Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

TANNING

A process employing a variety of materials and solutions to transform tough animal hides into a soft and pliable product. Evidence from texts and paintings indicates the ancient technology can be traced to Egypt, and required the scraping away of animal hair and flesh from the skin, after which application of lime, juice from certain plants, and the bark or leaves of certain trees produced the desired effect. A form of Heb. ʾāḏōm (used for animal skins dyed red) carried with it a reflection of this process (Exod. 25:5; 26:14; 35:7, 23; 36:19; 39:34), since tanning a skin tended to produce a reddish appearance. The LXX uses Gk. ēruthrodanōména, “to dye red.”

Tanned skins served a variety of uses, functioning as hangings in the tabernacle (Exod. 25:5; 26:14), as well as in the production of clothing, leather buckets, waterskins, wineskins, and butter churns (Gen. 21:14; Judg. 4:19; Matt. 9:17). Whole hides of animals with the holes sewn up served as household containers, storing such items as oil for cooking, toiletry items, medicine, and fuel for lamps. Leather was used for furniture, as well as the production of weapons such as shields, helmets, slings, and quivers. John the Baptist was known for his leather belt (Matt. 3:4; Mark 1:6), as was Elijah, his predecessor (2 Kgs. 1:8).

Living near a tanner was not considered a pleasant experience due to the odor produced in the process of working with animal hides. Simon the tanner (Gk. byrseús) lived outside of the city of Joppa (Acts 9:43; 10:6, 32). Talmudic literature frequently confirms this negative attitude toward tanners. Peter’s decision to stay with Simon the tanner highlights the apostle’s receptivity to the accessibility of the gospel to those once considered unclean.

Bibliography. R. J. Forbes, “Leather in Antiquity,” Studies in Ancient Technology 5, rev. ed. (Leiden, 1966): 1-79.

Dennis Gaertner

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

TANNING

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)