6785. tsemer
Lexical Summary
tsemer: Wool

Original Word: צֶמֶר
Part of Speech: Noun Masculine
Transliteration: tsemer
Pronunciation: tseh'-mer
Phonetic Spelling: (tseh'-mer)
KJV: wool(-len)
NASB: wool
Word Origin: [from an unused root probably meaning to be shaggy]

1. wool

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
woolen

From an unused root probably meaning to be shaggy; wool -- wool(-len).

NAS Exhaustive Concordance
Word Origin
from an unused word
Definition
wool
NASB Translation
wool (16).

Brown-Driver-Briggs
צֶ֫מֶר noun masculineEzekiel 44:17 wool; — absolute ׳צ Isaiah 1:18, צָ֑מֶר; Leviticus 13:48; construct צֶ֫מֶר Ezekiel 27:18 (see below); suffix צַמְרִי Hosea 2:7; Hosea 2:11; — wool (usually with ( ם) מִּשְׁתִּי flax, linen): in natural state ׳גִּזַּת הַצּ Judges 6:37, ׳אֵילִים צ 2 Kings 3:4 (but construction difficult, and ׳צ perhaps gloss); Hosea 2:7; Hosea 2:11 (as gift of value); white Isaiah 1:18 (simile; "" שֶׁלֶג), simile of snow Psalm 147:6 (from white flakes); white (?) wool as merchandise Ezekiel 27:18 (צָ֑חַר ׳צ, but on text see צַ֫חַר), Proverbs 31:12; prey of moth Isaiah 51:8 (simile); made up into garments Deuteronomy 22:11,׳בֶּנֶד צ Leviticus 13:47,59 compare Leviticus 13:48; Leviticus 13:52; בֶּגֶד omitted Ezekiel 34:3; Ezekiel 44:17.

Topical Lexicon
Physical Substance and Everyday Use

צֶמֶר denotes the fleece of sheep, valued in the ancient Near East for its warmth, durability, and ease of dyeing. In Israel’s agrarian society it was a principal textile, spun and woven by households (Proverbs 31:13) and collected as royal tribute (2 Kings 3:4). Its prevalence made it an obvious point of reference for legal, commercial, poetic, and prophetic language.

Levitical Regulations: Purity and Contamination

Leviticus devotes an entire subsection of the skin-disease laws to woolen garments. “If any fabric is contaminated with mildew—any wool or linen garment” (Leviticus 13:47), the priest was to isolate, inspect, and, if necessary, burn it (13:52, 59). Wool thus became a tangible witness that holiness was to extend beyond the body to the belongings of God’s people. Even clothing could transmit impurity, underscoring the totalizing reach of sin and the need of priestly mediation.

Separation from Mixture

Deuteronomy 22:11 commands, “Do not wear clothes of wool and linen woven together.” The prohibition mirrors seed and animal-breeding laws in the same chapter. By forbidding mixture in the most ordinary layer of life—one’s clothing—Yahweh trained Israel to prize distinction between holy and common. This theological backdrop throws New Testament teaching on the believer’s new identity into sharper relief (2 Corinthians 6:14-18).

Signs and Confirmations: Gideon’s Fleece

Gideon sought reassurance about his calling by placing “a fleece of wool on the threshing floor” (Judges 6:37). The soaked-then-dry fleece authenticated divine direction but also exposed Gideon’s hesitancy. The narrative cautions that while God may stoop to our weakness, faith ought to rest in revealed promise rather than repeated signs.

Economic and Commercial Significance

• Royal revenue: King Mesha of Moab “paid the king of Israel one hundred thousand lambs and the wool of one hundred thousand rams” (2 Kings 3:4).
• International trade: “Damascus was your customer… with wine from Helbon and wool from Bashan” (Ezekiel 27:18).

Wool functioned as currency, tariff, and commodity, tying Israel’s pastoral vocation to the wider economy of the Mediterranean world.

Prophetic Imagery: Purity, Judgment, and Restoration

Isaiah frames redemption in textile hues: “Though your sins are as scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they will become like wool” (Isaiah 1:18). The dyed wool of human guilt is reversed to unblemished whiteness by divine grace. Conversely, the decadence of the wicked will perish: “The moth will devour them like a garment, and the worm will eat them like wool” (Isaiah 51:8).

Hosea pictures covenant infidelity through agricultural bounty: Gomer boasts, “My lovers give me my wool” (Hosea 2:5), yet the Lord declares, “I will take back My wool and My linen” (2:9). The withdrawal of wool signals both judgment and the loving discipline that leads to restoration (2:14-23).

