Greek word · G4211
πορφυρόπωλις
porphyropōlis
dealer in purple
A compound of πορφύρα (purple, purple dye, purple cloth) and πωλέω (to sell): a woman who traded in purple. That could mean dyed fabric, garments or dye. Purple covered a range of shades from deep red to violet.
Appears once in the Greek New Testament. ·
What it means
From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).
In depth
- Range of meaning
A compound of πορφύρα (purple, purple dye, purple cloth) and πωλέω (to sell): a woman who traded in purple. That could mean dyed fabric, garments or dye. Purple covered a range of shades from deep red to violet.
- Against the English
KJV/WEB "a seller of purple" is literal but unclear to a modern reader, who may picture paint or a color. BSB "a dealer in purple cloth" is clearer but narrows the word to cloth, when it may have included dye.
- How it drifted
Purple no longer carries status in modern culture. In Rome it marked rank: the broad purple stripe of senators, imperial purple.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Inscriptions from Thyatira mention a guild of dyers (βαφεῖς), and Thyatira and the wider Lydian region were known for dyeing. True shellfish purple, made from murex snails, was extremely expensive. Inland dyers in Asia Minor also produced red-purple shades from madder root, which cost much less. A Latin inscription from Philippi mentions purple-dealers (purpurarii), so the trade was active there. Which kind of purple Lydia dealt in is not stated.
Similar words
Where it appears
Acts · 1
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Acts 16:14 πορφυρόπωλις a seller of purple
Among those listening was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message.
Here: A woman who sold purple: purple-dyed cloth and probably the dye itself. It is a trade label, and it explains why someone from Asia Minor was living in Macedonia.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.