flax / linen

Flax Linum usitatissimum, from which linen cloth is made, was cultivated in the Middle East, including Canaan, at least as early as 5000 B.C. A document from Gezer (in Israel) from around King Saul’s time (1000 B.C.) refers to the cultivation of flax and states that flax and wool were the main materials for making cloth. According to Joshua 2:6, the Israelite spies were hidden under flax stalks by Rahab. Flax was grown extensively in Egypt and made into cloth and mats.

Pesheth and pishtah are probably the original Hebrew words for flax, if indeed the plant was domesticated in the Holy Land, as Zohary (Plants of the Bible. Cambridge University Press, 1982) proposes. They may be related to the word pashat, meaning “to strip off” or “to flay,” or to the word pasas, meaning “to disintegrate.” Pesheth and pishtah are used twenty times in the Old Testament, twice referring clearly to the plant itself (Exodus 9:31; Joshua 2:6). Other references are to the processed flax (Judges 15:14 et al.). A few cases refer to finished products, namely wicks (Isaiah 42:3 et al.), cords (Ezekiel 40:3), and items of clothing (Jeremiah 13:1 et al.).

It is likely that the Hebrews acquired the word shesh from the Egyptians during their sojourn in Egypt, since flax was cultivated there also. The Egyptian word for flax was shent (via shen-suten). Shesh is used thirty-eight times in the Old Testament: for the material that Pharaoh put on Joseph, for the Tabernacle curtains and hangings in Exodus, for the ephod, and for the priests’ tunics. The wise woman of Proverbs 31:22 wears it. In Ezekiel 16:10 et al. it is paired with silk, and in Ezekiel 27:7 “shesh from Egypt” is spoken of as material for the sails of ships.

Several references to linen use the Hebrew word bad. In Exodus 28:42 the priests’ underwear are made from bad, and it is used thereafter in Leviticus to describe various items of clothing—coat, breeches, girdle, and turban. It turns up again in Samuel’s and King David’s “ephods” and then again in Ezekiel and Daniel, where we see visions of “a man clothed in bad.”

Linen is referred by the Hebrew word buts in 1‑2 Chronicles, Esther, and Ezekiel, where the robes of the Temple choir, kings, and rich men are described.

The Old Testament has some references to the Hebrew word sadin (“linen garment”): Judges 14:12 (Samson promises them to his opponents), Proverbs 31:24 (the wise woman makes them), and Isaiah 3:23 (the rich women of Jerusalem wear them). The Septuagint uses the Greek word bussos or sindōn in these passages.

The Hebrew word ’etun occurs only in Proverbs 7:16, where it refers to a linen bedspread from Egypt.

In the New Testament there are three primary Greek words for linen: linon/linous, sindōn, and othonē/othonion. Linon is used to refer to garments of the angels in Revelation 15:6 as well as to the “smoldering wick” in Matthew 12:20. The synoptic Gospel writers refer to the linen cloth that Joseph and Nicodemus used to wrap Jesus’ body as a sindōn. Mark uses the same word to refer to the cloth that was worn by the unidentified young man at the time of Jesus’ arrest (Mark 14:51f.). John uses a different Greek word for Jesus’ burial cloths: othonion.

The rich man referred to in the Lazarus story (Luke 16:19) is clothed in “fine linen” (bussos). The Greek word bussos is the root word for bussinos, which refers to tunics, robes and turbans made from linen fabric (Revelation 18:12 et al.).

Flax is a little taller than a sesame plant, about a meter (3 feet) tall. Its leaves are narrow and the flowers are bright blue with five petals. The seed capsule contains oil that is used for cooking and also for thinning paint. After flax ripens, the plants are uprooted and the stalks are left to dry for a while. The stalks are then soaked, dried, and beaten to separate the fibers, which are then combed and woven into cloth.

Linen cloth was relatively costly in Israel, and being light and easy to dye it was highly valued. Their priests wore linen garments to combat sweating (see Ezekiel 44:18). They had to remove these holy garments when they left the Temple, “lest they communicate holiness to the people” (Ezekiel 44:19). The high esteem given to linen by the Jews is shown also by the fact that they used it for burying the dead, and we are told that the Dead Sea Scrolls were wrapped in linen cloths. However, the flax plant was special in other ways. The crushed stalks of flax plants were also used for making rope and lamp wicks. The seed was used for oil.

