All the women that were wise-hearted — i.e., “all who had sufficient skill.” Spinning was probably a very general accomplishment of the Hebrew women. It was effected in early times by means of a wheel and spindle, with or without a distaff. The only materials used for the fabrics of the sanctuary appear to have been flax and goats’ hair. The flax was dyed before it was spun into thread, as sometimes by the Greeks (Horn. Od. iv. 135).
Of fine linen. — Rather, of white. Most of the Egyptian linen is of a yellowish white, being made from flax imperfectly blanched.