Shepherd-King Accountability

False shepherds “eat the fat, wear the wool, and butcher the fatlings, but do not feed the flock” (Ezekiel 34:3). Leaders who exploit God’s people for gain will face stern reckoning, while Messiah, the true Shepherd, lays down His life for the sheep (John 10:11).

Priestly Attire: Linen, Not Wool

When ministering in the inner court, priests must wear linen garments so that they “do not bring on themselves anything that causes sweat” (Ezekiel 44:17). Wool’s heat-retaining property, helpful in the field, became a liability in the sanctuary. Worship is to be marked by reverent rest, not fleshly exertion.

Poetic Praise

“He gives snow like wool; He scatters the frost like ashes” (Psalm 147:16). The psalmist likens wool’s soft, thick covering to a blanket of snow, highlighting God’s gentle yet comprehensive sovereignty over creation.

Foreshadowing Christ

John’s vision of the glorified Son of Man: “The hair of His head was white like wool, as white as snow” (Revelation 1:14). The whiteness evokes both Daniel’s Ancient of Days and Isaiah’s promise of sins washed whiter than wool, locating the ultimate fulfillment of purity imagery in Jesus Christ.

Ministry Applications

1. Holiness in the Ordinary: Everyday items such as clothing can reflect covenant faithfulness.
2. Stewardship and Justice: Leaders must never exploit God’s flock for “wool”; spiritual oversight demands sacrificial service.
3. Teaching on Assurance: Gideon’s fleece illustrates God’s patience but also warns against perpetual sign-seeking where Scripture already speaks.
4. Evangelistic Symbolism: Isaiah 1:18 offers a ready bridge from Old Testament ritual to the gospel of cleansing through Christ’s blood.

Wool—in law, narrative, commerce, and poetry—threads together divine purity, human vocation, and redemptive hope, pointing ultimately to the Lamb whose righteousness clothes all who trust in Him.

Forms and Transliterations
בַּצֶּ֙מֶר֙ בצמר הַצֶּ֖מֶר הַצֶּ֣מֶר הַצֶּ֣מֶר ׀ הצמר וְכַצֶּ֖מֶר וְלַצָּ֑מֶר וְצֶ֥מֶר וכצמר ולצמר וצמר כַּצֶּ֥מֶר כַּצָּ֑מֶר כצמר צֶ֔מֶר צֶ֣מֶר צֶ֥מֶר צַמְרִ֣י צָֽמֶר׃ צמר צמר׃ צמרי baṣ·ṣe·mer baṣṣemer batzTzemer haṣ·ṣe·mer haṣṣemer hatzTzemer kaṣ·ṣā·mer kaṣ·ṣe·mer kaṣṣāmer kaṣṣemer katzTzamer katzTzemer ṣā·mer ṣam·rî ṣāmer ṣamrî ṣe·mer ṣemer Tzamer tzamRi Tzemer vechatzTzemer velatzTzamer veTzemer wə·ḵaṣ·ṣe·mer wə·laṣ·ṣā·mer wə·ṣe·mer wəḵaṣṣemer wəlaṣṣāmer wəṣemer
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Interlinear GreekInterlinear HebrewStrong's NumbersEnglishman's Greek ConcordanceEnglishman's Hebrew ConcordanceParallel Texts
Englishman's Concordance
Leviticus 13:47
HEB: צָרָ֑עַת בְּבֶ֣גֶד צֶ֔מֶר א֖וֹ בְּבֶ֥גֶד
NAS: of leprosy in it, whether it is a wool garment
KJV: of leprosy is in, [whether it be] a woollen garment,
INT: of leprosy garment wool or garment

Leviticus 13:48
HEB: בְעֵ֔רֶב לַפִּשְׁתִּ֖ים וְלַצָּ֑מֶר א֣וֹ בְע֔וֹר
NAS: or of wool, whether
KJV: of linen, or of woollen; whether in a skin,
INT: woof of linen of wool or leather

Leviticus 13:52
HEB: אֶת־ הָעֵ֗רֶב בַּצֶּ֙מֶר֙ א֣וֹ בַפִּשְׁתִּ֔ים
NAS: or the woof, in wool or in linen,
KJV: or woof, in woollen or in linen,
INT: or the woof wool or linen

Leviticus 13:59
HEB: צָרַ֜עַת בֶּ֥גֶד הַצֶּ֣מֶר ׀ א֣וֹ הַפִּשְׁתִּ֗ים
NAS: in a garment of wool or
KJV: in a garment of woollen or linen,
INT: of leprosy A garment of wool or linen

