From: Mary Pendergraft (pender@wfu.edu)
Date: Thu Oct 07 1999 - 11:35:33 EDT
The longer I think about this, the less clear it becomes to me how one could decide which
Clement had in mind--flax used for roofing thatch or flax used for weaving. Because
LINOKALAMHN contains the element KALAM--, which means reed or stalk, I wonder whether it
would make sense to hedge your bets with a choice like "stalks of flax"--waiting, perhaps, to
become thatch or linen.
Mary
Bart Ehrman wrote:
> Do you think that LINOKALAMHN, in 1 Clement, can be / should be
> translated as "sheets of linen" or "fine linens"? (Bit different from
> straw-thatch!)
>
> -- Bart Ehrman
>
> On Wed, 6 Oct 1999, Mary Pendergraft wrote:
>
> > Linen was frequently used in Rome for clothing and other things (sails, some
> > collections of documents): a quick look at Lewis and Short under _linum_ ("linen")
> > shows citations from Horace, Ovid, Seneca, and other writers from the 1st century c.e.
> >
> > To judge from the garment care labels I have reason to read, flax is becoming less rare
> > as a component in woven fabrics today, fabrics that apparently need to be dry cleaned.
> >
> > Mary Pendergraft
> >
> >
> > Bart Ehrman wrote:
> >
> > > I'd like to thank people for their various responses so far. Let me
> > > make one comment: I'm principally interested in what the text meant to
> > > readers of the LXX in the first century (or early 2nd century) CE, not
> > > about what, if anything, "actually" happened hundreds of years earlier.
> > > I.e., my question is about what 1 Clement might have in mind, not about
> > > social practices in Iron Age Palestine (these might be the same thing or
> > > they might be radically different). Having said that, a question: does E.
> > > W. Barber have any evidence to support her reading of Joshua, or is her
> > > reading of Joshua the evidence? More important, does she give any
> > > indication of the use of LINOKALAMHN for the purpose of weaving in first
> > > century Rome?
> > >
> > > Again, many thanks,
> > >
> > > -- Bart Ehrman
> > > University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
> > >
> > > On Wed, 6 Oct 1999, Christopher Hutson wrote:
> > >
> > > >
> > > > Jim West suggests "roofing thatch," wile Margaret Wilkins argues that Rahab
> > > > was preparing flax for spinning and weaving into cloth.
> > > >
> > > > Margaret's explanation sounds more plausible to me. Jim, do we have
> > > > archaeological evidence for thatched roofs in early Iron Age Palestine? Is
> > > > there any archaeological or literary evidence that flax in particular was
> > > > used this way? As far as I know, houses were typically built with flat
> > > > roofs made of poles covered with mud and plaster. I never heard of a
> > > > thatched roof in ancient Palestine. But what do I know? Can anyone cite
> > > > evidence for thatched roofing?
> > > >
> > > > In support of Margaret, I cite here the comments of another spinner and
> > > > weaver, Elizabeth Wayland Barber, who wrote the fascinating book _Women's
> > > > Work, The First 20,000 Years: Women, Cloth, and Society in Early Times_ (NY
> > > > & London: Norton, 1994). Here is an excerpt from page 190, part of a
> > > > chapter on linen production in Egypt:
> > > >
> > > > "To obtain the fibers from the dried flax, one has to keep it wet or damp
> > > > just long enough to rot the fleshy part of the stem away from the tough,
> > > > usable fibers. Although we have no depictions in Egypt of this necessary
> > > > process, called retting, women in nearby Palestine spread their flax out in
> > > > great quantity on the fields or flat rooftops and retted it from the
> > > > dampness of the nightly dew, as we learn from a cloak-and-dagger scene in
> > > > the Old Testament: 'But she [Rahab] had brought [the fugitives] up to the
> > > > roof of the house, and hid them with the stalks of flax, which she had laid
> > > > in order upon the roof."
> > > >
> > > > Barber also points out that Exodus 35-39 contains several references to the
> > > > production of linen cloth from spun flax.
> > > >
> > > > So it appears to me that Margaret is on the right track with LINOKALAMHN in
> > > > the Rahab story.
> > > >
> > > > XPIC
> > > >
> > > > ------------------------------------
> > > > Christopher R. Hutson
> > > > Hood Theological Seminary
> > > > Salisbury, NC 28144
> > > > crhutson@salisbury.net
> > > > ------------------------------------
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > ----------
> > > > >From: "Margaret Wilkins" <M.Z.Wilkins@zoo.co.uk>
> > > > >To: Biblical Greek <b-greek@franklin.oit.unc.edu>
> > > > >Subject: Re: LINOKALAMHN
> > > > >Date: Wed, 6 Oct 1999 14:38:47 +0100
> > > > >
> > > > >As a spinner I'm going to dare to take issue with Jim West over Rahab's
> > > > >LINOKALAMHN. What she hid the spies under were stalks of the flax plant
> > > > >laid out on her roof (EPI TOU DWMATOS, as the LXX says), perhaps to dry
> > > > >after they had been soaked to remove the outer layer of the stalk to reveal
> > > > >and soften the spinnable fibres inside.
> > > > >
> > > > >Not many people today spin flax for pleasure (I think I've only ever met
> > > > one
> > > > >person who's tried it) as the plants are messy to prepare and the fibres
> > > > are
> > > > >hard on the hands. But it does make very strong and durable cloth. Apart
> > > > >from her day job, so to speak, Rahab probably helped to support the family
> > > > >whose safety she was so concerned for, and my guess would be that like the
> > > > >woman in Proverbs 31 she spun and wove her flax to make clothes for them
> > > > and
> > > > >perhaps to sell too.
> > > > >
> > > > >Margaret Wilkins
> > > > >Walsall, UK
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > ---
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> > > >
> > > >
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