Soap

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SOAP (bôrîth) occurs in EV [Note: English Version.] (AV [Note: Authorized Version.] ‘sope’) only in Jer_2:22 (washing of the person) and Mal_3:2 (operations of the fuller). Properly bôrîth denotes simply ‘that which cleanses.’ The cognate word bôr is commonly rendered ‘cleanness,’ but in Job_9:30, Isa_1:25 RVm [Note: Revised Version margin.] gives ‘lye.’ Soap in the modern sense of the word was unknown in OT times, and we do not know what precisely is referred to by bôrîth. As in Jer_2:22 nether (AV [Note: Authorized Version.] ‘nitre’ [wh. see]), a mineral alkali, is set in antithesis to bôrîth, it is supposed that the latter was some kind of vegetable alkali which, mixed with oil, would serve the purposes of soap. This may be confirmed by the fact that in Jer_2:22 and Mal_3:2 LXX [Note: Septuagint.] renders bôrîth by poia = ‘grass.’
J. C. Lambert.
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible
Edited by James Hastings, D.D. Published in 1909

borit. (See FULLER.) Jer_2:22. Vegetable alkali or potash. Many plants yielding alkalies exist in Palestine and around: hubeibet (Salsola kali) with glass-like leaves near the Dead Sea; ajram near Sinai, pounded for use as soap; the gilloo or soap plant of Egypt; and the heaths near Joppa. The Saponaria offcinalis and Mesembryanthemum nodiflorum. (Job_9:30; Isa_1:25). Hebrew for "purely" "as alkali (purifies)."
Fausset's Bible Dictionary
By Andrew Robert Fausset, co-Author of Jamieson, Fausset and Brown's 1888.

Soap. The Hebrew term, borith, is a general term for any substance of cleansing qualities. As, however, it appears in Jer_2:22, in contradistinction to nether, which undoubtedly means "natron" or mineral alkali, it is fair to infer that borith refers to vegetable alkali, or some kind of potash, which forms one of the usual ingredients in our soap.
Numerous plants capable of yielding alkalies, exist in Palestine, and the surrounding countries; we may notice one named, hubeibeh, (the Salsola kali of botanists), found near the Dead Sea, the ashes of which are called el-kuli, from their strong alkaline properties.
Smith's Bible Dictionary
By Dr. William Smith.Published in 1863

sōp (בּרית, bōrı̄th; the King James Version sope): Bōrı̄th is a derivative of בּר, bōr, ?purity,? hence, something which cleanses or makes pure. Soap in the modern sense, as referring to a salt of a fatty acid, for example, that produced by treating olive oil with caustic soda, was probably unknown in Old Testament times. Even today there are districts in the interior of Syria where soap is never used. Cooking utensils, clothes, even the body are cleansed with ashes. The ashes of the household fires are carefully saved for this purpose. The cleansing material referred to in Jer_2:22 (compare Septuagint at the place, where bōrı̄th is rendered by ποία, poia = ?grass?) and Mal_3:2 was probably the vegetable lye called in Arabic el ḳali (the origin of English alkali). This material, which is a mixture of crude sodium and potassium carbonates, is sold in the market in the form of grayish lumps. It is produced by burning the desert plants and adding enough water to the ashes to agglomerate them. Before the discovery of Leblanc's process large quantities of ḳali were exported from Syria to Europe.
For washing clothes the women sprinkle the powdered ḳali over the wet garments and then place them on a flat stone and pound them with a wooden paddle. For washing the body, oil is first smeared over the skin and then ḳali rubbed on and the whole slimy mixture rinsed off with water. Ḳali was also used in ancient times as a flux in refining precious metals (compare Mal_3:2). At the present time many Syrian soap-makers prefer the ḳali to the imported caustic soda for soap-making.
In Susanna (verse 17) is a curious reference to ?washing balls? (smḗgmata).

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
PRINTER 1915.

