What Do Byssus and Crimson Imply about the Hebrew Bible and the Septuagint?
Anna Magdalena Rambiert-Kwaśniewska
Pontifical Faculty of Theology in Wrocław, Institute of Bibical Studies , PolandAbstract
Fabrics such as byssus and crimson wool can provide us with a surprisingly large amount of information about the circumstances of Biblical books origin. Analysis of lexis related to mentioned textiles, present in Exodus and in Chronicles, allows to notice a meaningful change, occurring in technical biblical terminology. In Exodus, byssus is represented by שֵׁשׁ and crimson – by תּוֹלַעַת שָׁנִי, whilst in Chronicles naming is changed respectively to בּוּץ and כַּרְמִיל. Analysis of etymology leads to the conclusion, that textiles mentioned in Torah belong to an early vocabulary, created in the times before the exile, in Chronicles, on the other hand, encountered terms belong to period of Babylonian captivity or after the exile. Confrontation of these textiles with the other, non-biblical sources, provides a confirmation of proposed dating and facilitates identification of mysterious biblical byssus, which turns out to be a very thin linen and not – as sometimes confused – sea silk. Juxtaposition of the Greek equivalents allows to draw a conclusion, that terminology of both Torah and Chronicles was known to the LXX translators, who – despite a clear caesura – translate terms consequently: שֵׁשׁ and בּוּץ to βύσσος/βύσσινος, and תּוֹלַעַת שָׁנִי and כַּרְמִיל to κόκκινος
Keywords:
byssus, crimson, scarlet, textiles, colors, fabric, Exodus, Chronicles, Septuagint, Hebrew BibleReferences
Allen L. C., The Greek Chronicles. The Relation of the Septuagint of I and II Chronicles to the Masoretic Text (Leiden: Brill 1974).
Amar, Z., Gottlieb, H., Varshavsky, L., “The Scarlet Dye of the Holy Land”, Bioscience 12/55 (2005) 1080 1083.
Beekes R., Beck L. van, Etymological Dictionary of Greek. V. 1 i 2 (LIEEDS 10, Leiden-Boston: Brill, 2009).
Brenner A., Colour Terms in the Old Testament (JSOTSS 21, Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1983).
Bush F. W., Ruth/Esther (WBC 9, Dallas: Word Books Publisher 1971).
Cassuto U., A Commentary on the Book of Exodus (trans. I. Abrahams) (Jerusalem: Magnes Press, Hebrew University, 1997).
Chantraine P., Dictionnaire etymologique de la langue grecque: histoire des mots (Paris: Klincksieck, 1970).
The Fall of Jerusalem and the Rise of the Torah, ed. P. Dubovský, D. Markl, J.-P. Sonnet (Forschungen zum Alten Testament 107, Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck 2016).
Forbes R. J., Studies in Ancient Technology, v. 4 (Leiden: Brill 1956).
Gardiner A. H., “Two hieroglyphic signs and the Egyptian words for «Alabaster» and «Linen»”‚ Bulletin de l'institut francais d'archeologie orientale 30 (1930) 161-183.
Gaspa S., “Garments, Parts of Garments, and Textile Techniques in the Assyrian Terminology: The Neo-Assyrian Textile Lexicon in the 1st-Millennium BC Linguistic Context”, Textile Terminologies from the Orient to the Mediterranean and Europe, 1000 BC to 1000 AD (ed. S. Gaspa, C. Michel, M.-L. Nosch) (Lincoln: Zea Books 2017), 47-90.
Gesenius W., A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament with Appendix Containing the Biblical Aramaic (tras. E. Robinson) (Boston - New York – Chicago: The Riverside Press, 1906).
Glenny W. E., Hosea. A Commentary Based on Hosea in Codex Vaticanus, (SCS, Leiden-Boston: Brill, 2013).
A Greek-English Lexicon, ed. H. G. Liddell, R. Scott, H. S. Jones (Oxford: The Clarendon Press 1996) (LSJ).
Harlow M., Nosch M.-L., “Weaving the Threads: Methodologies in Textile and Dress Research for the Greek and Roman World – the State of the Art and the Case for Cross-Disciplinary” Greek and Romans Textiles and Dress: An Interdisciplinary Anthology (ed. M. Harlow, M. L. Nosch) (ATS 19; Oxford: Oxbow Books 2014), 1-33.
Hartley J. E., The Semantics of Ancient Hebrew Colour Lexemes (ANESSup 33, Louvain: Peeters 2010).
Hurvitz A., A Concise Lexicon of Late Biblical Hebrew. Linguistic Innovations in the Writings of the Second Temple Period (SVT 160, Leiden Boston: Brill, 2014).
