TANNER (βυρσεύς, G1114, tanner). The process known as tanning is not mentioned directly in the Bible. It is reported that Peter “stayed in Joppa for many days with one Simon a tanner” (Acts 9:43).

Animal hides or skins are converted into leather by tanning. It is a process of preserving in good condition the “corium” structure of the hide which is between the “epidermis” and the “flesh.” In OT times this involved flaying the dead animal, beating the flayed hide in water to remove the dirt, then salting and soaking the hide in a tanning agent, and stretching the wet leather on a frame to dry properly.

The tanner was not a popular man because of the stench of the ingredients used in his trade and because he handled dead bodies. Sometimes the hides were put into dog’s dung for dehairing. Little is known of ancient tanning agents but they were prob. the same as in modern Syria and Egypt where the bark of certain Acacia trees, galls of the oak and the tamarisk and rinds of the pomegranate are used.