We will delve into the twelve most common colors found, by name, in the King James translation (KJV). These are, in alphabetical order, black, blue, brown, crimson, gray, green, purple, red, scarlet, vermilion, white and yellow. They are recorded at least 378 times (316 in the Old Testament, 62 in the New) in God's word.
Some colors we are familiar with today, such as orange, indigo, violet and others, do not directly appear in the Bible's original languages.
The four most common Old Testament colors are blue (51 occurrences), white (48), red (47) and finally scarlet (46). The most common in the New Testament are white (31 times), purple (9), red (6) and scarlet (6). Surprisingly, the colors blue, gray, crimson, brown, yellow and vermilion are not mentioned in the New Testament.
The three Biblical writings which record colors the most are Exodus (98 times), Leviticus (34) and Revelation (31).
Admitted Difficulty
One of the many difficulties encountered by the King James translators was the lack of color information in the Old Testament's Hebrew text. They did their best to convey this property in what they produced.
"It is noteworthy that Biblical Hebrew contains no term to express that property of light known as color.
"There are but few real color terms found in Biblical or traditional literature. Only white, and two of the elementary colors, red and green, are distinguished by name; while for blue and yellow distinct terms are entirely wanting. The other elementary colors are expressed by words denoting degrees of lightness and darkness; while non-elementary colors are indicated by the names of the objects from which they are derived . . .
"The scarcity of color names found in the Bible and other ancient literatures has been differently accounted for by various scholars. All that can with certainty be said of the ancients in this respect is that their color vocabulary was undeveloped." (1906 Jewish Encyclopedia article on color).
It must be said that the ancient Israelites certainly knew what colors were as they saw them in Babylonian artwork (see Ezekiel 23:14). They also were aware of the art of their nearby neighbors (Judges 8:26).
Definition
Several of the colors covered in this series are considered primary colors.
commonly seen with the naked eye.
They are commonly referred to as "Roy G. Biv."
A primary color is one that can be mixed, in varying amounts, to produce a plethora of others depending on the application. For example, red, yellow and blue (RYB) are considered traditional primary colors in dyes, pigments, and paints. They can be mixed to make secondary colors such as orange, green, and purple.
Red, green and blue (RGB) are considered primary colors for displaying images on electronic devices such as televisions, computer screens and smartphones. For printing, cyan, magenta, and yellow (CMY) are considered primary.
Occurrences
The Hebrew word translated in the KJV Old Testament as "colour" ("color" in non-KJV translations) or its plural is derived from several Hebrew words. The first is ayin (Strong's Concordance #H5869) which means "an eye" either literally or figuratively.
Other words from which "colour" (color) is derived in the King James Old Testament include pas (Strong's #H6446), tseba (#H6648), riqmah (#H7553), puk (#H6320) and tala (#H2921).
Average ColorTwo researchers studying the formation of stars, in 2002, stumbled upon the average color of the known universe. This average was determined after measuring the spectral range of light from at least 200,000 galaxies. Their result, a slightly beige white color (which is the background of the text you are now reading), was dubbed "Cosmic Latte." |
Colors are actually a section of the electromagnetic spectrum (a grouping of charged particles (energy) that move through space at a particular wavelength and frequency) referred to as visible light. The average human eye can perceive wavelengths that are from about 390 nanometers long (violet) to about 700 nanometers (red). A nanometer is one billionth of a meter.
Rainbows
While rainbows and their fascinating display of colors are common occurrences it was not always so. Evidence in the Bible highly suggests that water on the pre-flood earth came not by rain but by ground-based mists and fogs created by the Earth's near total tropical environment.
The absence of sufficiently sized water drops leads to the conclusion that rainbows could not have appeared in the sky until after the rains that brought the great flood. The token of God's promise never to destroy life again by a deluge was not borrowed from an already existing and commonly occurring event. He, instead, infused with meaning the phenomena of colors we call a rainbow.
Prophetic Colors
Eight of the twelve colors covered in this series have a direct link with prophecy. These are black, blue, crimson, green, purple, red, scarlet and white. The others, gray, brown, yellow and vermilion, have no known prophetic link.
The book of Revelation has the third most references to color of any Biblical book. Within its pages it reveals future events involving white (19 times), black (2), pale or green (1), purple (3), red (2) and scarlet (4). The relationship between these and end time events are explored in the articles in this series.
Special Hidden Reference
Color played an important role in the creation of humans! The raw material God used to make humans was the earth.
And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life . . . (Genesis 2:7, KJV, see also 3:19).
Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created. (Genesis 5:2, KJV).
Both the first male, and the first two humans (humanity in general), were called Adam. This word means "red" or "red earth," a reference to the colored material God used to make his greatest creation!