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Soap

/SOHP/

Summary

Cleansing agents derived from plant ashes and alkaline substances, used in ancient times for washing and purifying metals, though true soap as we know it was likely unknown.

☩Ancient Cleansing Agents

The Hebrew 'borith' refers to cleansing substances, probably vegetable alkali rather than soap in the modern sense. Even today in parts of Syria, soap is never used—cooking utensils, clothes, and bodies are cleansed with ashes carefully saved from household fires. The material called 'el qali' (origin of our word 'alkali') was sold as grayish lumps produced by burning desert plants and adding water to agglomerate the ashes.

Key verses:Jeremiah 2:22Malachi 3:2

☩Plants for Soap-Making

Numerous plants yielded alkalies for washing purposes: the hubeibeh (Salsola kali) found near the Dead Sea with glass-like leaves whose ashes are called 'el-Kuli' for their strong alkaline properties; the ajram near Sinai, pounded as a substitute for soap; and the gillu or 'soap plant' of Egypt. The heaths near Joppa were also sources, and large quantities of alkali were extracted, as testified by heaps of ashes outside Jerusalem and Nablus.

Key verses:Job 9:30

☩Uses of Soap

Soap-like substances served twofold purposes among the Hebrews: for cleansing the person or clothes, and for purifying metals as a flux. Though inadequate for removing moral stain—'For though thou wash thee with nitre, and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before me'—the refiner's soap pictures God's thorough purification of His people.

Key verses:Jeremiah 2:22Malachi 3:2Isaiah 1:25

Related Verses2 mentions

Jeremiah· 1 verse

2:22

Malachi· 1 verse

3:2

See Also

Armory Show, International Exhibition of Modern Art, Chicago, 1913. The Cubist room
Art

References

  1. 1.James Orr (ed.), "Soap," in International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, vol. IV (Howard-Severance Company, 1915).
  2. 2.James Orr (ed.), "Soap," in International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, vol. IV (Howard-Severance Company, 1915).
  3. 3.John McClintock and James Strong, "Soap," in Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature, vol. IX (Harper & Brothers, 1867–1887).
  4. 4.John McClintock and James Strong, "Soap," in Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature, vol. IX (Harper & Brothers, 1867–1887).
  5. 5.John McClintock and James Strong, "Soap," in Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature, vol. IX (Harper & Brothers, 1867–1887).
  6. 6.Andrew Robert Fausset, "Soap," in The Englishman's Critical and Expository Bible Cyclopædia (Hodder & Stoughton, 1878).