White: God's Color of Purity

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Introduction

Color is woven throughout the biblical text. Scripture uses color to describe the created world, human appearance, objects, animals, clothing, and prophetic visions. While some colors develop recognizable associations in particular contexts, the Bible does not necessarily assign every color a single, universal symbolic meaning. White illustrates this well. It can describe an ordinary physical characteristic, but it also appears repeatedly in contexts involving cleansing, holiness, heavenly glory, and victory. The same word can describe the appearance of an object in one passage and contribute to theological imagery in another, so its significance depends on how and where it is used.

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Biblical Vocabulary of White

The Hebrew word for "white" is laban (H3836), the same word used as the personal name Laban. Genesis introduces Laban as Rebekah's brother (Gen. 24:29) and later as Rachel's father (Gen. 29:16). His name means "white" or "light-colored." The same word is also used repeatedly in the account of Jacob and Laban to describe white coloration (Gen. 30:35–40). Similarly, the Greek word for "white" in the New Testament is leukos (G3022). Its semantic range includes white, bright, or light in appearance.

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White in the Old Testament

In Genesis, laban first appears in descriptions of the color of animals and their markings. Jacob uses the presence of white among the goats and sheep when distinguishing the animals that will become his wages (Gen. 30:35–40). The word is also used when Jacob describes the white portions exposed in the branches he places before the flocks (Gen. 30:37). Here, white is an ordinary description of physical color within the account of Jacob's increasing prosperity.

White also describes the human body in Genesis. Jacob's blessing of Judah includes the statement that his teeth are "whiter than milk" (Gen. 49:12b). The comparison uses the familiar brightness of milk to describe healthy white teeth. White here contributes to a positive physical description rather than functioning as an abstract symbol.

In Exodus, the manna given to Israel in the wilderness is described as being white like coriander seed (Exod. 16:31). The color is part of the description of God's provision for Israel. The text does not need to assign white a symbolic meaning for the color to be significant; it identifies the appearance of something God has provided for his people.

Leviticus contains the largest concentration of laban in the Old Testament. White appears repeatedly in the priestly examination of skin disease, where the priest observes the appearance of the skin, hair, and affected area (Lev. 13:3–4, 10, 13, 16–17, 19–21, 24–26, 38). The significance of white depends upon the condition being examined. In some cases, whiteness is associated with a condition that makes a person ceremonially unclean, while in others the entire affected area becoming white leads the priest to declare the person clean.

The imagery of cleansing becomes more explicit in Isaiah. God calls Israel to reason with him and declares that though their sins are like scarlet, they will become "white as snow" and "like wool" (Isa. 1:18). David likewise appeals to the imagery of whiteness when he asks God to wash him so that he will be "whiter than snow" (Ps. 51:7). Here whiteness becomes an image of cleansing and the removal of guilt. White also appears in poetic descriptions of garments. Ecclesiastes says, "Always be clothed in white" and connects the imagery with enjoying life and God's provision (Eccl. 9:8). In Zechariah, white horses appear within prophetic visions involving divine activity (Zech. 1:8; 6:3, 6).

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White in the New Testament

The first New Testament occurrence of leukos appears in Jesus' teaching about oaths. Jesus says that a person cannot make even one hair white or black (Matt. 5:36). Here white is simply the natural color of hair and is placed opposite black. The color has no symbolic function in the statement.

White becomes especially prominent in descriptions of Jesus' glory. At the transfiguration, Jesus' clothes become "as white as the light" (Matt. 17:2). Mark describes them as whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them (Mark 9:3). Luke similarly says that his clothes became "as bright as a flash of lightning" (Luke 9:29). The imagery also recalls Daniel's description of the Ancient of Days, whose clothing is "as white as snow" (Dan. 7:9). Revelation applies similar imagery directly to Christ, describing his head and hair as "white like wool, as white as snow" (Rev. 1:14). White here belongs to the extraordinary appearance of Jesus and contributes to the revelation of his glory. The resurrection accounts associate white clothing with heavenly messengers. At the empty tomb, the women encounter angels dressed in white (Matt. 28:3; Mark 16:5; John 20:12). In the Acts of the Apostles, the men who appear after Jesus' ascension are also described as wearing white (Acts 1:10).

White imagery can also carry a negative meaning when an outward appearance conceals inward corruption. In Ezekiel, God condemns false prophets who have given Israel false assurances of peace, comparing their work to whitewashing a weak wall that covers an unsound structure and makes it appear secure (Ezek. 13:10–16). The image emphasizes the contrast between outward appearance and underlying reality. Jesus uses a similar image when he condemns the scribes and Pharisees as "whitewashed tombs," which appear beautiful on the outside but are inwardly full of dead people's bones and uncleanness (Matt. 23:27–28). These passages show that biblical associations with white are not uniformly positive. White can represent purity and glory, but it can also mask spiritual uncleanness behind an outward appearance.

Revelation develops the imagery further. White garments are promised to those who overcome (Rev. 3:4–5), and those gathered before God's throne are dressed in white (Rev. 7:9). The great multitude is dressed in white, and the apostle John is told that they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb (Rev. 7:9, 13–14). Revelation later connects the fine linen the saints wear with their righteous acts (Rev. 19:8). The rider of the horse in Revelation 6:2 rides a white horse and receives a crown. Later, Christ appears on a white horse, followed by armies riding white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean (Rev. 19:11–14). The final major image is the great white throne (Rev. 20:11). Here white is part of the description of God's throne as the final judgment begins.

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Bibliography

Monographs

Brenner, Athalya. Colour Terms in the Old Testament. Journal for the Study of the Old Testament Supplement Series 21. Sheffield, UK: JSOT Press, 1982.

Journal Articles

Carretero, Carlos Santos. "Un estudio sobre el color: los usos de לָבָן en la Biblia hebrea."↗ Sefarad 77, no. 1 (2017): 39–64.

Reference Works

Hirsch, Emil G., and Caspar Levias. "Color."↗ The Jewish Encyclopedia.