GOATS’ HAIR
Goats Hair
(Heb. goats sinmply; see above) was used by Moses in making the curtains of the tabernacle (Exo 25:4), and, from what we now know of it, seems to have been particularly suitable. The hair of the goats of Asia, Phrygia, and Cilicia, especially .of the Angora breed, which is at the present day manufactured into stuffs, is very bright and fine, and has to the ground; ins beauty it almost equals silk, and is never sheared, but combed off. The shepherds carefully and frequently wash these goats in rivers, and the women of the country spin the hair; it is then worked and dyed. The natives attribute the quality of the hair to the soil of the country. (See a treatise son the Pastoral Life and Manufactures of the Ancients, N.Y. 1845, chapter 4) “The Cashmere breed has long been celebrated as the source from which are obtained those elegant Indian shawls which fetch so high a price in Europe. It is carried on men’s backs over the ridges of the Himalayas, across frightful precipices, along narrow ledges over sharp, snow-covered peaks climbed by wooden ladders, across rattling cane- bridges over foaming torrents, until it arrives, loaded with extortionate taxes, at Cashmere, where the shawls are woven. Thence they are sent by mountain roads similarly beset with dangers and difficulties, and subject at every step to extortionate tribute, into Europe, either through Turkey, or over the Caucasus through Russia.” SEE TEN’T.
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Goats’ Hair
(, ez): The word for she-goat is used elliptically to mean goats’ hair, which was used in the tabernacle furnishings in the form of curtains (Exo 26:7; Exo 36:14). Goats’ hair was probably used in the Midianite and Israelite camps in much the same way as in the Bedouin camps today (compare Num 31:20). The tents, tent ropes and rugs are made of spun goats’ hair. The provision sacks which hold wheat, rice, etc., and the saddlebags are made of the same material. A strip of the cloth rolled up furnishes a bolster for the head while sleeping (compare 1Sa 19:13, 1Sa 19:16). Goats’ hair cloth is admirably suited to stand the hard usage of a frequently shifting encampment. The children of Israel appreciated its utility, even for the tabernacle, where to the modern critical eye it would have looked out of place, matched against scarlet and fine linen (Exo 25:4; Exo 35:6, Exo 35:26). The fact that goats’ hair was used is good indication of the comparative crudeness of the tabernacle, when contrasted with present-day furnishings. See also HAIR; WEAVING.
Fuente: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
GOATS’ HAIR
Exo 25:4; Exo 26:7; Exo 35:6; Exo 36:14; Num 31:20