cotton

Cotton Gossypium herbaceum has been grown and woven in the Indus Valley (now Pakistan) for at least five thousand years. Pieces of cotton cloth that old have been found there. However, it was not grown in the land of Israel until a few centuries before Christ.

The story of Esther takes place in Babylon in the time of Ahasuerus (= Xerxes) 485–465 B.C. By that time both cotton and flax products were probably traded back and forth throughout the Babylonian Empire, and the cultivation of both was probably expanding, although the area of India, Pakistan, and Babylonia would have been the area of largest production. Herodotus, in the fifth century B.C., mentions “trees that bear wool” from India.

The writer of Esther describes fabric made from karpas, a Hebrew word that comes from Sanskrit, a language spoken long ago in India, where cotton was domesticated. That may be evidence that karpas probably refers to cotton alone, particularly since the Hebrew word buts is probably used for “linen” in the same verse.

Isaiah 19:9, an oracle about Egypt, refers to the “weavers of white cotton [choray],” parallel to “workers in combed flax.” This supports the contention that cotton was well established in Egypt in Old Testament times, at least by the time of the Israelite monarchy.

The original Indian and Arabian type of cotton (“Levant cotton”) grows to 2 meters (7 feet) in height, with soft, lobed leaves (like its relatives the hibiscus and the hollyhock). The mallow-like flowers are yellow with a purple center. When the flower matures, the boll underneath puffs out and eventually splits, revealing a mass of fine white filaments that we know as “cotton wool.”

Cotton is now grown extensively throughout the world, especially in warm, dry areas. The Tree Cotton Gossypium arboreum is native to North Africa and is now grown in Upper Egypt. Another species, Upland Cotton Gossypium barbadense, grows in the West Indies. Egypt, India, China, and Nigeria all raise cotton in great quantities since it is their most important textile. If a transliteration of cotton from a major language is needed, adaptations of the following are advised: French cotonnier; Portuguese algodão, algodeiro; Spanish algodonero; Arabic kutun; and English cotton.

Even if the translator’s people do not actually grow cotton, they know it from the cloth sellers and will have a name for it. Failing that, a transliteration from a major language is recommended.

Cotton ball, Wikimedia Commons

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

See also snow (color).

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.

Translation commentary on Isaiah 19:9

The people who make linen cloth will also suffer when the Nile dries up because flax will no longer be available.

The workers in combed flax will be in despair, and the weavers of white cotton is literally “They will be in despair workers of flax, carders, and those who weave white cloth.” Masoretic Text has three subjects here, but Revised Standard Version only has two subjects since it understands the Hebrew noun for “carders” to be an adjective, which it renders combed. “Carders” are people who comb strands of flax or cotton to separate them in preparation for weaving. If there are three subjects here, “workers in flax” is a general expression for those who make linen cloth, while “carders” and “weavers” are the two specific groups involved in making it. In Hebrew the word for “carders” is feminine while the one for “weavers” is masculine. Some versions express this; for example, Revised English Bible says “the women carding and the men weaving” (similarly Bible en français courant). Versions with three subjects for this verse are New Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible, and New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh. New International Version and New Jerusalem Bible have only two subjects, as in Revised Standard Version. We recommend three subjects, but translators may use only two.

Flax is a plant that releases fibers when treated. These fibers can be woven into a fine fabric called linen (see 3.23). In many languages flax may be rendered “cotton,” another plant product used for weaving cloth. However, cotton does not grow along rivers like flax.

The Hebrew verb rendered be in despair is usually translated “be ashamed,” but here it means “be very sad.” New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh says “be dismayed,” and Revised English Bible has “be dejected.”

Instead of white cotton, a Dead Sea Scrolls text says “become pale.” Hebrew Old Testament Text Project, commentators, and most translations follow this text, which we recommend. In this context “becoming pale” conveys how anxious or sad the linen cloth makers are because of the failure of the crops and the collapse of their trade. Bible en français courant and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch use “become pale” but add the reason, “because of worries.” Another possibility is “become pale because of grief.” In many cultures, however, the figurative verb “become pale” will not be meaningful. Other possibilities are “become anxious” and “lose hope” (New International Version).

Good News Translation avoids all the problems that this verse presents by combining the contents into one short prose line: “Those who make linen cloth will be in despair.” This may be a useful model for languages where a technical vocabulary that distinguishes flax carding and weaving is not available.

Translation examples for this verse are:

• Those who work with flax will be in despair,
the women who comb [the threads] and the men who weave [them] will be anxious.

• Flax workers will be despondent,
carders and weavers will despair.

Quoted with permission from Ogden, Graham S. and Sterk, Jan. A Handbook on Isaiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2011. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .