Hebrew word · H6785

צֶ֫מֶר

tzemer

wool

Sheep's wool, as raw fleece or as cloth (Judg 6:37, Gideon's fleece; Lev 13:47; Prov 31:13). It was the most common clothing fiber in the hill country and the warm one. It also served as a picture of whiteness (Isa 1:18; Ps 147:16).

Appears 16 times in 16 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) wool

1a) wool

1b) whiteness (metaph.)

1c) wool (in garments)

Aramaic equivalent: a.mar (עֲמַר "wool" H6015)

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Ezekiel 44:17

Range of meaning

Sheep's wool, as raw fleece or as cloth (Judg 6:37, Gideon's fleece; Lev 13:47; Prov 31:13). It was the most common clothing fiber in the hill country and the warm one. It also served as a picture of whiteness (Isa 1:18; Ps 147:16).

Against the English

English "wool" fits. The issue is not the meaning of the word. It is the scope of the ban. Torah forbade mixing wool and linen in ordinary clothes (Lev 19:19; Deut 22:11). Ezekiel bans wool from the inner-court priest altogether.

Used elsewhere in the period

In Exodus the priestly sash and the high priest's garments were worked with blue, purple and scarlet yarn alongside linen (Exod 28:5–6; 39:29). These dyed yarns are generally understood to be wool. Josephus (Antiquities 4.208) says the wool-linen blend was forbidden to ordinary Israelites because it was reserved for priests. Ancient readers noticed the tension with Ezekiel. Rabbinic tradition (b. Shabbat 13b) recalls that Ezekiel's book was nearly withdrawn from use because parts seemed to contradict the Torah, until a scholar reconciled them.

Where it appears

Leviticus · 4
  1. Leviticus 13:47 צֶ֔מֶר wool

    If any fabric is contaminated with mildew—any wool or linen garment,

  2. Leviticus 13:48 וְלַצָּ֑מֶר and of the wool

    any weave or knit of linen or wool, or any article of leather—

  3. Leviticus 13:52 בַּצֶּ֙מֶר֙ in the wool

    He is to burn the fabric, weave, or knit, whether the contaminated item is wool or linen or leather. Since the mildew is harmful, the article must be burned up.

  4. Leviticus 13:59 הַצֶּ֣מֶר׀ <the> wool

    This is the law concerning a mildew contamination in wool or linen fabric, weave, or knit, or any leather article, for pronouncing it clean or unclean.”

Deuteronomy · 1
  1. Deuteronomy 22:11 צֶ֥מֶר wool

    Do not wear clothes of wool and linen woven together.

Judges · 1
  1. Judges 6:37 הַצֶּ֖מֶר <the> wool

    then behold, I will place a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew only on the fleece and all the ground is dry, then I will know that You are going to save Israel by my hand, as You have said.”

    Here: "Of the wool." Together: "a fleece of wool," a plain sheepskin's worth of raw wool, an ordinary farm object.

2 Kings · 1
  1. 2 Kings 3:4 צָֽמֶר׃ wool

    Now Mesha king of Moab was a sheep breeder, and he would render to the king of Israel a hundred thousand lambs and the wool of a hundred thousand rams.

Psalms · 1
  1. Psalm 147:16 כַּצָּ֑מֶר like <the> wool

    He spreads the snow like wool; He scatters the frost like ashes;

Proverbs · 1
  1. Proverbs 31:13 צֶ֣מֶר wool

    She selects wool and flax and works with eager hands.

Isaiah · 2
  1. Isaiah 1:18 כַּצֶּ֥מֶר like <the> wool

    “Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are as red as crimson, they will become like wool.

    Here: "Like the wool": natural, undyed white fleece. The image is crimson-dyed wool returning to the colour it had before it was dyed.

  2. Isaiah 51:8 וְכַצֶּ֖מֶר and like <the> wool

    For the moth will devour them like a garment, and the worm will eat them like wool. But My righteousness will last forever, My salvation through all generations.”

    Here: 'And like the wool.' Raw or woven wool was valuable and was stored, which made it exactly what moth larvae eat. It repeats the garment image in the second line.

Ezekiel · 3
  1. Ezekiel 27:18 וְצֶ֥מֶר and wool of

    Because of your many products and your great wealth of goods, Damascus traded with you wine from Helbon, wool from Zahar,

  2. Ezekiel 34:3 הַצֶּ֣מֶר the wool

    You eat the fat, wear the wool, and butcher the fattened sheep, but you do not feed the flock.

    Here: 'The wool': the flock's main source of wealth and clothing. Fronted again, so the list of what they take comes before the verbs.

  3. Ezekiel 44:17 צֶ֔מֶר wool

    When they enter the gates of the inner court, they are to wear linen garments; they must not wear anything made of wool when they minister at the gates of the inner court or inside the temple.

    Here: Sheep's wool, the everyday warm fabric of Israel. It comes last in its clause, which gives it emphasis: "…and not upon them shall come: wool."

Hosea · 2
  1. Hosea 2:5 צַמְרִ֣י wool my

    For their mother has played the harlot and has conceived them in disgrace. For she thought, ‘I will go after my lovers, who give me bread and water, wool and linen, oil and drink.’

    Here: 'My wool,' the raw material for warm outer clothing, from the flocks.

  2. Hosea 2:9 צַמְרִ֣י wool my

    Therefore I will take back My grain in its time and My new wine in its season; I will take away My wool and linen, which were given to cover her nakedness.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.