The Hebrew argaman denotes the costly purple or crimson fabric produced from sea-mollusk dye that was among the most expensive materials in the ancient world. It appears frequently alongside blue (tekhelet) and scarlet (shani) in the Mosaic tabernacle texts.
Purple cloth was the fabric of royalty and the sacred. In the tabernacle, argaman adorned the curtains, the veil, and the high priest's garments (Exodus 26; 28), signifying that God's dwelling place was a royal court. The rarity and cost of the dye — requiring thousands of mollusks per ounce — marked it as fit only for divinity and kings. In Proverbs 31, the excellent wife dresses herself and her household in argaman, illustrating noble honor. The New Testament echo appears in the purple robe mockingly placed on Jesus at His trial (John 19:2) — an ironic coronation of the true King of kings.