Reference: Purple
American
The famous and costly Tyrian purple, the royal color of the ancients, is said to have been discovered by the Tyrian Hercules, whose dog having by chance eaten a shellfish called Purpura, and returning to his master with his lips tinged with a purple color, occasioned the discovery of this precious dye. Purple, however, is much more ancient than this, since we find it mentioned by Moses in several places. Two kinds of purple are mentioned in the Old Testament:
1. Argamon, rendered in our version "purple," denoting a reddish purple obtained from a species of muscle or shellfish found on the coasts of the Mediterranean.
2. Techieleth, rendered in the English Bible "blue." This was a bluish or cerulean purple, likewise obtained from another species of shellfish. The "scarlet" or "crimson," for the two words denote essentially the same color, was produced from the coccus in sect, coccus ilicis. All these were sacred colors among the Jews; and the latter was used for the highpriest's ephod, and for veils, ribbons, and cloths, Ex 26:1,4,31,36; 28:31; Nu 4:6-12; 15:38.
The "purple" of the ancients seems to have included many different tints derived originally from the shellfish, and modified by various arts in which the Tyrians excelled. As each fish yielded but a few drops of coloring matter, the choicest purple bore a very high price. Purple robes were worn by the kings and first magistrates of ancient Rome, and Nero forbade their use by his subjects under pain of death. Our Savior was clothed with a royal robe of purple, in mockery of his title, "The King of the Jews" Joh 19:2,5. Compare also Jg 8:26; Es 8:15; Pr 31:22; Da 5:7; Lu 16:19. Moses used much wool dyed of a crimson and used much wool dyed of a crimson and purple color in the work of the tabernacle, and in the ornaments of the high priest, Ex 25:4; 26:1,31,36; 39:1; 2Ch 3:14. The Babylonians also clothed their idols in robes of a purple and azure color, Jer 10:9; Eze 23:15; 27:7,16.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
Cerulean purple, and reddish purple, and double scarlet and fine cotton, and goats' hair,
And thou shalt make the tent, ten curtains, white linen twisted, and cerulean purple, and reddish purple, and double scarlet: and cherubs the work of the artificer shalt thou make them.
And thou shalt make the tent, ten curtains, white linen twisted, and cerulean purple, and reddish purple, and double scarlet: and cherubs the work of the artificer shalt thou make them.
And make loops of cerulean purple upon the lip of the one curtain from the end in the joining: and so shalt thou make in the lip of the curtain of the extremity, in the joining of the second.
And make a vail of cerulean purple, and red purple, and double scarlet, and twisted byssus, the work of the artificer: he shall make with it Cherubs.
And make a vail of cerulean purple, and red purple, and double scarlet, and twisted byssus, the work of the artificer: he shall make with it Cherubs.
And make a covering for the door of the tent, cerulean purple, red purple, and double scarlet and white byssus, a variegated work.
And make a covering for the door of the tent, cerulean purple, red purple, and double scarlet and white byssus, a variegated work.
And make the upper garment of the ephod, complete, of cerulean purple.
And from the cerulean purple, and the red purple, and the double scarlet, they made garments of stuff to serve in the holy place; and they will make the garments of the holy place which are for Aaron, as Jehovah commanded Moses.
And they gave upon it a covering of tahash skins, and they spread over a garment wholly cerulean purple from above, and they put up its bars. And upon the table of the face they shall spread a garment cerulean purple, and they gave upon it the dishes, and the censers, and the bowls and the cups pouring out: and the continual bread shall be upon it. read more. And they spread upon them a garment of double scarlet, and they covered it with a cover of tahash skins, and they put up the bars. And they took a garment cerulean purple, and covered the chandelier of the light, and its lamps and its,tongs and its fire pans, and all the vessels of its oil, which they shall serve to it with them: And they gave it and all its vessels into a covering of tahash skins, and they gave upon the bar. And upon the altar of gold they will spread a garment cerulean purple, and they covered it with a tahash skin covering, and they set up its bars. And they shall take all the vessels of the service which they shall serve in them in the holy place, and they gave to the garment of cerulean purple, and they covered them in a tahash skin covering, and they gave upon the bar.
Speak to the sons of Israel, and say to them, They made to them fringes of flowers upon the wings of their garment for their generations; and they gave upon the fringes of the wing a thread of cerulean purple;
And the weight of the gold rings which he asked will be a thousand and seven hundred of gold; besides of little moons and earrings and purple robes which were upon the kings of Midian, and besides from the collars which upon their camels' necks.
And Mordecai went forth from before the king in clothing of the kingdom, cerulean purple, and white, and a great crown of gold, and a wide robe of byssus and purple: and the city Shushan shouted and was glad:
She made for herself coverings; byssus and purple her clothing.
Silver beaten out shall be brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz, the work of the workman, and the hands of the founder: cerulean purple and red purple their clothing: they all are the work of the wise.
Girding girdles upon their loins, a superfluity of dippings upon their heads, the appearance of third men all of them, the likeness of the sons of Babel of Chaldea, the land of their birth.
Fine linen with variegation from Egypt was thy spreading forth to be to thee for a signal; cerulean purple, and reddish purple, from the isles of Elisha was thy covering.
Aram thy merchant from the multitude of thy works: they gave in thy markets with the gem, reddish purple, and variegation, and byssus, and red corals, and ruby.
The king called with strength to bring up the enchanters, the Chaldeans and the diviners. The king answered and said to the wise of Babel, Whatever man that shall read this writing, and will show to me its interpretation, shall be clothed with purple, and a necklace of gold upon his neck, and shall rule the third in the kingdom.
A certain man was rich, and was clothed in purple and fine linen, being daily splendidly gladdened:
And the soldiers having twined a crown of thorns, put upon his head, and they put round him a purple robe,
Then went forth Jesus without, bearing a crown of thorns, and a purple garment. And he says to them, Behold the man!
Fausets
argan. Obtained by the Tyrians from the shell fish Murex purpura, and Murex conchylium. (Ex 25:4; 35:25; Jg 8:26; Pr 31:22).
See Verses Found in Dictionary
Cerulean purple, and reddish purple, and double scarlet and fine cotton, and goats' hair,
And every woman wise of heart spun with her hands, and they will bring the winning, the cerulean purple, and the red purple, the double scarlet and the byssus.
And the weight of the gold rings which he asked will be a thousand and seven hundred of gold; besides of little moons and earrings and purple robes which were upon the kings of Midian, and besides from the collars which upon their camels' necks.
She made for herself coverings; byssus and purple her clothing.
Hastings
Morish
A colour often mentioned with blue and scarlet in connection with the tabernacle. Ex 25:4, etc. Among the spoils taken from the Midianites under Gideon was "purple raiment that was on the kings," and it is used as a symbol of royalty. Jg 8:26. In derision the soldiers put a crown of thorns and a 'purple' robe on the Lord, as king of the Jews. Mr 15:17,20; Joh 19:2,5. The rich man in Lu 16:19 was clothed in purple; and papal Rome is seen as a woman clothed in purple and scarlet, royalty and splendour. Re 17:4; 18:12,16.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
Cerulean purple, and reddish purple, and double scarlet and fine cotton, and goats' hair,
And the weight of the gold rings which he asked will be a thousand and seven hundred of gold; besides of little moons and earrings and purple robes which were upon the kings of Midian, and besides from the collars which upon their camels' necks.
And they clothed him with purple, and put round him, having woven, a thorny crown.
And when they mocked him, they put off the purple from him, and clothed him with his own garments, and led him out that they might crucify him.
A certain man was rich, and was clothed in purple and fine linen, being daily splendidly gladdened:
And the soldiers having twined a crown of thorns, put upon his head, and they put round him a purple robe,
Then went forth Jesus without, bearing a crown of thorns, and a purple garment. And he says to them, Behold the man!
And the woman surrounded with purple and scarlet, and covered with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and the impurity of her harlotry:
The cargo of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all fir wood, and every ivory vessel, and every vessel of precious wood, and of iron, and brass, and marble,
And saying, Woe, woe, the great city, surrounded with fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and adorned with gold, and precious stones, and pearls! for in one hour was so great riches laid waste.
