King James Bible Dictionary

This dye was obtained by the Egyptians from the shell-fish Carthamus tinctorius; and by the Hebrews from the Coccus ilicis, an insect which infests oak trees, called kermes by the Arabians.

This colour was early known (Genesis 38:28). It was one of the colours of the ephod (Exodus 28:6), the girdle (8), and the breastplate (15) of the high priest. It is also mentioned in various other connections (Joshua 2:18; 2 Samuel 1:24; Lamentations 4:5; Nahum 2:3). A scarlet robe was in mockery placed on our Lord (Matthew 27:28; Luke 23:11). "Sins as scarlet" (Isaiah 1:18), i.e., as scarlet robes "glaring and habitual." Scarlet and crimson were the firmest of dyes, and thus not easily washed out.

See Color
Color

[COLORS]

SC'ARLET, noun

1. A beautiful bright red color, brighter than crimson.

2. Cloth of a scarlet color.

All her household are clothed with scarlet Proverbs 31:21.

SC'ARLET, adjective of the color called scarlet; of a bright red color; as a scarlet cloth or thread; a scarlet lip.

SC'ARLET-BEAN, noun A plant; a red bean.

SC'ARLET-FE'VER, noun [scarlatina.] a disease in which the body is covered with an efflorescence or red color, first appearing about the neck and breast, and accompanied with a sore throat.

SC'ARLET-OAK, noun a species of oak, the Quercus coccifera, or kermes oak, producing small glandular excrescences, called kermes or scarlet grain.