PISHTAH (mut) no doubt refers to the flax plant, if we may judge from the context of the passages in which it occurs. Thus, in Exod. ix. 31, in the plague of the hail-storm, it is related : And the flax (pishlah) and the barley was smit ten : for the barley was in the ear, and the flax was boiled,' or in blossom, according to Gesenius. As the departure of the Israelites took place in the spring, this passage has reference no doubt to the practice adopted in Egypt, as well as in India, of sowing these grains partly in the months of Sep tember and October, and partly in spring, so that the wheat might easily be in blade at the same time that the barley and flax were more advanced.
From the numerous references to flax and linen, there is no doubt that the plant was extensively cultivated, not only in Egypt, but also in Palestine. As to Egypt we have proof in the mummy cloth being made of linen, and also in the representations of the flax cultivation in the paintings of the Grotto of El Kab, which represent the whole process with the utmost clearness ; and numerous testimonies might be adduced from ancient authors of the esteem in which the linen of Egypt was held.
Flax continues to he extensively cultivated in the present day. That it was also much cultivated in Palestine, and well known to the Hebrews, we have proofs in the number of times it is mentioned ; as in Josh. ii. 6, where Rahab is described as con. cealing the two Hebrew spies with the stalks of flax which she had laid in order upon the roof. In several passages, as Lev. xiii. 47, 59 ; Dent. xxii. II ; Jer. xiii. I ; Ezek. xl. 3 ; xliv. 17, 18, we find it mentioned as forming different articles of clothing, as girdles, cords, and bands. In Prov. xxxi. 13, the careful housewife seeketh wool and flax, and worketh it willingly with her hands.' The words of Isaiah (xlii. 3), A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench,' are evidently referred to in Matt. xii. 20, where Xlvov is used as the name of flax, and as the equivalent of pishtah. But there can be no doubt of this word being correctly understood, as it has been well investigated by several authors (Cels. Ilierobot. ii. p. 2S3 ; Yates, Textrinum Anliporum, p. 253).—J. F. R.