Proverbs 31:19

spindle … distaff Rather, distaff … spindle, with R.V. Of the two Heb. words here used the first occurs nowhere else, but it is derived from a root which means to be straight, and therefore may properly denote the distaff, or straight rod. Of the second word, the root-meaning is to be round. It is used of the circuitor circleround, the environsof, Jerusalem (Nehemiah 3:12; Neh. 14:15).

"Till comparatively recent times the sole spinning implements were the spindle and distaff. The spindle, which is the fundamental apparatus in all spinning, was nothing more nor less than a round stick or rod of wood, about 12 inches in length, tapering towards each extremity, and having at its upper end a notch or slit, into which the yarn might be caught or fixed. In general, a ring or whorl of stone or clay was passed round the upper part of the spindle to give it momentum and steadiness when in rotation. The distaff or rod was a rather longer and stronger bar or stick, around one end of which, in a loose coil or ball, the fibrous material to be spun was wound. The other extremity of the distaff was carried under the left arm, or fixed in the girdle at the left side, so as to have the coil of flax in a convenient position for drawing out to yarn." Encyclop. Britann. Art. Linen, vol. xiv. p. 664. 9th edition.

An illustration of the use of these implements is found in Catullus, Epithal. de nupt. Pel. et Thet. 312 sqq.:

"Læva colum molli lana retinebat amictum:

Dextera turn leviter deducens fila supinis

Formabat digitis; turn prono in pollice torquens

Libratum tereti versabat turbine fusum."