פֵּ֫שֶׁת
pish.teh (H6593)
flax
AI Word Study
# Pishte (פֵּשֶׁת): Flax in Ancient Hebrew Scripture The Hebrew word *pishte* refers to flax, a plant fiber used in textile production. With 16 occurrences throughout the biblical text, the term appears with sufficient frequency to indicate its practical importance in ancient Israelite culture. The word's presence in Scripture suggests that flax cultivation and flax-based textiles were established features of daily life and commerce during the biblical period. The consistent rendering of *pishte* as "flax" across its 16 biblical instances indicates a stable, concrete meaning rather than a metaphorical or abstract concept. This straightforward denotation—pointing to the actual plant and its fibers—suggests the word was used in practical contexts, likely in discussions of agriculture, textile production, or trade goods. The frequency of occurrence, while not abundant, is significant enough to reflect the material reality of flax as a resource in ancient Near Eastern society. From a lexical standpoint, *pishte* represents the biblical Hebrew vocabulary for one of the primary fiber sources available to ancient peoples. Its presence in Scripture reflects the integration of flax production into the economic and domestic fabric of biblical communities, though the data provided here allows only the observation of the word's basic meaning and relative prevalence in the biblical corpus.
AI synthesis uses only provided lexicon data -- never training knowledge.
“The garment also that the plague of leprosy is in, whether it is a woolen garment, or a linen garment;
whether it is in warp or woof; of linen or of wool; whether in a leather, or in anything made of leather;
He shall burn the garment, whether the warp or the woof, in wool or in linen, or anything of leather, in which the plague is, for it is a destructive mildew. It shall be burned in the fire.
This is the law of the plague of mildew in a garment of wool or linen, either in the warp, or the woof, or in anything of skin, to pronounce it clean, or to pronounce it unclean.
You shall not wear clothes of wool and linen woven together.
But she had brought them up to the roof, and hidden them under the stalks of flax which she had laid in order on the roof.
When he came to Lehi, the Philistines shouted as they met him. Then Yahweh’s Spirit came mightily on him, and the ropes that were on his arms became as flax that was burned with fire; and his bands dropped from off his hands.
She seeks wool and flax, and works eagerly with her hands.
Moreover those who work in combed flax, and those who weave white cloth, will be confounded.
Yahweh said to me, “Go, and buy yourself a linen belt, and put it on your waist, and don’t put it in water.”
He brought me there; and, behold, there was a man, whose appearance was like the appearance of bronze, with a line of flax in his hand, and a measuring reed; and he stood in the gate.
“ ‘ “It will be that, when they enter in at the gates of the inner court, they shall be clothed with linen garments. No wool shall come on them while they minister in the gates of the inner court, and within.
They shall have linen turbans on their heads, and shall have linen trousers on their waists. They shall not clothe themselves with anything that makes them sweat.
For their mother has played the prostitute. She who conceived them has done shamefully; for she said, ‘I will go after my lovers, who give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, my oil and my drink.’
Therefore I will take back my grain in its time, and my new wine in its season, and will pluck away my wool and my flax which should have covered her nakedness.