Blue There is one word for blue in the Bible. Tkeleth.

Blue is used several times in the bible on its own as well as in combination with other colors. We will first look at how it is used on its own. When the Ark of the Covenant was packed up to move, it was first covered with badger skins, and then a blue cloth was spread over it. The table in the tabernacle was also covered with blue as was the lampstand. The altar was covered in blue first and then with badger skins. This was the same way the instruments used to minister in the temple were covered. Blue was also used in the priestly garments. A blue cord was used to hold a plate on the priests turban. Blue lace was used to hold the breastplate on the ephod. The robe of the priest was all blue. Israelites were told to have a blue thread in the edge of their garments. In Ezekiel, blue is worn by the attractive Assyrian commanders. Obviously that last example is a little different than the others. When we see some of the combinations which involve blue that one will make more sense. For now, lets look at these examples of solid blue. Numbers 15:37-41 says The LORD said to Moses, "Speak to the people of Israel, and tell them to make tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and to put a cord of blue on the tassel of each corner. And it shall be a tassel for you to look at and remember all the commandments of the LORD, to do them, not to follow after your own heart and your own eyes, which you are inclined to whore after. So you shall remember and do all my commandments, and be holy to your God. I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God: I am the LORD your God."And it shall be a tassel for you to look at and remember all the commandments of the LORD, to do them, not to follow after your own heart and your own eyes, which you are inclined to whore after. It appears from this passage that the color blue was representing Gods commandments. Theres a sense that blue represents the scriptures and the law. It is interesting to me that while blue was the first thing to cover the altar and the instruments of service, the Ark is covered by badger skins before the blue covering goes on. I honestly have no idea why this is but it was intentional and has meaning somewhere. My personal theory is that the altar and instruments of service are part of the law and were covered first by blue. The Ark represented the presence of God and by not placing the blue representing the law directly on the Ark, this might show that the law is not supposed to ultimately be the primary way we reach the presence of God. That is only my personal thought. It is probably wrong, but it gives you somewhere to start thinking about it.

Scarlet/Crimson Scarlet and crimson seem to be used interchangeably, although they have different words in the Hebrew and Greek. There are five words used for scarlet and crimson. The first is Towla. This is an interesting word. Lets look at how it is used. The food on the table in the tabernacle was covered with a scarlet cloth. Scarlet was used in the cleansing process. The water of

cleansing was a combination of water, cedar wood, hyssop, and scarlet. This was probably scarlet dyed wool. The water of the cleansing was used in the cleansing rituals for lepers and houses with mildew. When the Old Testament refers to our sins being like scarlet and crimson, it uses the word Towla. In Lamentations 5 we are told that we are brought up in scarlet. My favorite use of the word Towla though is worm. The word for scarlet, which is used to mean sin, also means worm. This is because scarlet dye came from worms. "When the female of the scarlet worm species was ready to give birth to her young, she would attach her body to the trunk of a tree, fixing herself so firmly and permanently that she would never leave again. The eggs deposited beneath her body were thus protected until the larvae were hatched and able to enter their own life cycle. As the mother died, the crimson fluid stained her body and the surrounding wood. From the dead bodies of such female scarlet worms, the commercial scarlet dyes of antiquity were extracted. What a picture this gives of Christ, dying on the tree, shedding his precious blood that he might 'bring many sons unto glory' (Hbr 2:10)! He died for us, that we might live through him! Psa 22:6 describes such a worm and gives us this picture of Christ. (cf. Isa 1:18)" (Henry Morris. Biblical Basis for Modern Science, Baker Book House, 1985, p. 73) It is fascinating to me that a word used to represent sin is also used in the cleansing process. The vessels for incense and drink offerings as well as the bread which were on the table were covered with scarlet and on top of the blue. There is an obvious complexity we see involving sin and cleansing. This complexity comes to a climax at the cross as the perfect son of God comes to Earth and bleeds crimson blood as He takes our sin upon Himself and washes us clean. It was no random accident that the colors represented what they did in the tabernacle. It was a divine foreshadowing of Gods redemptive plan for the world. The word Kokkinos is used to describe the scarlet robe which Jesus wore right before His crucifixion when He bore our sins on the cross. In Hebrews 9:19-21, Paul says that the water of cleansing, which had scarlet in it, was the blood of the covenant. The water of cleansing represented blood. Without blood there was no cleansing. In Revelation, the woman representing Babylon sits on a scarlet beast. Another word used for scarlet was Shaniy. This was used to describe the scarlet cord Rahab used in Jericho to be saved. In the Old Testament, it is said in2 Samuel 1 that Saul clothed Israel in scarlet. Proverbs 31 says the noble woman clothes her family in scarlet. The beloveds lips are like scarlet threads in Song of Songs. Jeremiah 4:30 says that though they dress in scarlet, their lovers will despise them. This word seems to imply that there was a connection between wealth and scarlet. Scarlet was a rich luxurious color but it also represented sin. On the other side though, scarlet represents the blood of the covenant which is used to cleanse us from our sin. Jesus took this color of death and turned it into a color of life.

Purple: In the Old Testament, purple was almost always represented by the Hebrew word argamom. The ashes from the altar were wrapped in purple. The utensils for the altar were wrapped in purple. The Kings of Midian were said to wear purple. The cords on the curtains of Xerxes in Esther are purple. Mordechais robes in Esther were purple. The noble woman in Proverbs wears purple and silk. In Song of Solomon, the inside of Solomons carriage is purple. The Beloveds hair is also described as purple in SOS 7:5. This word seems to carry a royal connotation. Everytime it is mentioned it either is used with royalty, or the altar. The ashes were wrapped in purple. The offering was given to God and burnt. It was then considered holy. It had been offered to God, the king of the universe. The altar was the altar of the King, so anything associated with the altar was purple. In the New Testament, the word for purple is either Porphyra or a derivative of that. Jesus was also clothed in purple before His crucifixion. He was given scarlet and purple. The most royal figure in the world took our sins upon Himself. The rich man in Jesus parable was clothed in Purple. Lydia was a seller of purple in Acts. She helped start the Ephesian church. Purple is used elsewhere, but it is always in combination with another color so I will deal with it later. What we see here is that when purple is used on its own, it represents royalty and wealth.

Yellow: Yellow is used only a couple of times in the Bible. I am going to mainly discuss gold as a result of this. There are three things yellow is used for in the Bible: it is how priests determined if a house had mildew, yellow hair meant a person had a skin condition, and yellow was used to describe Israel in a positive way. Gold is used throughout the Bible though. I will simply give a list of things that are made of gold in the Bible. The earrings which Abrahams servant gave Rebekkah were golden. The table in the tabernacle was gold. The bells and the pomegranate on Aarons robe were made of gold. The altar was gold and the rings on the ephod were gold. The plate and the dish of incense were gold. There was a good amount of gold in the tabernacle. Gold represents wealth and power. It is sort of an awe inspiring metal. Since these are qualities of God, it makes sense that there would be a lot of gold in the temple. A guilt offering was made of gold tumors and rats to end the plague of tumors and rats. In the temple, the altar, the table for the bread of the presence, the chariot and cherubim on the Ark, and the lampstands were all made of gold. It seems to me like gold might represent the presence of God when it is used in the tabernacle and the temple. However, gold is also used to signify wealth so we also see it being used by kings of the nations who attacked Israel. For example, the cups in Esther are gold as is the golden scepter which king Xerxes extended to Esther. In Job, Gods Majesty is called golden splendor. Babylon was a golden cup in Gods hand. Daniel uses gold a lot. The head of the statue was gold in Daniel. Idols are gold. Daniel 5 mentions gods of gold. Daniel also wears a chain of gold. Revelation has a ton of gold as well. The candlesticks were gold as was Jesus girdle. The 24 elders crowns will be gold. The incense bowls and the

scepter are gold. There is a golden throne and a golden altar in Revelation as well. Christs crown is gold. The sashes on the seven angels are gold as are the bowls of wrath. Gold is worn by Babylon in Revelation and a golden measuring rod is used to measure out the New Jerusalem. It appears to me that gold is used in correlation with Gods presence. It is also a symbol of wealth and royalty.

