Lake of Life - Fuller's Soap

Fuller’s soap

and like fuller's soap; or "fuller's herb", as the Septuagint and Vulgate Latin versions render it, and Jarchi interprets it: and so R. Jonah (s) interprets it of an herb which fullers use: and in the Misna (t) this is one of the seven things used to take out spots, namely, "borith", the word here used; and which Maimonides (u) says is a plant known by the name of "algasul" and "gazul" in the Arabic language: it signifies something by which filth is washed away; and so Bartenora (w) says it is a plant which purifies and cleanses; and Jerom (x) relates that this herb grows in Palestine, in moist and green places, and has the same virtue as nitre to take away filth; agreeably to which some other versions render it "fuller's weed", or "soap weed" (y). The Syriac version is, "as sulphur that makes white;'' and fullers, with the Romans, were wont to make use of that along with chalk to take out spots; and so Pliny (z) speaks of a kind of sulphur which fullers make use of.
(s) Apud Kimchi in Sepher Shorash. rad. (t) Niddah. c. 9. sect. 6. (u) In Misn. ib. (w) In ib. (x) Comment. in Jer. ii. 22. (y) "ut lanaria fullonum", Drusius; "radicula, vel saponaria", Vatablus. (z) Nat. Hist. l. 35. c. 15.

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Brimstone was burned in ancient times to create sulfuric acid, which bleached wool. Sulfuric acid baths were later used to bleach cotton and linen.

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FULLER (Heb. kāḇas; Gk. gnapheús).† A person who treats woolen and linen fabrics to shrink and thicken them. The process involved beating and treading upon the material as well as scouring it with soap and water (Mal. 3:2) or with fuller’s alkali (so JB; NJV “fuller’s lye”), a cleanser made from ashes or clay and perhaps mixed with urine and other substances. Finally, the material was stretched in the sun for bleaching.

The fuller’s shop was generally located near a water supply and outside the city in an area with sufficient room for drying and bleaching and where the odors yielded in the process would not be so offensive. The Fuller’s Field (Heb. śeḏēh ḵôḇēṣ) which was the meeting place for Isaiah and Ahaz (Isa. 7:3) as well as the officers of Hezekiah and Sennacherib (2 Kgs. 18:17 par. Isa. 36:2) was located near the conduit of the upper pool, perhaps in the vicinity of En-rogel or the Spring Gihon.

The purification of the priesthood in preparation for the day of the Lord is compared to a fuller’s cleansing (Mal. 3:2; cf. Jer. 2:22). During the transfiguration Jesus’ garments become whiter than any that a fuller could bleach (Mark 9:3).
Allen C. Myers, The Eerdmans Bible Dictionary, Rev., augm. translation of: Bijbelse encyclopedie. Rev. ed. 1975., 394 (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1987).

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FULLER [Heb kāḇas (2 K. 18:17; Isa. 7:3; 36:2; Mal. 3:2); Gk gnapheús (Mk. 9:3)]; NEB also BLEACHER (Mk. 9:3). The fuller was usually the dyer since before the woven cloth could be properly dyed it had to be freed from the oily and gummy substances naturally found on the raw fiber. Many different substances were used for cleansing. Among them were white clay, putrid urine, and the ashes of certain desert plants (Arab qali [“soap,” Mal. 3:2]). The fuller’s shop was usually outside the city (2 K. 18:17; Isa. 7:3; 36:2) for two reasons: first, because of his need for space to spread out his cloth for drying and sunning; and second, because of the offensive odors sometimes produced by his processes. The Syrian indigo dyer still uses a cleaning process closely related to that pictured on the Egyptian monuments. The unbleached cotton is soaked in water and then sprinkled with the powdered ashes of the ishnan, locally called qali, and then beaten in heaps on a flat stone either with another stone or with a large wooden paddle. To wash the cloth free from the alkali, small boys tread on it either in a running stream or in many changes of clean water (cf. En-rogel, lit “foot fountain,” but translated also “fuller’s fountain” because of the fullers’ method of washing their cloth). God’s purifying activity has been compared to “fuller’s soap” (Mal. 3:2), and Mark described Jesus’ garments at the time of His transfiguration as being whiter than any fuller on earth could whiten them (Mk. 9:3).
Geoffrey W. Bromiley, The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Revised, 2:370 (Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1988; 2002).

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Fuller. One who cleans, shrinks, thickens, and sometimes dyes newly cut wool or cloth. The Hebrew word rendered as “fuller” means “to trample” or “to tread,” suggesting that action as a major part of the craft. The fuller removed the oily and gummy substances from material before it could be used by washing it in some alkaline such as white clay, putrid urine, or nitre, as there was no soap in those days. The alkaline was washed out by treading on the material repeatedly in running or clean water. The material was then dried and bleached by the sun.

