The city of Thyatira was well known for its ability to dye cloth. On the Sabbath he meets a businesswoman named Lydia, a seller of dyes whose hometown was Thyatira (Acts 16:14). More Info on Biblical Meaning of Purpleĭuring his second missionary journey the Apostle Paul finds himself in Philippi, being guided to preach the gospel in Europe by the Holy Spirit (Acts 16:9 - 10). The book of Matthew says, however, that the robe was scarlet colored (Matthew 27:28). The Gospels of Mark and John (Mark 15:17, 20, John 19:2, 5) state that the robe Pontius Pilate's soldiers placed on Jesus, in order to mock him, was purple. Working with it was such an important skill that King Solomon requested from Tyre's King Hiram a man specializing in dyeing with it (2Chronicles 2:7) to supervise building the temple. It was used in curtains (veils) and carpets found in the tabernacle (along with blue, scarlet and white), as well as the garments worn by the High Priest. It was an integral part of the temple and its services (Exodus 25:4, 26:1, 36, 27:16, Numbers 4:13, etc.). Purple can represent royalty, majesty and high officials (Judges 8:26, Esther 8:15) as well as conveying the meaning of wealth, prosperity and luxury (Exodus 28:5, Ezekiel 27:7, Proverbs 31:22, Song of Solomon 3:10, 7:5, Luke 16:19, Acts 16:14, Revelation 17:4, 18:12, 16). The three Greek New Testament words used are porphura (#G4209), which refers to the animal from which the pigment is extracted, porphurous (#G4210), which is the color's literal name and porphuropolis (#G4211), which is a reference to a female trader of the dye. The Hebrew Old Testament word translated as this color is argaman (Strong's Concordance #H713). In the King James translation, the word purple occurs forty-eight times, of which nine are in the New Testament. Only one country, Dominica, uses it in their flag. To produce one pound of dye, during ancient Roman Empire times, took the acquiring of four million mollusks.Įven though it has a long history of association with kings and rulers, purple is rarely in modern national flags. Each snail produced only a single drop of the needed fluid.

The liquid used to create it came from a tiny Mediterranean Sea snail gland. Surprisingly, the prophet Ezekiel mentions the Tyrians obtaining it from the islands of Elishah (Ezekiel 27:7) and through the Syrians (verse 16).Īnciently, the production of this type of dye was a long and laborious task.

In ancient times, the cities of Tyre and Sidon were well-known producers of this pigment and possessed a thriving dyeing industry.

A rare color