Goats' Hair

GOATS' HAIR

('ez): The word for she-goat is used elliptically to mean goats' hair, which was used in the tabernacle furnishings in the form of curtains (Exodus 26:7; Exodus 36:14). Goats' hair was probably used in the Midianite and Israelite camps in much the same way as in the Bedouin camps today (compare Numbers 31:20). The tents, tent ropes and rugs are made of spun goats' hair. The provision sacks which hold wheat, rice, etc., and the saddlebags are made of the same material. A strip of the cloth rolled up furnishes a bolster for the head while sleeping (compare 1 Samuel 19:13, 16). Goats' hair cloth is admirab1y suited to stand the hard usage of a frequently shifting encampment. The children of Israel appreciated its utility, even for the tabernacle, where to the modern critical eye it would have looked out of place, matched against scarlet and fine linen (Exodus 25:4; Exodus 35:6, 26). The fact that goats' hair was used is good indication of the comparative crudeness of the tabernacle, when contrasted with present-day furnishings.

See also HAIR; WEAVING.

James A. Patch

Goats' Hair

Was used by Moses in making the curtains of the tabernacle, Exodus 25:4; 26:7; 35:6. The hair of the goats of Asia, Phrygia, and Cilicia, is very bright and fine, and hangs to the ground; in beauty it almost equals silk, and is never sheared, but combed off. The shepherds carefully and frequently wash these goats in rivers. The women of the country spin the hair, which is carried to Angora, where it is worked and dyed, and a considerable trade in the article carried on. The natives attribute the quality of the hair to the soil of the country. The ordinary goats-hair cloth of the Arabs, used for the coverings of tents, etc., is coarse and black; and this is the kind of which the garments of the Hebrew prophets and of the poor were made.

5795. ez -- female goat
... goat* (5), young goats* (3). she goat, kid. From azaz; a she-goat (as strong), but
masculine in plural (which also is used ellipt. For goat's hair) -- (she) goat ...
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