ETH1TN (inh'un), (Ileb. ay-toon', from an unused root probably meaning to bind, probably twisted c., tapestry) The word occurs in Prov. vii :16, in connec tion with Egypt, and as a product of that coun try. It is translated fine linen in the Authorized Version. As Egypt was from very early times celebrated for its cultivation of flax and manu facture of linen, there can be little doubt that ethun is correctly rendered, though some have thought that it may signify rope or string of Egypt. Hesychius states, no doubt correctly, 'that 606vn, olh-o'nay, was applied by the Greeks to any tine and thin cloth, though not of linen.' Mr. Yates further adduces from ancient Scholia that were made both of flax and of wool.
In the New Testament the word 606vtov, of linen, occurs in John :six :4o: 'Then took they the body of Jesus and wound it in linen clothes,' mhonecois; in the parallel passage (Matt. xxvii :
59) the term used is crivii6vt, sin-don'ee, cambric or muslin, as also in Mark xv :46 and in Luke xxiii :53. We meet with it again in John xx :5, 'and he stooping down saw the linen clothes lying.' It is generally used in the plural to denote 'linen bandages.' linen, occurs in Acts x:11, 'and (Peter) saw heaven opened and a certain vessel descending unto him, as it had been a great sheet knit at the four corners, and let down to the earth,' and also in xi :5, where this passage is repeated.
From the preceding observations it is evident that otho'necon may signify cloth made either of linen or cotton, but most probably the former, as it was more common than cotton in Syria and Egypt. (See COTTON and LINEN.) J. F. R.