BULRUSH (אַגְמﯴן, H109, rush, bulrushes; גֹּ֫מֶא, H1687, papyrus). Isaiah 58:5 (KJV) reads “bow down his head as a bulrush,” but in Exodus 2:3, the words are “ark of bulrushes,” and in Isaiah 18:2 “vessels of bulrushes.” There seems to be no doubt that the bulrush mentioned in these three vv. is the Egyp. type called “papyrus,” i.e. Cyperus papyrus. This reed is ten to sixteen ft. tall, and three inches thick at its base. It is three-sided, and bears a kind of large, grass-like tuft at the top.

Not only was the bulrush used to make little vessels as in Isaiah 18:2 and Exodus 2, but the Egyptians discovered how to extract the pith of the plants and make paper.