Bible Reading: laundry soap in the Bible

Laundry suds mentioned in the Bible

Just for fun, here are two passages from the Bible that mention nitre, soap (washing soda), and vinegar, which were used for laundry suds in those days.

Proverbs 25:20
As he that taketh away a garment in cold weather, and as vinegar upon nitre: so is he that singeth songs to a heavy heart.

Another version of that proverb:
He who sings songs to a heavy heart is like him who lays off a garment in cold weather and like vinegar upon soda.

Now, it's interesting that two of my Bibles have the above proverb, but in my other Bibles it is replaced with:

Like a moth in clothing, or a maggot in wood, sorrow gnaws at the human heart.

This is an example of two completely different conclusions from what is supposedly the same proverb. So I went online to give you all the variations listed on the www.biblebrowser.com web site:

NASB: [Like] one who takes off a garment on a cold day, [or like] vinegar on soda, Is he who sings songs to a troubled heart. (NASB ©1995)
GWT: [Like] taking off a coat on a cold day or pouring vinegar on baking soda, so is singing songs to one who has an evil heart. (GOD'S WORD®)
KJV: As he that taketh away a garment in cold weather, and as vinegar upon nitre, so is he that singeth songs to an heavy heart.
ASV: As one that taketh off a garment in cold weather, and as vinegar upon soda, So is he that singeth songs to a heavy heart.
BBE: Like one who takes off clothing in cold weather and like acid on a wound, is he who makes melody to a sad heart.
DBY: As he that taketh off a garment in cold weather, and as vinegar upon nitre, so is he that singeth songs to a sad heart.
JPS: As one that taketh off a garment in cold weather, and as vinegar upon nitre, so is he that singeth songs to a heavy heart.
WBS: As he that taketh away a garment in cold weather, and as vinegar upon nitre; so is he that singeth songs to a heavy heart.
WEB: As one who takes away a garment in cold weather, or vinegar on soda, so is one who sings songs to a heavy heart.
YLT: Whoso is taking away a garment in a cold day, [Is as] vinegar on nitre, And a singer of songs on a sad heart.

There is a variety of opinion as to whether it is good to sing songs on a sad or heavy heart. Vinegar upon nitre is a foaming and agitating action (used to lift out stains) so one could interpret the proverb as being advising to sing to the sad (to lift out the stain and agitate into a response) or as a corrosive effect. People who thought of it as a corrosive effect are those who then translated the "one who takes a garment in cold weather" as being symbolic of a moth (who eats wool in winter) and oddly, interprets vinegar on nitre (washing soda) as like a maggot eating away at wood.

This is an example of how translators can give actually what seems like opposite spectrum interpretations of what is presumably the same simple phrase. Is "he" who takes a way a garment in cold weather a heavy and contrived symbol for a moth being destructive, or a man who sheds a heavy outer garment in order to feel more refreshment in the cold? Is vinegar being added to washing soda to remove a stain, or to eat away at the substance of something? I'm voting for the more positive interpretation, that singing to a heavy heart is a positive cleansing treatment.

Here is the second mention of washing suds:

Jeremiah 2:22
For though thou wash thee with nitre, and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord God.

Another version:
Though you scour it with soap, and use much lye, the stain of your guilt is still before me, says the Lord God.

There is not too much trouble understanding the washing, sudsing and scrubbing imagery in this passage! Sometimes soap is not the only answer. I suspect that some of the old time folks of last century who only had their once a week "Saturday night bath" but held the Lord close to them are cleaner than some people I could mention who compulsively shower and worry about antibacterial soap! ;-)

See, scripture is so interesting and rich in thought, even when the subject I decided to search for was the use of washing soap.