In the Book of Exodus, God instructs Moses to have the Israelites bring him an offering including cloth " of blue, and purple, and scarlet . " The term used for scarlet in the 4th century Latin Vulgate version of the Bible passage is " coccumque bis tinctum ", meaning " colored twice with coccus . " " Coccus ", from the ancient Greek " Kokkos ", means a tiny grain and is the term that was used in ancient times for the Kermes vermilio insect used to make the Kermes dye.
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: 3 . And the priest goes out of the camp and the priest looks, and beholds that the sore of the leprosy of the leper is healed . 4 . And the priest commands, and takes, for the one healed, two unblemished live birds, cedar wood, Coccus scarlet, and hyssop . 5 . And the priest commands, and slaughters the one bird in a pottery vessel upon living water . 6 . He takes the live bird and the cedar wood and the Coccus scarlet and the hyssop and dips them and the live bird in the blood of the bird slaughtered upon the living water . 7 . And sprinkle seven times upon him purified of leprosy, and he is purified, and sends the live bird upon the face of the field .
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: 3 . And the priest goes out of the camp and the priest looks, and beholds that the sore of the leprosy of the leper is healed . 4 . And the priest commands, and takes, for the one healed, two unblemished live birds, cedar wood, Coccus scarlet, and hyssop . 5 . And the priest commands, and slaughters the one bird in a pottery vessel upon living water . 6 . He takes the live bird and the cedar wood and the Coccus scarlet and the hyssop and dips them and the live bird in the blood of the bird slaughtered upon the living water . 7 . And sprinkle seven times upon him purified of leprosy, and he is purified, and sends the live bird upon the face of the field .
