Paint

is the rendering of the A.V. in Jer 22:14 of the Heb. מָשִׁח, mashach', properly to anoint, as in Ge 31:13; Da 9:24. In Eze 23:40 the original is כָּחִל, kachal', to smear. In 2Ki 9:20, and Jer 4:30, the Heb. word is פּוּך, puek, of uncertain etymology; but, according to First, akin to Sanscrit pig, Latin pingo, fingo. It denoted a mixture of burned or pulverized antimony and zinc, which was softened with oil, and applied to the eyes by a pencil or short, smooth style of ivory, silver, or wood, which was drawn between the closed eyelids. By this process a black ring was formed around the eyelids (see Hartmann, Aufklarungen iiber Asien, ii, 446 sq.; id. Hebruerin, ii, 149 sq.; 3, 198 sq.; S. Grand in the Museum Hagan. 3, 175 sq.). The allusion in Wisdom of Solomon 13:14 is to the custom, which prevailed especially among the Romans, of painting with red colors the cheeks of idols on holidays. A similar custom to that of the Hebrew women, mentioned above, still prevails in the East, where the women paint not only their cheeks, but their eyebrows, and the inner surface of the eyelids (comp. Shaw, Travels, p. 294; Niebuhr, Bedouin, p. 65; Travels, 1, 292; Joliffe, Travels, p. 187; Rosenmuller, Morgenl. 4:269 sq.; Hartmann, Ideal weibl. Schinh. p. 65 sq., 307 sq.; Ruppell, Arab. 36:65) (Winer). 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 (Wilkinson, 2, 342) and in Assyria (Layard, Nineveh, 2, 328); 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. Thus Jezebel "put her eyes in painting" (2Ki 9:30, margin); Jeremiah says of the harlot city, "Though thou rentest thy eyes with painting" (Jer 4:30); and Ezekiel again makes it a characteristic of a harlot (Eze 23:40; comp. Joseph. War, 4:9, 10). The expressions used in these passages-are worthy of observation, as referring to the mode in which the process was effected. It is thus described by Chandler (Travels, 2, 140): "A girl, closing one of her eyes, took the two lashes between the forefinger and thumb of the left hand, pulled them forward, and then thrusting in at the external corner a bodkin which had been immersed in the soot, and extracting it again, the particles before adhering to it remained within, and were presently ranged around the organ." The eyes were thus literally "put in paint," and were "rent" open in the process. A broad line was also drawn around the eye, as represented in the accompanying cut. The effect was an apparent enlargement of the eye; and the expression in Jer 4:30 has been by some understood in this sense (Gesen. Thes. p. 1239), which is without doubt admissible, and would harmonize with the observations of other writers (Juv 2, 94, "Obliqua producit acu;" Pliny, Ep. 6:2). The term used for the. application of the dye was, as above noted, kachdl, "to smear;" and Rabbinical writers described the paint itself under a cognate term (Mish'na, Sabb. 8:3). These words still survive in kohl, the modern Oriental name for the powder used. The Bible gives no indication of the substance out of which the dye was formed. If any conclusion were deducible from the evident affinity between the Hebrew pik, the Greek φῦκος, and the Latin fucus, it would be to the effect that the dye was of a vegetable kind. Such a dye is at the present day produced from the henna plant (Lawsonia inermis), and is extensively applied to the hands and the hair (Russell, Aleppo, 1, 109, 110). But the old versions (the Sept., Chaldee, Syriac, etc.), agree in pronouncing the dye to have been produced from antimony; the very name of which (στίβι, stibium) probably owed its currency in the ancient world to this circumstance, the name itself and the application of the substance having both emanated from Egypt. This mineral was imported into Egypt for the purpose. One of the pictures at Beni Hassan represents the arrival of a party of traders in stibium. The powder made from antimony has always been supposed to have a beneficial effect on the eyesight (Pliny, 33:34). Antimony is still used for the purpose in Arabia (Burckhardt, Travels, 1, 376) and in Persia (Morier, Second Journey, p. 61), though lead is also used in the latter country (Russell, 1, 366); but in Egypt the kohl is a soot produced by burning either a kind of frankincense or the shells of almonds (Lane, 1, 61). The dye-stuff was moistened with oil, and kept in a small jar, which we may infer to have been made of horn, from the proper name Keren-happuch, "horn for paint" (Job 43:14). The probe with which it was applied was made either of wood, silver, or ivory, and had a blunted point. Both the probe and the jar have frequency been discovered in Egyptian tombs (Wilkinson, 2, 344). In addition to the passages referring to eye-paint already quoted from the Bible, we may notice probable allusions to the practice in Pr 6:25, and Isa 3:16, the term rendered "wanton" in the last passage bearing the radical sense of painted. The contrast between the black paint and the white of the eye led to the transfer of the term puk to describe the variegated stones used in the string courses of a handsome building (1Ch 29:2; A.V. "glistering stones," lit. stones of eye-paint); and, again, the dark cement in which marble or other bright stones were imbedded (Isa 54:11; A.V. "I will lay thy stones with fair colors"). Whether the custom of staining the hands and feet, particularly the nails, now so prevalent in the East, was known to the Hebrews, is doubtful. The plant, henna, which is used for that purpose was certainly known (Song 1:14; A.V. "camphire"), and the expressions in Song 5:14 may probably refer to the custom (Smith). With reference to this custom of "painting the eyes" in the East, Thomson remarks: "The ladies blacken the eyelids and brows with kohl, and prolong the application in a decreasing pencil, so as to lengthen and reduce the eye in appearance to what is called almond shape. It imparts a peculiar brilliancy to the eye, and a languishing, amorous cast to the whole countenance. Brides are thus painted, and many heighten the effect by application to the cheeks of colored cosmetics. The powder from which the kohl is made is collected from burning almond- shells or frankincense, and is intensely black. Antimony and various ores of lead are also employed. The powder is kept in vials or pots, which are often disposed in a handsome cover or case; and it is applied to the eye by a small probe of wood or ivory, or silver, called meel, while the whole apparatus is called mukhuly" (Land and Book, 2, 184, 185); SEE EYE.