Bible Dictionaries
Dyeing

Holman Bible Dictionary

The process of coloring materials. The dying process is not mentioned in Scripture, though dyed material is. Blue, purple, and scarlet thread was used in the making of the tabernacle curtains (Exodus 25:4; Exodus 36:8 ,Exodus 36:8,36:35 ,Exodus 36:35,36:37 ). Dyed material was an important part of the spoils of war (Judges 5:30 ). The work of the guild of linen workers (1 Chronicles 4:21 ) may have included dyeing thread. Solomon requested the King Hiram of Tyre send him someone skilled in dyeing purple, blue, and crimson for the Temple curtains (2 Chronicles 2:7; 2 Chronicles 3:14 ). Job 38:14 as emended by some modern translators (NRSV) speaks of the dawn's “dyeing” the sky. In the New Testament, Lydia was a seller of purple dyed goods ( Acts 16:14 ).

The dyeing process involved soaking the material to be dyed in vats of dye then drying it. This process was repeated until the dyed stuff was the desired color. The process was concluded by soaking in a fixing agent which rendered the cloth colorfast. Blue dye was made from the rind of pomegranates, crimson from grubs or worms that fed on oaks, and purple from the shell of the murex shellfish. Since this shellfish was found only in the vicinity of Acre on the Phoenician coast and since only a small amount of a dye material could be extracted from each shell, this dye was especially valued. Archeological evidence suggests that in Palestine of biblical times thread was dyed rather than whole cloth.