Watsons
PURPLE, ?????, Ex 25:4, &c; ???????, Mr 15:17,20; Lu 16:19; Joh 19:2,5; Re 17:4; 18:12,16. This is supposed to be the very precious colour extracted from the purpura or murex, a species of shell fish; and the same with the famous Tyrian dye, so costly, and so much celebrated in antiquity. The purple dye is called in 1 Macc. 4:23, "purple of the sea," or sea purple; it being the blood or juice of a turbinated shell fish, which the Jews call ?????. (See Scarlet.) Among the blessings pronounced by Moses upon the tribes of Israel, those of Zebulun and Issachar are, "They shall suck of the abundance of the seas, and of the treasures hid in the sand," De 33:19. Jonathan Ben Uzziel explains the latter clause thus: "From the sand are produced looking glasses, and glass in general; the treasures, the method of finding and working which, was revealed to these tribes." Several ancient writers inform us, that there were havens in the coasts of the Zebulunites, in which the sand proper for making glass was found. The words of Tacitus are remarkable: "Et Belus amnis Judaico mari illabitur, circa ejus os lectae arenae admixto nitro in vitrum excoquuntur." "The river Belus falls into the Jewish sea, about whose mouth those sands mixed with nitre are collected, out of which glass is formed." But it seems much more natural to explain "the treasures hid in the sand," of those highly valuable murices and purpurae which were found on the sea coast, near the country of Zebulun and Issachar, and of which those tribes partook in common with their Heathen neighbours of Tyre, who rendered the curious dyes made from those shell fish so famous among the Romans by the names of Sarranum ostrum, Tyrii colores. In reference to the purple vestment, Lu 16:19, it may be observed that this was not appropriately a royal robe. In the earlier times it was the dress of any of high rank. Thus all the courtiers were styled by the historians purpurati. This colour is more properly crimson than purple; for the LXX, Josephus, and Philo, constantly use ???????? to express the Hebrew ?????, by which the Talmudists understood crimson; and that this Hebrew word expressed, not the Tyrian purple, but that brought to the city from another country, appears from Eze 27:7. The purple robe put on our Saviour, Joh 19:2,5, is explained by a Roman custom, the dressing of a person in the robes of state, as the investiture of office. Hence the robe brought by Herod's or the Roman soldiers, scoffingly, was as though it had been the pictae vestes usually sent by the Roman senate. In Ac 16:14, Lydia is said to be "a seller of purple." Mr. Harmer styles purple the most sublime of all earthly colours, having the gaudiness of red, of which it retains a shade, softened with the gravity of blue.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
Cerulean purple, and reddish purple, and double scarlet and fine cotton, and goats' hair,
They shall call the peoples to the mountain; there they shall sacrifice sacrifices of justice, for they shall suck the abundance of the sea, and the bidden things hid in the sand.
Fine linen with variegation from Egypt was thy spreading forth to be to thee for a signal; cerulean purple, and reddish purple, from the isles of Elisha was thy covering.
And they clothed him with purple, and put round him, having woven, a thorny crown.
And when they mocked him, they put off the purple from him, and clothed him with his own garments, and led him out that they might crucify him.
A certain man was rich, and was clothed in purple and fine linen, being daily splendidly gladdened:
A certain man was rich, and was clothed in purple and fine linen, being daily splendidly gladdened:
And the soldiers having twined a crown of thorns, put upon his head, and they put round him a purple robe,
And the soldiers having twined a crown of thorns, put upon his head, and they put round him a purple robe,
Then went forth Jesus without, bearing a crown of thorns, and a purple garment. And he says to them, Behold the man!
Then went forth Jesus without, bearing a crown of thorns, and a purple garment. And he says to them, Behold the man!
And a certain woman, by name Lydia, a dealer in purple garments, of the city of Thyatira, worshipping God, heard: whose heart the Lord opened to attend to things spoken by Paul.
And the woman surrounded with purple and scarlet, and covered with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and the impurity of her harlotry:
The cargo of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all fir wood, and every ivory vessel, and every vessel of precious wood, and of iron, and brass, and marble,
And saying, Woe, woe, the great city, surrounded with fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and adorned with gold, and precious stones, and pearls! for in one hour was so great riches laid waste.