The word thus translated in the Auth. Version is in Hebrew borith. It occurs in two passages of Scripture?first, in Jer_2:22, 'For though thou wash thee with niter, and take thee much soap (borith), yet thine iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord God;' and again, in Mal_3:2, 'But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner's fire, and like fuller's soap (borith).' From neither of these passages does it distinctly appear whether the substance referred to by the name of borith was obtained from the mineral or from the vegetable kingdom. But it is evident that it was possessed of cleansing properties.
In the above passage of Jeremiah we have neter (niter) and borith (soap) indicated as being both employed for washing, or possessed of some cleansing properties; and yet, from occurring in the same passage, they must have differed in some respects. The niter is, without doubt, the natural carbonate of soda; and as this is alluded to in one member of the sentence, it becomes probable that the artificial carbonates may be alluded to in the other, as both were in early times employed by Asiatic nations for the purposes of washing.
Hence it is probable that the ashes of plants, called boruk and boreh by Asiatic nations, may be alluded to under the name of borith, as there is no proof that soap is intended, though it may have been known to the same people at very early periods. Still less is it probable that borax is meant, as has been supposed by some authors, apparently from the mere similarity of name.




The Popular Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature
by John Kitto.

Jer_2:22 (b) By this we understand the human schemes, efforts and plans that men use to get rid of their sins. Soap is a human invention for cleansing purposes. So various religious groups have ways and means which they offer to the public as remedies for the sins of men. These are compared to soap.

Mal_3:2 (b) This emblem represents the thoroughness and effectiveness of the judgments of GOD.
Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types
press 1957.