The fuller’s process created an unpleasant odor. Therefore, it was usually done outside the city gates in an area named Fuller’s Field (2 Kin. 18:17; Is. 7:3). God is compared to fuller’s “soap” (Mal. 3:2). Jesus’ garments at His transfiguration were described as whiter than any human fuller could make them (Mark 9:3; launderer, NASB; bleacher, REB).
Nelson's New Illustrated Bible Dictionary, ed. Ronald F. Youngblood, F. F. Bruce, R. K. Harrison et al. (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, Inc., 1995).

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h. The fuller

The art of fulling, cleansing and bleaching cloth was of importance because of the high cost of clothing and the need to cleanse the fibres of their natural oil or gums before dyeing. In some places the fuller was also the dyer.

It was customary for a fuller to work outside a town within reach of water in which clothes could be cleaned by treading them on a submerged stone. Hence the fuller was characteristically called a ‘trampler’ (Heb. kāḇas). At Jerusalem the locality outside the E wall where garments were spread to dry in the sun was called the ‘fuller’s field’ (2 Ki. 18:17; Is. 7:3; 36:2). Christ’s garments at the transfiguration were described as brighter than it was possible for any fuller (Gk. gnapheus, ‘cloth dresser’) to whiten them (Mk. 9:3).

For cleansing, natron (nitre) was sometimes imported from Egypt, where, mixed with white clay, it was used as soap (Pr. 25:20; Je. 2:22). Alkali was plentifully available in plant ash, and soap (Heb. bōrīṯ, kâlî) was obtained by burning the soda plant (Salsola kali). The ‘fullers’ soap’ of Mal. 3:2 was probably ‘cinders of bōrīṯ’, since potassium and sodium nitrate do not seem to have been known in Syria or Palestine, though found in Babylonia.

Other crafts, *Art, *Cosmetics and Perfumery, *Ivory, *Spinning and Weaving, *Embroidery; glass-making, *Glass; other references to crafts, *Music, *Egypt, *Assyria and *Babylonia.
Bibliography. C. Singer (ed.), A History of Technology, 1, 1958; G. E. Wright, Biblical Archaeology, 1957, pp. 191-198; R. J. Forbes, Studies in Ancient Technology, 1-8, 1955-64; A. Reifenberg, Ancient Hebrew Arts, 1950; A. Lucas, Ancient Egyptian Materials and Industries, 1962; J. Jeremias, Jerusalem in the Time of Jesus, 1969; D. Strong and D. Brown, Roman Crafts, 1976. D. R. W. Wood and I. Howard Marshall, New Bible Dictionary, 3rd ed., 90 (Leicester, England; Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1996).

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Fuller. The trade of the fullers, so far as it is mentioned in Scripture, appears to have consisted chiefly in cleansing garments and whitening them. The process of fulling or cleansing clothes consisted in treading or stamping on the garments with the feet or with bats in tubs of water, in which some alkaline substance answering the purpose of soap had been dissolved. The substances used for this purpose which are mentioned in Scripture are natron, Prov. 25:20; Jer. 2:22, and soap. Mal. 3:2. Other substances also are mentioned as being employed in cleansing, which, together with alkali, seem to identify the Jewish with the Roman process, as urine and chalk. The process of whitening garments was performed by rubbing into them chalk or earth of some kind. Creta cimolia (cimolite) was probably the earth most frequently used. The trade of the fullers, as causing offensive smells, and also as requiring space for drying clothes, appears to have been carried on at Jerusalem outside the city.
William Smith, Smith's Bible Dictionary (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1997).

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FULLER (3526)
The Hebrew word kōbēs is from kābas, to tread. Fulling, or cleansing, cloth was carried out by stamping on the garments with the feet (or with bats) in tubs of water containing some alkaline dissolved, such as soap, or niter, a potash which mixed with oil was used as soap (Proverbs 25:20; Jeremiah 2:22; Malachi 3:2). The niter is not saltpeter but native carbonate of soda. Chalk or some sort of earth was used to whiten garments. The trade was carried outside Jerusalem to avoid offensive smells. The fuller’s field mentioned in Isaiah 7:3 and 36:2 contained a raised causeway in which was the conduit of the upper pool, an important part of Jerusalem’s water supply. There God encouraged Ahaz through Isaiah (Isaiah 7:3). Thither Rabshakeh advanced to a convenient place near the temple walls, to utter his boastful threat (10:28, 32, with 36:2).

