Flax

Flax is the plant behind linen, and linen runs through Scripture quietly. The capable woman of Proverbs 31 “seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands.” Tabernacle curtains are “fine twined linen,” Pharaoh dresses Joseph in “vestures of fine linen,” and Jesus is wrapped in linen for burial. At the end of the Bible the bride is “arrayed in fine linen, clean and white.” One gentle verse uses a flax wick that is nearly out: “the smoking flax shall he not quench.” That is the promise to start with, in Isaiah 42 and Matthew 12.

15 verses

Genesis

Genesis 41:42

And Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand, and put it upon Joseph's hand, and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck;

Exodus

Exodus 26:1

Moreover thou shalt make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet: with cherubims of cunning work shalt thou make them.

Leviticus

Leviticus 19:19

Ye shall keep my statutes. Thou shalt not let thy cattle gender with a diverse kind: thou shalt not sow thy field with mingled seed: neither shall a garment mingled of linen and woollen come upon thee.

1 Kings

1 Kings 10:28

And Solomon had horses brought out of Egypt, and linen yarn: the king's merchants received the linen yarn at a price.

Esther

Esther 1:16

And Memucan answered before the king and the princes, Vashti the queen hath not done wrong to the king only, but also to all the princes, and to all the people that are in all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus.

Proverbs

Proverbs 31:13

She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands.

Isaiah

Isaiah 3:23

The glasses, and the fine linen, and the hoods, and the vails.

Isaiah 19:6

And they shall turn the rivers far away; and the brooks of defence shall be emptied and dried up: the reeds and flags shall wither.

Isaiah 42:3

A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth.

Ezekiel

Ezekiel 9:2

And, behold, six men came from the way of the higher gate, which lieth toward the north, and every man a slaughter weapon in his hand; and one man among them was clothed with linen, with a writer's inkhorn by his side: and they went in, and stood beside the brasen altar.

Matthew

Matthew 12:20

A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory.

Mark

Mark 15:46

And he bought fine linen, and took him down, and wrapped him in the linen, and laid him in a sepulchre which was hewn out of a rock, and rolled a stone unto the door of the sepulchre.

Revelation

Revelation 15:6

And the seven angels came out of the temple, having the seven plagues, clothed in pure and white linen, and having their breasts girded with golden girdles.

Revelation 19:8

And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.

Revelation 19:14

And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.

From Easton's Bible Dictionary

Matthew George Easton, 1897

(Heb. pishtah, i.e., “peeled”, in allusion to the fact that the stalks of flax when dried were first split or peeled before being steeped in water for the purpose of destroying the pulp). This plant was cultivated from earliest times. The flax of Egypt was destroyed by the plague of hail when it “was bolled”, i.e., was forming pods for seed (Ex. 9:31). It was extensively cultivated both in Egypt and Palestine. Reference is made in Josh. 2:6 to the custom of drying flax-stalks by exposing them to the sun on the flat roofs of houses. It was much used in forming articles of clothing such as girdles, also cords and bands (Lev. 13:48, 52, 59; Deut. 22:11). (See LINEN.)

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From Smith's Bible Dictionary

William Smith, 1884

a well-known plant with yellowish stem and bright-blue flowers. Its fibres are employed in the manufacture of linen. The root contains an oil, and after the oil is expressed is sued as a food for cattle. Egypt was celebrated for the culture of flax and the manufacture of linen. The spinning was anciently done by women of noble birth. It seems probable that the cultivation of flax for the purpose of the manufacture of linen was by no means confined to Egypt, but that, originating in India, it spread over Asia at a very early period of antiquity. That it was grown in Palestine even before the conquest of that country by the Israelites appears from (Joshua 2:6) The various processes employed in preparing the flax for manufacture into cloth are indicated:

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(1.) The drying process.

(2.) The peeling of the stalks and separation of the fibres.

(3.) The hackling. (Isaiah 19:9) That flax was one of the most important crops in Palestine appears from (Hosea 2:5,9)