Num 4:13.
Fine linen Hebrews , shesh, believed to be an Egyptian word, translated by in the Septuagint, and applied to an Egyptian fabric made of fine flax, and having a peculiar whiteness . Joseph’s vesture, when made ruler in Egypt, was of this material . Gen 41:42. It was used for the curtains and vails of the tabernacle, and for the garments of the priests . Exo 26:1; Exo 26:31; Exo 26:36; Exo 28:5-6; Exo 28:8; Exo 28:15; Exo 28:39.
Goats’ hair A very solid fabric was woven of the hair of the goat, and was the most common material used for the covering of tents among the nomads of the East.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Exo 25:4 And blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats’ [hair],
Ver. 4. And blue, and purple, and scarlet, ] i.e., Wool dyed with these colours; Heb 9:19 to teach the Church that both themselves and their actions should be washed and dyed in the blood of Christ.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
purple, &c. These colours connected with the crucifixion. Mat 27:28. Joh 19:2. White mentioned last. So in Rev 19:13, Rev 19:14.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
blue: Techaileth, generally supposed to mean an azure or sky-colour; rendered by the LXX, , uakinthon, and Vulgate, hyacinthum.
fine linen: or, silk, Gen 41:42, Eze 16:10, Rev 19:8
Reciprocal: Exo 26:1 – fine twined linen Exo 26:7 – goats’ hair Exo 26:31 – blue Exo 28:5 – gold Exo 39:1 – the blue Est 8:15 – and with a great crown Eze 27:7 – blue and purple
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Exo 25:4-5. Blue, and purple, and scarlet Materials of those colours. Shittim-wood A kind of wood growing in Egypt and the deserts of Arabia, very durable and precious.