Spindle

After the fibers had been drawn out, one end of the fibers was attached to the spindle, which was a short, oblong stick with a weight on the top (the whorl). The spindle was suspended in the air and spun, thus spinning the attached fibers into a thread. As the thread grew longer, it was then wrapped around the middle of the spindle until all of the fiber had been drawn out and spun.

The action of the spindle resulted in a strong “spun thread.” The Hebrew word for this spun or twisted thread is shazar (always appearing in the form moshzar) in Proverbs 31:19, Exodus 26:31, Exodus 26:36; Exodus 27:9, Exodus 27:16, Exodus 27:18; Exodus 28:6, Exodus 28:8, Exodus 28:15; Exodus 36:8, Exodus 36:35, Exodus 36:37; Exodus 38:9, Exodus 38:16, Exodus 38:18; Exodus 39:2, Exodus 39:5, Exodus 39:8, Exodus 39:24, Exodus 39:28 Exodus 39:29, and the Greek word is klōthō in Sirach 45:10.

Pictures

In the Bible

The Hebrew and Greek words for it, and every verse where each is used

Also in Cloth manufacture

Sources

Plants and Trees in the Bible, Animals in the Bible and Human-made Things in the Bible © United Bible Societies, 2025 (adapted from Each According to its Kind: Plants and Trees in the Bible by Robert Koops, All Creatures Great and Small: Living Things in the Bible by Edward R. Hope, and The Works of Their Hands: Man-made Things in the Bible by Ray Pritz), CC BY-SA 4.0; adapted for eRhema