COTTON (כַּרְפַּס, H4158, cotton). In Esther 1:6 KJV, the court is said to have “white, green and blue hangings,” but the word karpas, tr. “green,” is incorrect; the word is cotton. The text reads “white cotton and blue hangings.” The RSV reads “white cotton curtains and blue hangings.”

Cotton was grown in Judea in 490 and 480 b.c. and some Egyp. child mummies were wrapped in cotton bandages.

The Hebrews learned about cotton growing while they were in captivity in Persia under King Ahasuerus (598-536 b.c.).

The plant grown in Pal. and in India and the Levant is Gossypium herbaceum which grows as a shrub 6 ft. high. The fruit, called a “boll,” when quite ripe, splits and produces masses of white fluff. The cotton is said to be yellower than that grown in the USA.