Hurvitz A., “The Usage of שׁשׁ and בּוץ in the Bible and Its Implication for the Date of P”, The Harvard Theological Review 1/60 (1967) 117-121.
Klein E., A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the Hebrew Language for Readers of English (Jerusalem: Carta, 1987).
Knoppers G. N., I Chronicles 1-9: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary (AB 12, New York – London – Toronto: Doubleday, 2004).
Koehler L., Baumgartner W. , Stamm J. J. (ed.), Wielki słownik hebrajsko-polski i aramejsko-polski Starego Testamentu. v. 1-2 (ed. pl. P. Dec) (PSB. Warszawa: Oficyna Wydawnicza „Vocatio”, 2008).
Koren Z. C., “The Colors and Dyes on Ancient Textiles in Israel”, Colors from Nature: Natural Colors in Ancient Times (Tel Aviv: Eretz Israel Museum, 1993), 15-31.
Korn A., “Arménien karmir, sogdien krmʾyr et hébreu karmīl «rouge»”, Bulletin of SOAS 1/79 (2016) 1-22.
Lervad S., Mathiassen T. E., “textilnet.dk – A Toolkit for Terminology Research and Presentation”, Textile Terminologies from the Orient to the Mediterranean and Europe, 1000 BC to 1000 AD (ed. S. Gaspa, C. Michel, M.-L. Nosch) (Lincoln: Zea Books 2017), 528-537.
Maeder F., “Irritating Byssus – Etymological Problems, Material Facts, and the Impact of Mass Media”, Textile Terminologies from the Orient to the Mediterranean and Europe, 1000 BC to 1000 AD (ed. S. Gaspa, C. Michel, M.-L. Nosch) (Lincoln: Zea Books 2017), 500-519.
Martelli, “Alchemical Textiles. Colourful Garments, Recipes, and Dyeing Techniques in Greco-Roman Egypt”, Greek and Romans Textiles and Dress: An Interdisciplinary Anthology (ed. M. Harlow, M. L. Nosch) (ATS 19; Oxford: Oxbow Books 2014) 111-130.
Oppenheim A. L., “Essay on Overland Trade in the First Millennium B.C.”, Journal of Cuneiform Studies 21 (1967) 236-254.
Rosół R., Frühe semitische Lehnwörter im Griechischen (Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang 2013).
Schiffman L. H., The Courtyards of the House of the Lord. Studies on the Temple Scroll (STDJ 75, Leiden Boston: Brill 2008).
Shamir O., “Textile Production in Eretz-Israel”, Michmanim 16 (2002) 18-32.
Shamir O., Sukenik N., “Qumran Textiles and the Garments of Qumran’s Inhabitants”, Dead Sea Discoveries 18 (2011) 206-225.
Ska J. L, Introduzione alla lettura del Pentateuco: chiavi per l'interpretazione dei primi cinque libri della Bibbia (Collana Biblica, Bologna: EDB 2004).
Sukenik, „Dyes in Eretz Israel in the Roman Period, in Light of the Textile Findings from the Judean Desert Caves”, Cathedra 154 (2014) 7-28.
Szczepanowicz B., Moda w Biblii (Kraków: Wydawnictwo Księży Sercanów DEHON, 2011).
Tronina A., Pierwsza Księga Kronik, (NKBST 10/1, Częstochowa: Edycja Świętego Pawła 2015).
Wörterbuch der Aegyptischen Sprache, ed. A. Erman, H. Grapow, Vol.3 (Berlin: Akademie Verlag 1971).
Pontifical Faculty of Theology in Wrocław, Institute of Bibical Studies
License
- Pursuant to the Act on Copyright and Related Rights of February 4, 1994, the Author of the publication grants to the Publisher of the journal „The Biblical Annals” e a non-exclusive and royalty-free license to use the Work submitted for publication, without time and territorial restrictions in the following fields of use:
a) record the Work and copy it by means of any technique (including printing and electronic recording) on all known data carriers (including IT, electronic and polygraphic), and in all IT systems (in particular those available online);
b) enter the Work into computer memory, disseminate the Work and its copies, as well as market the Work and its copies;
c) publicly perform, replay, display and screen the Work, as well as lend, rent and lease the Work and its copies;
d) make available, market and disseminate the Work and its copies via IT networks, and in particular via the Internet, including the promotion or advertising of the Work, the journal or the Publisher. - The Author shall further grant his/her consent for the Publisher to use and dispose of derivative works.
- The Publisher may sublicense the work.
- Third parties may use the articles and other materials containing the Works, or developed on the basis of the Works in line with the model Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (also referred to as CC BY 4.0).
