Hosea (ii. 5. 9.) mentions wool and flax as the two chief articles of clothing for the Jews in his time.
Ezekiel (xliv. 17, 18.), in his description of the temple which he saw in vision, says, the priests on entering the inner court would put on linen garments, including a turban and drawers of linen[528]. The use of wool is here prohibited and linen prescribed for those who were to be engaged in sacred services, on account of its superior cleanliness and purity. They were not to “gird themselves with anything that causeth sweat.” On returning to the outer court, so as to be in contact with the people, they were to put on the common dress, which was at least in part woollen.
[528] It is remarkable that the Chaldee Paraphrast Jonathan here uses בוצ (byssus) for the Hebrew פשתיס.
In the Old Testament we also find flax used for making cords, Judges xv. xvi.; for the wicks of lamps, Is. xiii. 17.; and for a measuring line, Ezek. xl. 3[529].
[529] The use of the cord of flax (linea) for measuring, &c. is the origin of the word line. “Linea genere suo appellata, quia ex lino fit.” Isidori Hisp. Etymol. l. xix. c. 18. De instrumentis ædificiorum.
According to Herodotus vii. 25, 34, 36, the Phœnicians furnished Xerxes with ropes of flax for constructing his bridge, while the Egyptians supplied ropes of Papyrus, which were inferior to the others in strength.
Whilst פשת, derived probably from פשט, to strip or peel, is used for flax in every state, we find another term, נערת, used for tow. This term therefore corresponds to Stuppa in Latin[530]; Etoupe in French; Στύπη, στυππίον or στιππίον in Greek; סרקהא, from סרק, to comb, in Syriac; Werg in modern German.
[530] The origin of Stuppa, the Latin term, was from its use in stopping chinks (stopfer, German). It was either of hemp or flax.
“Stuppa cannabi est sive lini. Hæc secundum antiquam orthographiam stuppa (stipa?) dicitur, quod ex eâ rimæ navium stipentur: unde et stipatores dicuntur, qui in vallibus eam componunt.” Isid. Hisp. Orig. xix. 27.
Eccles. xl. 4. represents poor persons as clothed in coarse linen, ὠμολίνον (Lino crudo, Jerome), meaning probably flax dressed and spun without having been steeped[531].