Hebrew word · H8529
תָּלַע
metula'im
to clothe in scarlet
Found only here. It is a verb formed from tôlāʿat / tôlaʿ, 'worm', the name of the kermes scale insect whose dried bodies gave crimson dye (tôlaʿat šānî, 'scarlet', in the tabernacle texts). So: 'crimson-clad', 'dyed with worm-scarlet'.
Appears once in the Hebrew Old Testament. ·
What it means
(Pual) to clad in scarlet, be wearing scarlet
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
- Range of meaning
Found only here. It is a verb formed from tôlāʿat / tôlaʿ, 'worm', the name of the kermes scale insect whose dried bodies gave crimson dye (tôlaʿat šānî, 'scarlet', in the tabernacle texts). So: 'crimson-clad', 'dyed with worm-scarlet'.
- Against the English
English 'in scarlet' / 'dressed in scarlet' is accurate. What it loses is that this was an expensive, prestige dye, the same one used in the tabernacle hangings and in royal clothes (2 Samuel 1:24; Proverbs 31:21).
- Used elsewhere in the period
tôlaʿat šānî appears again and again in Exodus 25–39 for the sanctuary fabrics. Isaiah 1:18 pairs 'scarlet' with 'crimson' (tôlāʿ). The Septuagint seems to have taken the word quite differently (see textual notes).
Where it appears
Nahum · 1
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Nahum 2:3 מְתֻלָּעִ֔ים [are] clothed in scarlet
The shields of his mighty men are red; the valiant warriors are dressed in scarlet. The fittings of the chariots flash like fire on the day they are prepared, and the spears of cypress have been brandished.
Here: Found only here. Built from tôlāʿat, the 'worm' (the kermes insect) from which crimson dye was made: literally 'worm-dyed', that is, dressed in costly crimson. The colour matches the shields.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.