Editing Linen (section)

===Religion===
There are many references to linen throughout the [[Bible]], reflecting the textile's entrenched presence in human cultures.<ref>{{cite web |title=What Is Linen? Everything You Need to Know About Using and Caring for Linen |url=https://www.masterclass.com/articles/what-is-linen-everything-you-need-to-know-about-using-and-caring-for-linen |publisher=MasterClass |access-date=4 June 2020 }}</ref> Linen is mentioned in Proverbs 31, a passage describing a noble wife. {{bibleverse|Proverbs|31:22}} says, "She makes coverings for her bed; she is clothed in fine linen and purple." Fine white linen is also worn by angels in the New Testament.<ref>{{bibleverse|Revelation|15:6}}</ref> In the [[Book of Joshua]], [[Rahab]], a prostitute in [[Jericho]], hides two Israelite spies under bundles of flax.

In [[Judaism]], the only law concerning which fabrics may be interwoven together in clothing concerns the mixture of linen and [[wool]], called ''[[shaatnez]]''; it is restricted in {{bibleverse||Deuteronomy|22:11|HE}} "Thou shalt not wear a mingled stuff, wool and linen together" and {{bibleverse||Leviticus|19:19|HE}}, "...neither shall there come upon thee a garment of two kinds of stuff mingled together." There is no explanation for this in the [[Torah]] itself and it is categorized as a type of law known as ''chukim'', a statute beyond man's ability to comprehend.<ref name="religion">The Jewish Primer, by Shmuel Himelstein. New York, NY: Facts On File, 1990.</ref> First-century Romano-Jewish historian [[Josephus]] suggested that the reason for the prohibition was to keep the laity from wearing the official garb of the priests,<ref>Etz Hayim p. 1118</ref>{{Full citation needed|date=January 2017}}<ref>{{Cite book|chapter-url=http://www.ccel.org/j/josephus/works/ant-4.htm|title=Antiquities of the Jews|last=Josephus|translator-last=Whiston|chapter=8.11}}</ref> while medieval Sephardic Jewish philosopher [[Maimonides]] thought that the reason was that heathen priests wore such mixed garments.<ref>Guide for the Perplexed 3:37</ref>{{Full citation needed|date=January 2017}} Others explain that it is because God often forbids mixtures of disparate kinds, not designed by God to be compatible in a certain way, with mixing animal and vegetable fibers being similar to having two different types of plowing animals yoked together; also, such commands serve both a practical as well as allegorical purpose, perhaps here preventing a priestly garment that would cause discomfort (or excessive sweat) in a hot climate.<ref>Jamieson, Fausset, Brown commentary, Lv. 19:19</ref>{{Full citation needed|date=January 2017}}