Bean Hale

I think also that it shows the importance for a Godly woman to not have idle hands and to keep busy being productive for her and her family. When we get bored, when we have it too easy, we are much more susceptible to negative influence.

August 04 2022 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

Shanna Duck "Let a search be made in the royal archives..." Ezra 5:17 NIV

I think this verse simply is summarizing that this woman cared diligently for the clothing and textile needs of her family. 

Before modern times, most women spent a considerable amount of time spinning and weaving fabrics.. Even wealthy women might do this.  Spinning was usually done on a crude "drop spindle"  and while herding sheep or walking a girl or woman could be spinning thread. The distaff, also mentioned in these verses, is simply a stick that holds the unspun fiber. The loom used for weaving was also very simple, and just weaving a garment took time. 

The woman would get her fibers, wool and flax (the fiber from which linen fabric is made), either from her own flocks/fields or by purchase, and then process the fiber, spin it, weave it, and then do further processing (bleaching, dying, fulling) as needed.  As fabric was difficult to produce and there were no scissors as we know them today, most clothing was very simply shaped. 

Apparently the woman described here also wove items for sale, indicating that she and her maids were good craftswomen.  Whether the garments her family wears (translated either as "purple" or "double-thick") were made by her or were purchased, we don't know, but they were obviously high quality.

September 21 2013 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report