Green: There are many words for green in the bible. The first is abiyb. It means green corn but it is also the word for the month of Passover. This means it is also the month of Easter. The word deshe means grass, specifically young grass as opposed to mature grass. It is only translated as green in Psalm 23. David uses this word in his last words when he says a ruler who rules in the fear of the Lord is as bright as the grass after the rain. Yarowq is used once in Job 39 when it says that the wild donkey searches for any green thing. Yereq means green thing and generally refers to something edible. Yaraq generally means vegetable or herb but also means green when being used to describe a vegetable or herb. Karmel represents green ears of corn or fruitful fields. The corn offered as an offering was supposed to be green. Karpac generally means cotton, but its one use in the bible is translated as green in the King James version of Esther. The curtains in the first feast were green or cotton. Iach means moist or fresh and is generally used with vines and branches in scripture. Pag is used once in Song of Solomon to mean green figs, which represent new birth. Ratob is used once in Job and means green plant. This plant is ripped from its place among the rocks and represents those who have forgotten God. Raanon means green as in a mature tree. The Israelites worshipped idols under green trees. In Psalms, a green tree is a metaphor for happiness. It also means flourishing and is used in the phrase fresh oil. Hoseah describes God as a green pine tree. Hygros is a damp living tree, as in a young tree. It is only used once and refers to the time when Christ was physically with us as opposed to when He is withdrawn and the tree is dry. Chloros means green as well. This word was used when Jesus made the people sit in green grass. It was used in Revelation to represent the pale horse. It also describes the grass which is burnt up in Revelation and the grass that is not burnt up.

Now well look at the use of a combination of these colors. Well start in the tabernacle once again. There is a very common combination of colors in the tabernacle. This combination is blue, purple, scarlet, and fine linen. We will now go through which items are these colors. First, the curtains of the tabernacle are this combination as are the loop holes in the curtains. The veil separating the Holy of Holies from the rest of the temple was these colors with Cherubim embroidered into it. The embroidered door to the tent and the embroidered door to the court was blue, purple, scarlet and fine linen. Later in the temple Solomon built, the veil was once again

blue, purple, and scarlet. If we remember from earlier, blue represents the law of God, purple represents royalty, and scarlet represents sin and cleansing. It is significant that the veil separating us from God was on one hand an interweaving of royalty, the law, and sin and on the other hand an interweaving of the word of God, holiness, and cleansing. This combination of colors includes gold as well in certain cases. This combination is primarily seen on the Ephod, which Aaron wore when he went into the Holy of Holies. It is seen on the Ephod itself, the sash around the Ehpod, the breastplate of judgment on the Ephod, and the pattern on the hem of the robe Aaron wore. If you remember, gold represents the presence of God so it does not surprise me that it shows up on the garment Aaron wore when in the presence of God. The Ephod represented the qualities of God. The blue represented His word, the purple His holiness, the scarlet represented His cleansing, and the gold represented His presence. White, green, and blue are used together in the curtains in Xerxes court. These were probably just colors associated with the kingdom of Persia. Mordechais royal garments are blue and white. Once again these are probably royal colors. The colors probably had significance, but the colors meanings are probably rooted in Persian culture and I do not know anything about it. Blue and purple are worn by the sinful nation of Israel. In Ezekiel, the nation of Tyre wears blue and purple. Tyres merchants sell blue and purple. These colors probably represent wealth and royalty. The fact that it is associated with sinful nations shows that wealth and royalty without God is useless. These colors when used with God are beautiful representations of His character. When they are used outside of God, they are sinful. Similarly, the colors purple and scarlet are worn by the woman sitting on the beast in Revelation. This woman represents Babylon. These colors are actually always used in reference to Babylon. Scarlet and purple in this case represent sin and royalty. Babylon was used throughout the bible to represent sin. Once again, these colors which are beautiful in reference to God are sinful without Him.

This is a summary of the colors in the Bible. My analysis is by no means necessarily correct; it is just my own interpretation. I used blueletterbible.org for most of my research. I hope you use this document to think about and research the use of color in the Bible yourself. I specifically encourage you to look at the use of color in the tabernacle and temple and compare it to Christ. Christ fulfilled the law so the things represented in the temple can be seen in the character and actions of Christ. I hope you grow through this and do a lot of your own research.