Bright red color associated with a dye used for treating fabric and leather. Symbolic of honor and riches, scarlet was used extensively for the tabernacle furnishings (Num 4:8), often in combination with blue and purple (Exod 26:1). To be clothed in scarlet was prized (2Sam 1:24; Prov 31:21), and, mockingly, Jesus was clothed in scarlet at his trial (Matt 27:28). The scarlet thread (Gen 38:28) and the cord (Josh 2:18) drew particular attention to the firstborn of Tamar and the home of the harlot. In (Isa 1:11) the words “scarlet” and “crimson” are used to refer to the bloodred guilt of the sinner as opposed to the whiteness of innocence.
