Description
Purple cloth was a reddish-purple cloth dyed with substances obtained from several natural sources. The primary source was the murex shellfish. Another source (referred to in the Hebrew words with the root tla‘) was a small worm. The dying process could yield a variety of colors, ranging from a dark red through purple to blue. (see Dye.)
Usage
The relatively limited source for the purple color and the complicated process for its production made purple cloth extremely expensive and thus available only to kings and the richest families. In time the color came to be associated with royalty, although only several centuries after biblical times did legislation actually forbid its use by people outside the royal family.
Translation
In a number of languages there is no special color term for reddish-purple, since the color in question is sometimes classified as a kind of blue and in other instances it is related to black. Sometimes it may be described as “dark red” or even “bluish red.” However, in all languages it is possible to be somewhat more precise about color terms by likening the color to that of a local flower, bird, or something else.
In many verses in Exodus (for example, EXO 25:4), three colors in this range are mentioned together. Many translations have “blue,” “purple,” and “scarlet/red.” Where possible the translator should find three colors within this range. A Handbook on Exodus (page 582) has the following helpful comments on EXO 25:4: “It may be difficult to distinguish between the three colors, or they are all various shades of a mixture of red and blue. The difference between the words for blue and purple seems to be that the first has more blue and the second has more red. But both colors were purple. NJB translates these tow terms as ‘violet-purple’ and ‘red-purple.’ ” For guidelines on translating the color purple, see A Handbook on The Gospel of Mark, page 482.
In many of the references to purple cloth, the important element is not the color but the high rank implied by cloth of that color. Translators may prefer to make this information explicit. For example, at 1MA 10:64 for the literal clause “saw him clothed in purple” (RSV), GNT has “saw him clothed in royal robes.”
If it is necessary to designate what kind of cloth was dyed purple, translators should, where possible, choose a cloth that indicates high rank or dignity.