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.
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blue, purple, and crimson [yarns], and fine linen and goat hair,
"And the tabernacle you will make [with] ten curtains; you will make them of finely twisted linen and blue and purple and crimson [yarns], [with] cherubim, the work of a skilled craftsman.
"And the tabernacle you will make [with] ten curtains; you will make them of finely twisted linen and blue and purple and crimson [yarns], [with] cherubim, the work of a skilled craftsman.
And you will make loops of blue on the edge of the one curtain, at the end in the set; and you will do so on the edge of the end curtain in the second set.
"And you will make a curtain of blue and purple and crimson [yarns] and finely twisted linen, [the] work of a skilled craftsman; he will make it [with] cherubim.
"And you will make a curtain of blue and purple and crimson [yarns] and finely twisted linen, [the] work of a skilled craftsman; he will make it [with] cherubim.
"And you will make for the entrance of the tent a screen of blue and purple and crimson [yarns] and finely twisted linen, [the] work of an embroiderer.
"And you will make for the entrance of the tent a screen of blue and purple and crimson [yarns] and finely twisted linen, [the] work of an embroiderer.
"And you will make the robe of the ephod totally of blue [yarn].
And from the blue and the purple and the crimson [yarns] they made woven garments for serving in the sanctuary, and they made the holy garments that were for Aaron, as Yahweh had commanded Moses.
They will put on it a covering of {fine leather}, and they will spread a cloth of perfect blue over it, and they will place its poles. And over the table of the presence they will spread [out] a blue cloth and put on it the plates, dishes, and libation bowls, and the pitchers of the libation; and the bread of continuity will be on it. read more. They will spread over it a scarlet cloth, and they will cover it with a covering of {fine leather}, and they will place its poles. They will take a blue cloth and cover the lampstand for the light source, its lamps, a pair of its tongs, its small pans, and all the vessels of its oil with which they attend to it. They will put it and all its vessels inside a covering of {fine leather} and put it on the carrying frame. Over the altar of gold they will spread a blue cloth, and they will cover it with a covering of {fine leather} and place its poles. They will take all the vessels of the cultic service with which they serve in the sanctuary and put [them] on a blue cloth, and they will cover them with a covering of {fine leather}; and they will put [them] on the carrying frame.
"Speak to the {Israelites}, and tell them to make for themselves tassels on the hems of their garments throughout their generations and to put a blue cord on the tassel of the hem.
The weight of the ornamental rings of gold that he requested [was] one thousand seven hundred [shekels of] gold, apart from the crescents, pendants, and purple garments that [were] on the kings of Midian, and apart from the pendants that [were] on the necks of their camels.
Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in {royal clothing} of blue cloth and white linen, and a great crown of gold and a robe of fine white linen and purple, and the city of Susa was shouting and rejoicing.
She makes for herself coverings; her clothing [is] fine linen and purple.
Silver beaten from Tarshish is brought, and gold from Uphaz, the work of [the] craftsman and [the] hands of the goldsmith. Blue and purple [are] their clothing, all of them [are] the work of skillful people.
belted with a belt at their waist with turbans on their heads, all of them [giving] [the] appearance of adjutants, the image of the {Babylonians}; Chaldea [was] the land of their birth.
Your sail was fine linen with colorful weaving from Egypt {to serve as a banner for you}; blue and purple cloth from the coastlands of Cyprus was your awning.
Edom [was] trading [with] you because of the abundance of your products, [trading] with malachite, purple wool yarn and colorful weaving, and fine white fabric and black corals and rubies; [all these] they exchange for your merchandise.
The king cried {aloud} to bring [in] the conjurers, the {astrologers} and the diviners; the king {spoke} and said to [the] wise men of Babylon, "Any man that can read this writing and can tell me its explanation will be clothed [in] purple and [will have] necklace of gold [hung] around his neck and he will rule [as] third [in authority] in the kingdom."
"Now a certain man was rich, and dressed [in] purple cloth and fine linen, feasting sumptuously every day.
And the soldiers wove a crown of thorns and placed [it] on his head, and put a purple robe on him,
Then Jesus came outside wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, and he said 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).
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blue, purple, and crimson [yarns], and fine linen and goat hair,
And every woman [who was] skilled of heart with her hands they spun, and they brought yarn--the blue and the purple, the crimson and the fine linen.
The weight of the ornamental rings of gold that he requested [was] one thousand seven hundred [shekels of] gold, apart from the crescents, pendants, and purple garments that [were] on the kings of Midian, and apart from the pendants that [were] on the necks of their camels.
She makes for herself coverings; her clothing [is] fine linen and purple.
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
blue, purple, and crimson [yarns], and fine linen and goat hair,
The weight of the ornamental rings of gold that he requested [was] one thousand seven hundred [shekels of] gold, apart from the crescents, pendants, and purple garments that [were] on the kings of Midian, and apart from the pendants that [were] on the necks of their camels.
And they put a purple cloak on him, and [after] weaving a crown of thorns they placed [it] on him.
And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him, and they led him out so that they could crucify him.
"Now a certain man was rich, and dressed [in] purple cloth and fine linen, feasting sumptuously every day.
And the soldiers wove a crown of thorns and placed [it] on his head, and put a purple robe on him,
Then Jesus came outside wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, and he said to them, "Behold the man!"
And the woman was dressed in purple and scarlet and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, holding a golden cup in her hand full of detestable things and the unclean things of her sexual immorality.
cargo of gold and silver and precious stones and pearls and fine linen and purple cloth and silk and scarlet cloth and all kinds of scented wood and all kinds of ivory goods and all kinds of goods of precious wood and bronze and iron and marble
saying, "Woe, woe, the great city, dressed in fine linen and purple cloth and scarlet cloth, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls,
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.
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blue, purple, and crimson [yarns], and fine linen and goat hair,
They summon people [to the] mountains; there they sacrifice the sacrifices of righteousness, because the affluence of [the] seas they suck [out], and {the most hidden treasures of the sand}."
Your sail was fine linen with colorful weaving from Egypt {to serve as a banner for you}; blue and purple cloth from the coastlands of Cyprus was your awning.
And they put a purple cloak on him, and [after] weaving a crown of thorns they placed [it] on him.
And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him, and they led him out so that they could crucify him.
"Now a certain man was rich, and dressed [in] purple cloth and fine linen, feasting sumptuously every day.
"Now a certain man was rich, and dressed [in] purple cloth and fine linen, feasting sumptuously every day.
And the soldiers wove a crown of thorns and placed [it] on his head, and put a purple robe on him,
And the soldiers wove a crown of thorns and placed [it] on his head, and put a purple robe on him,
Then Jesus came outside wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, and he said to them, "Behold the man!"
Then Jesus came outside wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, and he said to them, "Behold the man!"
And a certain woman {named} Lydia from the city of Thyatira, a merchant dealing in purple cloth who showed reverence for God, was listening. The Lord opened {her} heart to pay attention to what was being said by Paul.
And the woman was dressed in purple and scarlet and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, holding a golden cup in her hand full of detestable things and the unclean things of her sexual immorality.
cargo of gold and silver and precious stones and pearls and fine linen and purple cloth and silk and scarlet cloth and all kinds of scented wood and all kinds of ivory goods and all kinds of goods of precious wood and bronze and iron and marble
saying, "Woe, woe, the great city, dressed in fine linen and purple cloth and scarlet cloth, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls,