SILK

Produced by caterpillars of various species and especially by the Chinese silkworm, which feeds on mulberry leaves and emits a fluid that hardens into fine threads to form a cocoon. Silk is the strongest of natural fibers and has been used since Biblical times to make beautiful, lightweight cloth. Silken fabric, considered by archaeologists as having been woven over 2,200 years ago, has been found in tombs of a Phoenician cemetery in the Melita district near Sabratha, Libya.

Silkworm culture appears to have had its start in China and to have spread from there to other lands, such as India. The Greeks called silk se·ri·konʹ, thus linking it with the “Seres” (generally identified as the Chinese). Silk is listed in Scripture among the costly articles of merchandise bought by “Babylon the Great.”—Rev. 18:2, 11, 12.

Some Bible translations use “silk” for the Hebrew word meʹshi at Ezekiel 16:10, 13. (AS, AT, AV, JP, Le, Mo, Ro, RS) According to rabbinical tradition, me’shi denotes silk; however, there is uncertainty. Accordingly, the New World Translation, with the support of modern lexicographers, renders it “costly material.”