NEEDLEWORK. This is the rendering given in the A. V. to the Heb. 1pp"1 (Judg. v. 3o ; Ps.
xlv. 15), and also to CO (EXod. xxvi. 36 ; xxvii.
16 ; xxviii. 39 ; xxxvi. 37 ; xxxviii. is), though this latter, being the participle of the verb npl, ought rather to have been translated needleworker. Elsewhere the noun is translated broidered work' (Ezek. xvi. to, 13, 18, etc.) Derived from npl, which signifies to variegate, deck with colours, adorn with versicoloured figures, there can be no doubt that the word designates an article decorated with variety of colours ; but whether this was done with the needle or in the loom remains somewhat un certain. The LXX. give their verdict for the former (TO roz&i1 rob Exod. xxvii. 16 ; xxxviii. 23) ; and so do the Talmudists and the Rabbins. Josephus, on the other hand, asserts that the variety of colours in the curtain of the tabernacle was produced in the loom (ootv,Kos (3cupdis ou-pcexpaplvotz, Antiq. iii. 6. 4). This is favoured also by the use of the verb in Ps. cxxxix. 15, where the reference is to the structure of a fabric, not to the adorning of it after it is formed. Gesenius takes the other view, and contends that ntgri denotes the act of the plumarius, or weaver of divers colours, while Dpi is properly that of the worker with the needle. In support of this is urged the affinity of Dpi to the Arab. a word which I appears in the Span. recanzare, and the Ital.
ricamar, to embroider with the needle. But the Arab. word simply means, to produce a fabric with stripes, whether that be done by the needle or in the loom (` striis signavit, seu strias intexuit panno,' Freytag, Lex. s. v.) ; so that nothing decisive can be inferred from it ; and the use of Dpi and MUM in Scripture by no means authorises the distinc tion which Gesenius makes. Thus, ex. gr., rinpi is used in the dual of a fabric variegated on both sides ( Judg. v. 3o), which cannot refer to colours added by stitching on pieces of cloth, and is more likely to refer to colours woven in than to em broidery done by the needle ; it is also used of the varicoloured sails of the Egyptians (Ezek. xxvii. 16), which were `covered with fanciful figures, flowers, and other devices, with squares in cheques, and rich borders worked in various colours' (Wilkinson, Egyptians in the time of the Pharaohs, p. 113). The Hebrews learned the art of weaving from the Egyptians (Joseph. Antiq., bk. iii. 7. 2), and as the art of embroidering with the needle was also common in Egypt, there is every probability that they acquired that also. Without, therefore, insisting upon a precision and a certainty for which we do not possess materials, we may admit needle work as ranking among the arts practised by the Hebrews.—W. L. A.