Deuteronomy 22:11
HEB: תִלְבַּשׁ֙ שַֽׁעַטְנֵ֔ז צֶ֥מֶר וּפִשְׁתִּ֖ים יַחְדָּֽו׃
NAS: a material mixed of wool and linen
KJV: a garment of divers sorts, [as] of woollen and linen
INT: wear A material of wool and linen together

Judges 6:37
HEB: אֶת־ גִּזַּ֥ת הַצֶּ֖מֶר בַּגֹּ֑רֶן אִ֡ם
NAS: a fleece of wool on the threshing floor.
KJV: a fleece of wool in the floor;
INT: will put A fleece of wool the threshing If

2 Kings 3:4
HEB: אֶ֖לֶף אֵילִ֥ים צָֽמֶר׃
NAS: lambs and the wool of 100,000
KJV: thousand rams, with the wool.
INT: thousand rams the wool

Psalm 147:16
HEB: הַנֹּתֵ֣ן שֶׁ֣לֶג כַּצָּ֑מֶר כְּ֝פ֗וֹר כָּאֵ֥פֶר
NAS: snow like wool; He scatters
KJV: snow like wool: he scattereth
INT: gives snow wool the frost ashes

Proverbs 31:13
HEB: דָּ֭רְשָׁה צֶ֣מֶר וּפִשְׁתִּ֑ים וַ֝תַּ֗עַשׂ
NAS: She looks for wool and flax And works
KJV: She seeketh wool, and flax,
INT: looks wool and flax and works

Isaiah 1:18
HEB: יַאְדִּ֥ימוּ כַתּוֹלָ֖ע כַּצֶּ֥מֶר יִהְיֽוּ׃
NAS: like crimson, They will be like wool.
KJV: like crimson, they shall be as wool.
INT: are red crimson wool become

Isaiah 51:8
HEB: יֹאכְלֵ֣ם עָ֔שׁ וְכַצֶּ֖מֶר יֹאכְלֵ֣ם סָ֑ס
NAS: will eat them like wool. But My righteousness
KJV: shall eat them like wool: but my righteousness
INT: will eat the moth wool will eat and the grub

Ezekiel 27:18
HEB: בְּיֵ֥ין חֶלְבּ֖וֹן וְצֶ֥מֶר צָֽחַר׃
NAS: of Helbon and white wool.
KJV: of Helbon, and white wool.
INT: of the wine of Helbon wool and white

Ezekiel 34:3
HEB: תֹּאכֵ֙לוּ֙ וְאֶת־ הַצֶּ֣מֶר תִּלְבָּ֔שׁוּ הַבְּרִיאָ֖ה
NAS: and clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter
KJV: and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill
INT: the fat eat the wool and clothe the fat

Ezekiel 44:17
HEB: יַעֲלֶ֤ה עֲלֵיהֶם֙ צֶ֔מֶר בְּשָֽׁרְתָ֗ם בְּשַׁעֲרֵ֛י
NAS: garments; and wool shall not be on them while they are ministering
KJV: garments; and no wool shall come
INT: shall come and and wool are ministering the gates

Hosea 2:5
HEB: לַחְמִי֙ וּמֵימַ֔י צַמְרִ֣י וּפִשְׁתִּ֔י שַׁמְנִ֖י
NAS: and my water, My wool and my flax,
KJV: and my water, my wool and my flax,
INT: my bread and my water my wool and my flax my oil

Hosea 2:9
HEB: בְּמֽוֹעֲד֑וֹ וְהִצַּלְתִּי֙ צַמְרִ֣י וּפִשְׁתִּ֔י לְכַסּ֖וֹת
NAS: I will also take away My wool and My flax
KJV: thereof, and will recover my wool and my flax
INT: season take my wool and my flax cover

16 Occurrences

Strong's Hebrew 6785
16 Occurrences


baṣ·ṣe·mer — 1 Occ.
haṣ·ṣe·mer — 3 Occ.
kaṣ·ṣā·mer — 1 Occ.
kaṣ·ṣe·mer — 1 Occ.
ṣā·mer — 1 Occ.
ṣam·rî — 2 Occ.
ṣe·mer — 4 Occ.
wə·ḵaṣ·ṣe·mer — 1 Occ.
wə·laṣ·ṣā·mer — 1 Occ.
wə·ṣe·mer — 1 Occ.

6784
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