Weaving is too necessary an art not to have existed in the early periods of the world. It appears, indeed, to have in all nations come into existence with the first dawning of civilization. The Egyptians had, as might be expected, already made considerable progress therein when the Israelites tarried among them; and in this as well as in many other of the arts of life, they became the instructors of that people. Textures of cotton and of flax were woven by them; whence we read of the 'vestures of fine linen' with which Pharaoh arrayed Joseph (); terms which show that the art of fabricating cloth had been successfully cultivated. Indeed Egypt was celebrated among the Hebrews for its manufacturing skill. Thus Isaiah () speaks of 'them that work in fine flax, and them that weave networks.' That these fabrics displayed taste as well as skill may be inferred from , 'Fine linen with broidered work from Egypt.' So in , 'I have decked my couch with coverings of tapestry, with fine linen of Egypt.' If, however, the Hebrews learned the art of weaving in Egypt, they appear to have made progress therein from their own resources, even before they entered Palestine; for having before them the prospect of a national establishment in that land, they would naturally turn their attention to the arts of life, and had leisure as well as occasion, during their sojourn of forty years in the wilderness, for practicing those arts; and certainly we cannot but understand the words of Moses to imply that the skill spoken of in , sq., came from a Hebrew and not a foreign impulse. Among the Israelites weaving, together with spinning, was for the most part in the hands of females (; ); nor did persons of rank and distinction consider the occupation mean (; ). But as in Egypt males exclusively, so in Palestine men conjointly with women, wove (). From it may be inferred that there were in Israel a class of master-manufacturers. The loom, as was generally the case in the ancient world, was high, requiring the weaver to stand at his employment.
Connected with the loom are,
the shuttle ();
the weaver's beam (; );
a weaver's pin ().
The degree of skill to which the Hebrews attained it is difficult to measure. The stuffs which they wove were of linen, flax, and wool. Among the latter must be reckoned those of camels' and goats' hair, which were used by the poor for clothing and for mourning (;; ). Garments woven in one piece throughout, so as to need no making, were held in high repute; whence the Jews have a tradition that no needle was employed on the clothing of the high priest, each piece of which was of one continued texture. This notion throws light on the language used by —'the coat was without seam'—words that are explained by those which follow, and which Wetstein regards as a gloss—'woven from the top throughout.' This seamless coat, which has lately given occasion to the great religious reformatory movement begun by the priest Ronge, would seem to indicate that our Lord, knowing that His time was now come, had arrayed Himself in vestments suitable to the dignity of His Messianic office.
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John Kitto was an English biblical scholar of Cornish descent.Born in Plymouth, John Kitto was a sickly child, son of a Cornish stonemason. The drunkenness of his father and the poverty of his family meant that much of his childhood was spent in the workhouse. He had no more than three years of erratic and interrupted education. At the age of twelve John Kitto fell on his head from a rooftop, and became totally and permanently deaf. As a young man he suffered further tragedies, disappointments and much loneliness. His height was 4 ft 8 in, and his accident left him with an impaired sense of balance. He found consolation in browsing at bookstalls and reading any books that came his way.
From these hardships he was rescued by friends who became aware of his mental abilities and encouraged him to write topical articles for local newspapers, arranging eventually for him to work as an assistant in a local library. Here he continued to educate himself.
One of his benefactors was the Exeter dentist Anthony Norris Groves, who in 1824 offered him employment as a dental assistant. Living with the Groves family, Kitto was profoundly influenced by the practical Christian faith of his employer. In 1829 he accompanied Groves on his pioneering mission to Baghdad and served as tutor to Groves's two sons. In 1833 Kitto returned to England via Constantinople, accompanied by another member of the Groves mission, Francis William Newman. Shortly afterwards he married, and in due course had several children.
A London publisher asked Kitto to write up his travel journals for a series of articles in the Penny Magazine, a publication read at that time by a million people in Britain, reprinted in America and translated into French, German and Dutch. Other writing projects followed as readers enquired about his experiences in the East amidst people living in circumstances closely resembling those of Bible times.
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