Today flax is raised more for the oil that comes from the seeds (called linseed oil) than for the fibers, although flax stalks are also made into special kinds of paper.

Metaphorical uses of flax are relatively few in the Bible, and all suggest the weakness of the material. In Judges 15:14 flax fiber is used as a simile for Samson’s fetters (they snapped like linen thread). Isaiah 42:3 says the Messiah will be gentle with weak people (“a dimly burning wick [pishtah] he will not quench”), in contrast to the typical iron-fisted tyrants of the day. Isaiah 43:17 describes the fate of the Babylonian enemies: they will be snuffed out “like a wick [pishtah].”

Linen cloth (or other cloth with a similar name) is surprisingly widespread. Cloth merchants in the translators’ area may know it under a trade language name, and if so, that can be used.In some places it is used only for burying people. In that case, if it is used in translation at all, the difference in culture should be explained in a footnote. Since linen is bleached white, a generic phrase such as “beautiful white cloth” can be considered in many places. In the three metaphorical passages mentioned above, an appropriate cultural image may be substituted, or an adverb expressing weakness or fragility.

Flax, Wikimedia Commons

Source: Each According to its Kind: Plants and Trees in the Bible (UBS Helps for Translators)

Se also linen.

complete verse (Daniel 12:6)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Daniel 12:6:

  • Kupsabiny: “One of those people asked that man who had a white and long dress who was hovering over that river, ‘Until when will these astonishing events/words come to an end?’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “One of them asked the angel wearing cotton clothing who was standing above the water of the river, "When will these amazing things be fulfilled?"” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “One of them asked the man wearing linen standing on the higher-side of the river. ‘How long before those amazing happenings will-end?’
    The man wearing linen raised his two hands and I heard him swear in the name of God who lives with no end. He said, ‘That will happen after three and a half years have-passed, after the causing-to-suffer to the people of God.’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “One of them called to the other one, who was wearing linen/white clothes, who was now standing further up (OR, above) the river, ‘How long will it be until these amazing/frightening events end?’” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Daniel 12:6

I said: the Hebrew Old Testament Text Project/Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament recommended text actually says “he said,” and this would seem to refer to one of the two beings introduced in the previous verse. Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament, however, takes the third person pronoun as indefinite and proposes the translation “someone said.” The rendering of Revised Standard Version is based on the ancient Greek version, and it assumes a different underlying Hebrew text. As in 8.13-14, 16, here also Daniel listens in on a conversation between two angels, but he does not participate in it. Instead of said it will be better to use the verb “ask” in many languages, since it is a question that follows. Note that in the Hebrew the question does not follow immediately, so in some languages it will be necessary to restructure the sentence.

The man clothed in linen: we know from earlier references such as 10.5 that this is not an ordinary human being but an angel. So this should be made clear in most languages. In some cases it will be important to distinguish this, the original angel of the vision, from the two angels (“two others”) introduced in verse 5. But this may be done by retaining the detail clothed in linen found in the text.

Above the waters of the stream: chapter 10 does not mention the exact position of this angel, and the wording here is the subject of some debate. Some interpreters maintain that the vision pictures the angel as floating above the surface of the stream or possibly large figure with one foot on either side of the stream. But others take this expression to mean “further upstream” from Daniel’s position described in 10.4. This would mean that the other two angels were downstream on opposite sides of the river. This is the solution adopted by New American Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, and New Revised Standard Version, as well as Good News Translation. Other scholars, however, see this interpretation as being based on modern reasoning which is absent from the original text.

How long…?: compare 8.13 and comments.

Wonders: see 8.24 (“fearful”) and 11.36 (“astonishing things”), where another word from the same root is used with practically the same meaning. Here the term has been rendered “portents” (Revised English Bible), “astonishing things” (New International Version), and “marvels” (Moffatt).

Quoted with permission from Péter-Contesse, René & Ellington, John. A Handbook on Daniel. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1994. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .