By this word we generally understand that fine Egyptian linen of
which the priests’ tunics were made. But we must distinguish three kinds
of commodities, which are generally comprehended under the name of
_linen_: 1. The Hebrew בד, which signifies _linen_: 2. שש, which
signifies _cotton_: 3. בוץ, which is commonly called _bussus_, and is
the silk growing from a certain shell fish, called _pinna_. We do not
find the name _butz_ in the text of Moses, though the Greek and Latin
use the word _byssus_, to signify the fine linen of certain habits
belonging to the priests. The word _butz_ occurs only in 1 Chron. xv,
27; Ezek. xxvii, 16; Esther i, 6. In the Chronicles we see David dressed
in a mantle of _butz_, with the singers and Levites. Solomon used _butz_
in the veils of the temple and sanctuary. Ahasuerus’s tents were upheld
by cords of _butz_; and Mordecai was clothed with a mantle of purple and
_butz_, when king Ahasuerus honoured him with the first employment in
his kingdom. Lastly, it is observed that there was a manufacture of
_butz_ in the city of Beersheba, in Palestine. This _butz_ must have
been different from common linen, since in the same place where it is
said, David wore a mantle of byssus, we read likewise that he had on a
linen ephod.
which the priests’ tunics were made. But we must distinguish three kinds
of commodities, which are generally comprehended under the name of
_linen_: 1. The Hebrew בד, which signifies _linen_: 2. שש, which
signifies _cotton_: 3. בוץ, which is commonly called _bussus_, and is
the silk growing from a certain shell fish, called _pinna_. We do not
find the name _butz_ in the text of Moses, though the Greek and Latin
use the word _byssus_, to signify the fine linen of certain habits
belonging to the priests. The word _butz_ occurs only in 1 Chron. xv,
27; Ezek. xxvii, 16; Esther i, 6. In the Chronicles we see David dressed
in a mantle of _butz_, with the singers and Levites. Solomon used _butz_
in the veils of the temple and sanctuary. Ahasuerus’s tents were upheld
by cords of _butz_; and Mordecai was clothed with a mantle of purple and
_butz_, when king Ahasuerus honoured him with the first employment in
his kingdom. Lastly, it is observed that there was a manufacture of
_butz_ in the city of Beersheba, in Palestine. This _butz_ must have
been different from common linen, since in the same place where it is
said, David wore a mantle of byssus, we read likewise that he had on a
linen ephod.