HEBREW / ARAMAIC · H1287
בֹּרִית
bo.rit — lye
lye, potash, soap, alkali (used in washing)
2 tagged verse occurrences · see every occurrence →BIBLE DICTIONARY + WORD STUDY
Soap
Original Hebrew / Aramaic / Greek connected to this term
How to read this: there is rarely one magic “true meaning” hidden behind an English word. A lexicon records a word’s semantic range. The intended meaning is narrowed by grammar, sentence, author, historical usage and context.
Historical dictionary entry
(Jer. 2:22; Mal. 3:2; Heb. borith), properly a vegetable alkali, obtained from the ashes of certain plants, particularly the salsola kali (saltwort), which abounds on the shores of the Dead Sea and of the Mediterranean. It does not appear that the Hebrews were acquainted with what is now called “soap,” which is a compound of alkaline carbonates with oleaginous matter. The word “purely” in Isa. 1:25 (R.V., “throughly;” marg., “as with lye”) is lit. “as with bor.” This word means “clearness,” and hence also that which makes clear, or pure, alkali. “The ancients made use of alkali mingled with oil, instead of soap (Job 9:30), and also in smelting metals, to make them melt and flow more readily and purely” (Gesenius).
Scripture references
Source: Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897). Historical dictionary wording reflects the scholarship and language of its era.