techelet · violet-blue

What it means

techelet (תְּכֵלֶת) is a Hebrew word of the Bible that means “violet-blue”.

Thread or cloth dyed violet-blue, a very costly dye.

How to say it

Approximate pronunciation. Vowels sound as in Spanish (a as in father, e as in bed, i as in machine, o as in note, u as in rule); the syllable in bold is stressed. The voice is your device's.

Its senses in the Bible

1. Costly thread or cloth dyed deep violet.

From Brown-Driver-Briggs (1906)

Word study

Violet-blue: a dye and the cloth or yarn dyed with it. It appears almost always in the list of materials of the dwelling and of the priestly garments, together with purple and scarlet.

• Materials of the dwelling Exodus 25:4Exodus 26:1Exodus 26:31
• The garments of the high priest Exodus 28:6Exodus 28:31
• The cord of blue on the fringes Numbers 15:38
• Royal and trade fabrics Esther 8:15Ezekiel 27:7

Historical and cultural background

Numbers 15:38 commands the Israelites to put “a cord of blue” on the fringes of their garments, to remember the commandments (15:39). Mordecai goes out from the palace “in a royal robe of blue and white cloth” (Esther 8:15).

How we translate it

Always “blue” (49 times), next to “purple” and “scarlet”, both when it is material for work (“the robe of the ephod all of blue”, Exodus 28:31) and when it describes a cord or a garment (“a cord of blue”, Numbers 15:38).

Related words

Words of the same family, by Strong’s numbering.

Where it appears

• Exodus×34
• Numbers×6
• 2 Chronicles×3
• Esther×2
• Jeremiah×1
• Ezekiel×3

• Exodus 25:4

  blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, fine linen, and goats' hair;

• Exodus 26:1

  The dwelling you shall make of ten curtains of fine twisted linen and blue, purple, and scarlet yarn; with cherubim, the work of a skilled craftsman, you shall make them.

• Exodus 26:4

  You shall make loops of blue on the edge of the one curtain at the end of the set; and likewise you shall make them on the edge of the outermost curtain in the second set.

• Exodus 26:31

  You shall make a veil of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and fine twisted linen; with cherubim, the work of a skilled craftsman, it shall be made.

• Exodus 26:36

  You shall make a screen for the entrance of the tent, of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and fine twisted linen, the work of an embroiderer.

• Exodus 27:16

  For the gate of the courtyard there shall be a screen of twenty cubits, of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and fine twisted linen, the work of an embroiderer, their pillars four and their bases four.

• Exodus 28:5

  They shall take the gold, the blue, the purple, the scarlet yarn, and the fine linen.

• Exodus 28:6

  They shall make the ephod of gold, blue, purple, scarlet yarn, and fine twisted linen, the work of a skilled craftsman.

• Exodus 28:8

  And the woven band of its ephod, which is on it, shall be of the same workmanship, of one piece with it: of gold, blue, purple, scarlet yarn, and fine twisted linen.

• Exodus 28:15

  You shall make a breastpiece of judgment, the work of a skilled craftsman; like the work of the ephod you shall make it: of gold, blue, purple, scarlet yarn, and fine twisted linen you shall make it.

• Exodus 28:28

  They shall bind the breastpiece by its rings to the rings of the ephod with a cord of blue, so that it is on the woven band of the ephod, and the breastpiece shall not come loose from the ephod.

• Exodus 28:31

  You shall make the robe of the ephod all of blue.

• Exodus 28:33

  On its hem you shall make pomegranates of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, on its hem all around, and bells of gold between them all around:

• Exodus 28:37

  You shall fasten it on a cord of blue, and it shall be on the turban; on the front of the turban it shall be.

• Exodus 35:6

  and blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats’ hair;

• Exodus 35:23

  And every man with whom was found blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats’ hair, and rams’ skins dyed red, and fine skins, brought them.