The white garment is symbolic of the righteousness of Christ and of His people. Hence the exhortation “Let thy garments be always white” (Ecclesiastes 9:8; compare Revelation 3:4, 5, 18; 19:8). Compare also the transfiguration garments of Christ, “exceeding white as snow; so as no fuller on earth can whiten them” (Mark 9:3).
W.E. Vine and F.F. Bruce, Vine's Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words, 1:71-72 (Old Tappan NJ: Revell, 1981; Published in electronic form by Logos Research Systems, 1996).

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Fuller. A fuller was a person, man or woman, engaged in cleaning cloth (Isa 7:3; Mal 3:2; Mk 9:3). The work of the fuller was of two kinds, depending on whether he dealt with new cloth from the loom or with soiled garments that had already been worn. He cleaned dirty clothing by steeping and treading them in water mixed with an alkaline substance obtained from plant ash (translated “soap” in Mal 3:2). Hence the fuller was characteristically called a “treader” or “trampler” (from Heb. kābas ). Because of the foul odor involved, such work was carried on in a “field” or place outside the city where water, stones on which the garments might be trampled, and space for dying and bleaching them by the sun were available (II Kgs 18:17; Isa 7:3; 36:2). See Fuller’s Field. . A cleansing agent sometimes used by the fuller was natron (saltpeter) imported from Egypt and mixed with white clay (Prov 25:20; Jer 2:22).

Newly woven material (the “unshrunk cloth” of Mt 9:16; Mk 2:21, RSV) had to be cleansed of natural oils or gums before dyeing. The cloth was thoroughly steeped, stamped in order to felt it, then bleached with fumes of sulphur, and finally pressed in the fuller’s press. See Occupations: Dyer.

The cleansing, bleaching, or whitening accomplished by the fuller gave occasion for descriptions of the purified character produced by forgiveness of sin (Ps 51:7; Jer 4:14). Thus, in Zech 3:4, the removal of the “filthy garments” of Joshua the high priest symbolized God’s taking away his iniquity. Isa 1:18 describes the forgiveness of the Lord as imparting a character “white as snow.”
Charles F. Pfeiffer, Howard Frederic Vos and John Rea, The Wycliffe Bible Encyclopedia (Moody Press, 1975; 2005).

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3526. כָּבַס kāḇas: A verb meaning to wash. The root meaning of the verb is to trample, which was the means of washing clothes. The word most often refers to washing clothes (Gen. 49:11; 2 Sam. 19:24[25]), especially ceremonially (Ex. 19:10; Lev. 15; Num. 19). As a participle, the word means fuller, one who left clothes to dry in the fuller’s field (2 Kgs. 18:17; Isa. 7:3; 36:2). An intensive form of the verb is used of the fuller in Malachi 3:2, whose soap is a symbol of Christ’s demand for purity. In Jeremiah 2:22, the word may refer literally to ceremonial washings but also implies mere human effort used in an external attempt to overcome sin. In Psalm 51:2[4], 7[9], the word refers to God’s internal cleansing of the heart, making it as white as snow. Jeremiah 4:14, however, showed that God’s people must work to cleanse their hearts and avoid temporal destruction.
Warren Baker, The Complete Word Study Dictionary : Old Testament, 494 (Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2003, c2002).

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Fuller — The word “full” is from the Anglo-Saxon fullian, meaning “to whiten.” To full is to press or scour cloth in a mill. This art is one of great antiquity. Mention is made of “fuller’s soap” (Mal. 3:2), and of “the fuller’s field” (2 Kings 18:17). At his transfiguration our Lord’s rainment is said to have been white “so as no fuller on earth could white them” (Mark 9:3). En-rogel (q.v.), meaning literally “foot-fountain,” has been interpreted as the “fuller’s fountain,” because there the fullers trod the cloth with their feet.

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LYE (Heb. neṯer, bōr), SOAP (bōrîṯ).† Potassium carbonate lye was refined from wood ashes and combined with oils to produce soap. Lye and soap are both mentioned only in figures of speech, primarily for thorough moral purification, as at Job 9:30 (Heb. bōr; KJV “never so clean”); Jer. 2:22 (neṯer, bōrîṯ); Mal. 3:2 (bōrîṯ; see Fuller). Vinegar poured on lye (RSV mg.; KJV “nitre”) is a figure for the defeat given when one “sings songs to a heavy heart” at Prov. 25:20 (RSV “wound,” following the LXX, a figure of exacerbation of sorrow). At Isa. 1:25 “thoroughly” (cf. KJV “purely”) is preferable to the RSV “as with lye”; the JB emends kabōr (bōr with the preposition ke to bakūr “in the furnace” (cf. NJV).
Allen C. Myers, The Eerdmans Bible Dictionary, Rev., augm. translation of: Bijbelse encyclopedie. Rev. ed. 1975., 670 (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1987).