(בֹּרַית, borith; Sept. πόα) occurs in Jer_2:22, “For though thou wash thee with nitre, and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord God;” and again in Mal_3:2, “But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap.” From neither of these passages does it distinctly appear whether the substance referred to by the name of borith was obtained from the mineral or from the vegetable kingdom; but it is evident that it was possessed of cleansing properties, and this is confirmed by the origin and signification of the word, which is thus illustrated by Celsius: “A verbo ברר, barar, purificavit, quae vox etiam apud Chaldaeos, Syros, Arabes, in usu fuit, descendit nomen בר, bor, puritas” (Hierobot. 1, 449).
So Maimonides, on the Talmud tract Shemittah, “Species ablutionibus aptae, uti sunt borith et ahal.” In fact, the simple בֹּר, bor, itself denotes a vegetable alkali used for washing (Job_9:30) and as a flux for metals (Isa_1:25). SEE ALKALI. The word borith is very similar to the boruk of the Arabs, written baurakh in the Latin translations of Serapion and Avicenna, and translated nitrum, that is, natron, or carbonate of soda. Boruk appears, however, to have been used in a generic rather than in a specific sense, as in the Persian works on materia medica (derived chiefly from the Arabic) which have been collated we find that no less than six different kinds of boruk (Persian bureh) are enumerated, of which some are natural, as the Armenian, the African, etc., and others artificial, as that obtained from burning the wood of the poplar, also that employed in the preparation of glass. Of these it is evident that the last two are chemically nearly the same, being both carbonates of alkalies. The incineration of most plants, as well as of the poplar, yields the carbonate of potash (commonly called potash, or pearlash); while carbonate of soda, or barilla, is the alkali used in the preparation of glass.
Previous to the composition of bodies having been definitely ascertained by correct chemical analysis; dissimilar substances were often grouped together under one general term; while others, although similar in composition, were separated on account of some unimportant character, as difference of color or of origin, etc. It is unnecessary for our present purpose to ascertain the other substances included by the Arabs under the general term of boruk which may have been also included under the nitrum of the Greeks. It is evident that both the carbonate of soda and of potash were comprehended under one name by the former. It would be difficult, therefore, to distinguish the one from the other, unless some circumstances were added in addition to the mere name. Thus in the above passage of Jeremiah we have neter (nitre) and borith (soap) indicated as being both employed for washing or possessed of some cleansing properties, and yet, from occurring in the same passage, they must have differed in some respects. The term natron, we know, was in later times confined to the salt obtained chiefly from the natron lakes of Egypt, and neter may also have been so in earlier times. Since, therefore, the natural carbonate of soda is mentioned in one part of the verse, it is very probable that the artificial carbonates may be alluded to in the other, as both were in early times employed by Asiatic nations for the purposes of washing. The carbonate of potash, obtained from the burning of most plants growing at a distance from the sea or a saline soil, might not have been distinguished from the carbonate of soda, produced from the ashes of plants growing on the shores of the sea or of saltwater lakes. Hence it is probable that the ashes of plants, called boruk and boreh by Asiatic nations, may be alluded to under the name of borith, as there is no proof that soap is intended, though it may have been known to the same people at very early periods. Still less is it probable that borax is meant, as has been supposed by some authors, apparently from the mere similarity of name.
Supposing that the ashes or juices of plants are intended by the word borith, the next point of inquiry is whether it is to be restricted to those of any particular plants. The ashes of the poplar are mentioned by Arabian authors and of the vine by Dioscorides; those of the plantain and of the Butea frondosa by Sanscrit authors — thus indicating that the plants which were most common, or which were used for fuel or other purposes in the different countries, had also their ashes, that is, impure carbonate of potash, employed for washing, etc. Usually the ashes only of plants growing on the seashore have been thought to be intended. All these, as before mentioned, would yield barilla, or carbonate of soda. Many of them have been burned for the soda they yield on the coasts of India, of the Red Sea, and of the Mediterranean. They belong chiefly to the natural family of the Chenopodeoe and to that of the Mesembryanthemums. In Arabic authors, the plant yielding soda is said to be called ishnan, and its Persian name is stated to be ghasul, both words signifying “the washer,” or “washing herb.” Rauwolf points out two plants in Syria and Palestine which yield alkaline salts. Hasselquist considered one of them to be a Mesembryanthemum. Forskal has enumerated several plants as being burned for the barilla which they afford, as Mesembryanthemum geniculatum and nodiflorum, both of which are called ghasul. Salsola kali and his Suoeda monoica, called asul, are other plants, especially the last named, which yield sal-alkali. So on the coasts of the Indian peninsula, Salicornia Indica and Salsola nudiflora yield barilla in great abundance and purity, as do Salsola sativa kali, and tragus, and also Salicornia annua on the coasts of Spain and of the south of France. In Palestine we may especially notice the plant named hubeibeh (the Salsola kali of botanists), found near the Dead Sea, with glass-like leaves, the ashes of which are called el-Kuli from their strong alkaline properties (Robinson, Bibl. Res. 1, 505); the ajram, found near Sinai, which when pounded serves as a substitute for soap (ibid. 1, 84); the gillu, or “soap plant” of Egypt (Wilkinson, Anc. Egypt. 2, 106) and the heaths in the neighborhood of Joppa (Kitto, Phys. Hist. p. 267). From these sources large quantities of alkali have been extracted in past ages, as the heaps of ashes outside Jerusalem and Nablus testify (Robinson, Bibl. , Res. 3, 201, 299), and an active trade in the article is still prosecuted with Aleppo in one direction (Russell, Aleppo, 1, 79) and Arabia in another (Burckhardt, Trav. 1, 66). We need not assume that the ashes were worked up in the form familiar to us, for no such article was known to the Egyptians (Wilkinson, Anc. Egypt. 1, 186).
The uses of soap among the Hebrews were twofold —
(1) for cleansing either the person (Jer_2:22; Job_9:30, where for “never so clean” read “with alkali”) or the clothes;
(2) for purifying metals (Isa_1:25, where for “purely” read “as through alkali”). Hitzig suggests that borith should be substituted for berith, “covenant,” in Eze_20:37 and Mal_3:1.



CYCLOPEDIA OF BIBLICAL, THEOLOGICAL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
press 1895.

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