paint Summary and Overview

Jezebel "painted her face" (2 Kings 9:30); and the practice of painting the face and the eyes seems to have been common (Jer. 4:30; Ezek. 23:40). An allusion to this practice is found in the name of Job's daughter (42:14) Kerenhappuch (q.v.). Paintings in the modern sense of the word were unknown to the ancient Jews.

(as a cosmetic). The use of cosmetic dyes has prevailed in all ages in eastern countries. We have abundant evidence of the practice of painting the eyes both in ancient Egypt and in Assyria; and in modern times no usage is more general. It does not appear, however, to have been by any means universal among the Hebrews. The notices of it are few; and in each instance it seems to have been used as a meretricious art, unworthy of a woman of high character. The Bible gives no indication of the substance out of which the dye was formed. The old versions agree in pronouncing the dye to have been produced from antimony. Antimony is still used for the purpose in Arabia and in Persia, but in Egypt the kohl is a root produced by burning either a kind of frankincense or the shells of almonds. The dye-stuff was moistened with oil and kept in a small jar. Whether the custom of staining the hands and feet, particularly the nails, now so prevalent in the past, was known to the Hebrews is doubtful. Painting as an art was not cultivated by the Hebrews, but they decorated their buildings with paint.

PAINT , PAINTING, and PICTURE. Paint was well known as a cosmetic in Egypt and Assyria, and universally applied by the women of those countries to the eyes. Also among the Hebrews the custom obtained, though it must be noticed that it is always spoken of in terms of contempt. 2 Kgs 9:30; Jer 4:30; Eze 23:40, See Eve. Painting as a decoration was much practised. In the houses the walls and beams were colored, Jer 22:14; also idols, either in the form of sculptures or in the form of drawings on the walls of temples, were colored. Wisd. 13:14; Eze 23:14. But pictures, in the modern sense of the word, as products of free art, were unknown to the ancient Jews, and would perhaps have been regarded as violations of the second commandment. The drawings upon mummy cases were, however, doubtless familiar to them.