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FULLER’S FIELD, THE

<fool’-ers feld>, ([שְׂדֵה כוֹבֵס, sedheh khobhec]): In all references occurs “the conduit of the upper pool, in the highway of the fuller’s field”; this must have been a well-known landmark at Jerusalem in the time of the monarchy. Here stood Rabshakeh in his interview with Eliakim and others on the wall (2 Ki 18:17; Isa 36:2); clearly the highway was within easy earshot of the walls. Here Isaiah met Ahaz and Shear-jashub his son by command of Yahweh (Isa 7:3). An old view placed these events somewhere near the present Jaffa Gate, as here runs an aqueduct from the Birket Mamilla outside the walls of the Birket Hamam el Batrah, inside the walls; the former was considered the “Upper Pool” and is traditionally called the “Upper Pool” of Gihon. But these pools and this aqueduct are certainly of later date (see JERUSALEM). Another view puts this highway to the North side of the city, where there are extensive remains of a “conduit” running in from the North. In favor of this is the fact that the North was the usual side for attack and the probable position for Rabshakeh to gather his army; it also suits the conditions of Isa 7:3. Further, Josephus (BJ, V, iv, 2) in his description of the walls places a “Monument of the Fuller” at the Northeast corner, and the name “fuller” survived in connection with the North wall to the 7th century, as the pilgrim Arculf mentions a gate. West of the Damascus gate called Porta Villae Fullonis. The most probable view, however, is that this conduit was one connected with Gihon, the present “Virgin’s Fountain” (see GIHON). This was well known as “the upper spring” (2 Ch 32:30), and the pool, which, we know, was at the source, would probably be called the “Upper Pool.” In this neighborhood — or lower down the valley near En-rogel, which is supposed by some to mean “the spring of the fuller” — is the natural place to expect “fulling.” Somewhere along the Kidron valley between the Virgin’s Fountain and the junction with the Tyropeon was the probable scene of the interview with Rabshakeh; the conversation may quite probably have occurred across the valley, the Assyrian general standing on some part of the cliffs now covered by the village of Siloam.
E. W. G. Masterman. James Orr, M.A., D.D., The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia : 1915 Edition, ed. James Orr (Albany, OR: Ages Software, 1999).

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FULLER’S FIELD [Heb śeḏēh ḵôḇēṣ]. A well-known landmark at Jerusalem in the time of the monarchy, mentioned three times in the OT with similar phraseology: “the conduit of the upper pool, on the highway to the Fuller’s Field.” Here stood the Assyrian general in his interview with Eliakim and others on the wall (2 K. 18:17 par Isa. 36:2); clearly the highway was within easy ear-shot of the walls. Here Isaiah met Ahaz by command of Yahweh (Isa. 7:3).

The biblical data do not suffice to locate the Fuller’s Field with certainty or precision; the termini of the conduit can only be guessed at (though Isa. 7:3 suggests that at least one of them lay outside the city), and the same is true of the highway. The “upper pool,” one of the conduit’s termini, has been variously located. One common view is that it was the pool at the spring Gihon, the present “Virgin’s Fount,” which was perhaps known as the “upper spring” (2 Ch. 32:30). In this neighborhood — or lower down the valley near En-rogel, which is supposed by some to mean “the spring of the fuller” — is the natural place to expect “fulling.” On the other hand, no known highway ran down toward En-rogel, and it seems unlikely that the Assyrian spokesman would have chosen this area SE of the city, down in the Kidron Ravine, for a parley. On the north side of Jerusalem, however, the terrain is of higher altitude than the city itself, and this is the side where armies more naturally mustered to attack Jerusalem. Furthermore, Josephus (BJ v.4.2 [142–155]) in his description of the walls placed a “Monument of the Fuller” at the northeast corner, and the name “fuller” survived in connection with the north wall till the 7th century.
See J. Gray, I & II Kings (OTL, 2nd ed 1970), pp. 679–682. Geoffrey W. Bromiley, The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Revised, 2:370 (Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1988; 2002).

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Fuller’s soap — (Heb. borith mekabbeshim, i.e., “alkali of those treading cloth”). Mention is made (Prov. 25:20; Jer. 2:22) of nitre and also (Mal. 3:2) of soap (Heb. borith used by the fuller in his operations. Nitre is found in Syria, and vegetable alkali was obtained from the ashes of certain plants.
M.G. Easton, Easton's Bible Dictionary (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1996, c1897).