• Exodus 35:25

  And every woman wise of heart spun with her hands, and they brought what they had spun: the blue and the purple, the scarlet, and the fine linen.

• Exodus 35:35

  He has filled them with wisdom of heart to do all the work of the engraver, and of the designer, and of the embroiderer in blue, and in purple, in scarlet, and in fine linen, and of the weaver, doers of every work and devisers of designs.

• Exodus 36:8

  And all the wise of heart among those who did the work made the dwelling with ten curtains of twisted fine linen and blue and purple and scarlet, with cherubim, the work of a skilled craftsman, he made them.

• Exodus 36:11

  And he made loops of blue on the edge of the one curtain at the end in the set; so he made on the edge of the outermost curtain in the second set.

• Exodus 36:35

  And he made the veil of blue and purple and scarlet and twisted fine linen; the work of a skilled craftsman, he made it with cherubim.

• Exodus 36:37

  And he made a screen for the entrance of the tent, of blue and purple and scarlet and twisted fine linen, the work of an embroiderer,

• Exodus 38:18

  And the screen of the gate of the courtyard was the work of an embroiderer, of blue and purple and scarlet and twisted fine linen; and twenty cubits was the length, and the height in width five cubits, corresponding to the hangings of the courtyard.

• Exodus 38:23

  And with him was Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, an engraver, and a designer, and an embroiderer in blue and in purple and in scarlet and in fine linen.

• Exodus 39:1

  And from the blue and the purple and the scarlet they made woven garments for ministering in the Holy Place; and they made the holy garments that were for Aaron, as YHWH had commanded Moses.

• Exodus 39:2

  And he made the ephod of gold, blue, and purple, and scarlet, and twisted fine linen.

• Exodus 39:3

  And they hammered out the sheets of gold, and he cut them into threads to work them into the blue, and into the purple, and into the scarlet, and into the fine linen, the work of a skilled craftsman.

• Exodus 39:5

  And the woven band of its ephod that was on it was of one piece with it, of the same workmanship, of gold, blue, and purple, and scarlet, and twisted fine linen, as YHWH had commanded Moses.

• Exodus 39:8

  And he made the breastpiece, the work of a skilled craftsman, like the work of the ephod: of gold, blue, and purple, and scarlet, and twisted fine linen.

• Exodus 39:21

  And they bound the breastpiece by its rings to the rings of the ephod with a cord of blue, so that it would be on the woven band of the ephod, and the breastpiece would not come loose from the ephod, as YHWH had commanded Moses.

• Exodus 39:22

  And he made the robe of the ephod, the work of a weaver, all of blue.

• Exodus 39:24

  And they made on the hem of the robe pomegranates of blue and purple and scarlet, twisted.

• Exodus 39:29

  and the sash of twisted fine linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet, the work of an embroiderer, as YHWH had commanded Moses.

• Exodus 39:31

  And they put on it a cord of blue to fasten it on the turban above, as YHWH had commanded Moses.

• Numbers 4:6

  And they shall put on it a covering of fine leather, and spread over it a cloth entirely of blue, and put in its poles.

• Numbers 4:7

  And over the table of the Presence they shall spread a cloth of blue, and put on it the plates, and the spoons, and the bowls, and the jars for the libation; and the continual bread shall be on it.

• Numbers 4:9

  And they shall take a cloth of blue and cover the lampstand for the light, and its lamps, and its snuffers, and its trays, and all its vessels for oil with which they minister to it.

• Numbers 4:11

  And over the altar of gold they shall spread a cloth of blue, and cover it with a covering of fine leather, and put in its poles.

• Numbers 4:12

  And they shall take all the utensils of ministry with which they minister in the Holy Place, and put them into a cloth of blue, and cover them with a covering of fine leather, and put them on the carrying frame.

• Numbers 15:38

  “Speak to the sons of Israel and tell them to make for themselves fringes on the edges of their garments throughout their generations, and to put on the fringe of the edge a cord of blue.

And 9 more times.