Answers about
bulrushes in the Bible
-
agmon
Hebrew: אַגְמוֹן —transliteration: agmon or agmown —meaning: bulrush, or reed —derivation: 'agam —meaning: a marshy pool
…to bow down his head as a bulrush [agmon]… —Isaiah 58:5 KJV excerpt
The name refers to its “belonging to a marsh,” from the nature of the soil in which it grows.
They were sometimes fashioned into boats (Isaiah 18:2 KJV) or braided into ropes (Job. 41:2, literally “cord of rushes”.
-
gome
Hebrew: גֹּמֶאִ —transliteration: gome —meaning: papyrus, rushes, bulrushes, wicker
It was used for the construction of the ark of baby Moses (Exodus 2:3, 5).
But she could not hide him any longer. So she took for him an ark of papyrus reeds [or bulrushes, gome] and covered it over with tar and pitch. Then she put the child [Moses] into it and put it among the reeds [suph] by the bank of the Nile. —Exodus 2:3
In Exodus 2:3, Isaiah 18:2 (Revised King James Version, “papyrus”) this word is the translation of the Hebrew gome, which designates the plant as absorbing moisture. In Isaiah 35:7 and Job 8:11 it is translated as “rushes.”
This was the Egyptian papyrus (papyrus Nilotica). It was very abundant in ancient Egypt. The Egyptians even made garments and shoes and various utensils of it.
The root portions of the stem were used for food.
The inside bark was cut into strips, which were sewed together and dried in the sun, forming the papyrus used for writing.
It became almost extinct in Egypt, until reintroduced, and it grows luxuriantly in Israel, in the marshes of the Huleh, and in the swamps at the north end of the Lake of Gennesaret.
More information