Spinning (Hastings' Dictionary)
The notices of spinning in the Bible are very meagre, being found only in Ex 35^- -° P ( nip 'spui.'and ni^? 'yarn') and Mttj-", Lk 12-'' (vtiOui'') ; but the art is implied in many other passages, such as where the curtains and hangings of the taber- nacle are mentioned ; and the various garments, the materials for which must have been spun. The description of the virtuous woman in Pr 31'""" includes it as one of her chief accomplishments (vv.'^-"); and the Heb.
women were certainly skUled in working the spindle, as is evident from the articles which, ace. to P, they prepareil for the tabernacle (Ex So-'''-). They used a haiui-siiindle, such as was in use in Egypt, and sucli as the women of Syria and Palestine still emjiloy. This consisted of a whorl or hemispherical disc of wood, amber, or other material, for steadying the motion of the pin which passed througli the centre (Wilkin- son, Anc. Egyjj. i. 317, ed. 1878). The Egyp.
sjiindle was over a foot long [ib. ii. 171, 172), and, tliougii generally of wood, was also made of rushes and palm-leaves. The distaff' w.is no doubt em- ployed, but the word so tr"* in Pr 31" means more properly the whorl, or the spindle itself. (See Dl.STAIF). In Egypt men as well as women engaged in spinning, but among the Hebrews women only are mentioned in this connexion.
Tlie materials they used were wool and llax (l'r31'"), goats' hair (Ex 35-"), and possibly cotton, wliich was known in Egypt (Wilkinson, ii. l.')9). Even silk may have been used (cf. Ezk IC'"- '« and Pr 31, ), as Kenrick (Phan. p. 246) says that raw silk was brought to Berytus and Tyre by the Persian lucrchants, but it was too rare to have been much emiiloyed.
Raw silk is spun quite extensively at present by the Syrian women, and tliej' use the spindle to iill up leisure hours much as Western womcjii do the knitting-needle. H. Porter.
This topic also has an entry in the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Both articles offer independent scholarly perspectives.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia on Spinning
Spinning spin'-ing: Although spinning must have been one of the commonest of the crafts in Bible times, it is mentioned definitely in three passages only, namely, Ex 35:25 f, where Tawah, is so translated, and in Mt 6:28; Lu 12:27 nethein), where Jesus refers to the lilies of the field as neither toiling nor spinning. ⇒See a list of verses on SPINNING in the Bible. The materials commonly spun were flax, cotton, wool, goats' hair. Goats' hair required little preparation other than washing, before spinning. Wool was first cleansed and then carded. The present method of carding, which no doubt is of ancient origin, is to pile the wool on a mat and then detach the fibers from each other by snapping a bow-string against the pile. The bow is specially constructed and carefully balanced so that it can be easily held with one hand while with the other the string is struck with a pestle-shaped mallet like a carver's mallet. The same instrument is used for carding cotton. Flax was treated in ancient times as today, if the Egyptian sculptures have been rightly interpreted. The stalks after bein…
Smith's Bible Dictionary on Spinning
The notices of spinning in the Bible are confined to (Exodus 35:25,26; Proverbs 31:19; Matthew 6:28) The latter passage implies (according to the Authorized Version) the use of the same instruments which have been in vogue for hand-spinning down to the present day, viz. the distaff and spindle. The distaff however, appears to have been dispensed with, and the term so rendered means the spindle itself, while that rendered “spindle” represents the whirl of the spindle, a button of circular rim which was affixed to it, and gave steadiness to its circular motion. The “whirl” of the Syrian women was made of amber in the time of Pliny. The spindle was held perpendicularly in the one hand, while the other was employed in drawing out the thread. Spinning was the business of women, both among the Jews and for the most part among the Egyptians.
References
- Orr, J. (ed.) (1915) The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Chicago: Howard-Severance Company. [Public Domain]
- Easton, M.G. (1893) Easton's Bible Dictionary. 3rd edn. Thomas Nelson. [Public Domain]
- Nave, O.J. (1897) Nave's Topical Bible. Topical Bible Publishing Co.. [Public Domain]
- Hastings, J. (ed.) (1909) A Dictionary of the Bible. Edinburgh: T&T Clark. [Public Domain]
- Smith, W. (ed.) (1884) Smith's Bible Dictionary. London: John Murray. [Public Domain]
- Fausset, A.R. (1878) Fausset's Bible Dictionary. [Public Domain]A Critical and Expository Bible Cyclopaedia