Here we will look at a short chapter from Charles A. Weisman’s book The Origin Of Race And Civilization which addresses the biblical meaning of different colors — and how the color white is most closely associated with God, Jesus Christ, and the Adamic “children of light.”
Going forward we intend to address many of the chapters from Weisman’s book — which you can find in our Library — and so we would strongly recommend that you read it in its entirety as it is the best book we know of on the subject of race, civilization, and the Bible.
Prior to this chapter, Weisman clearly establishes that Adam was a unique creation — and that he and his descendants could be identified by the meaning of his name, which in Hebrew (Strong’s 119 & 120) means “rosy” or “ruddy” — “shows blood in the face” or “blushes” — a characteristic unique to the White Adamic race.
Lest anyone doubt this fact, modern genetic studies concluded that the gene for white skin can be traced back 10,000 years — the same time frame as the Adamic creation.
Weisman demonstrates how this description of Adam can be traced down through his descendants — through the Israelites — and all the way to Jesus Christ and His followers — the “children of light.” For example:
King David, who was one of Adam’s direct descendants, was described as being “ruddy, and of fair countenance.” (1 Samuel 16:12 and 17:42)
David’s daughter Tamar was “fair.” (2 Samuel 13:1)
Sarah and Rebekah, who were both descendant from Adam, were both described as being ”very fair.” (Genesis 12:11 & 14; Genesis 24:16; Genesis 26:7)
Moses was “exceedingly fair.” (Acts 7:20)
The daughters of Job, one of the Adamic patriarchs, were known as the fairest women “in all the land.” (Job 42:15)
Solomon was described as being “white and ruddy.” (Song of Solomon 5:10)
The Nazarites (consecrated persons) of Judah were “whiter than milk” and “more ruddy in body than rubies” (Lamentations 4:7)
The English meaning of “fair” is “light of complexion or color of hair and eyes, not dusky or sallow” (of persons)” — and the English translators of the Bible would never have used this word to describe non-White peoples — nor is the Hebrew equivalent — “yapheh” (Strong’s 3303) — used to describe non-Adamic people.
Be aware that Jewish rabbis have tried to obscure this meaning of “Adam” by claiming that his name derives from “adamah” (Strong’s 127) which means “dirt” or “soil” — implying that Adam was created “brown” not White — but “adamah” is a feminine noun whereas “Adam” in Hebrew is a masculine noun.
And his name is not “Adamah” — it’s “Adam” — and “man” in Genesis is translated from “Adam” — not from “adamah”.
Why would the rabbis monkey with the true meaning of Adam? According to the Jewish Encyclopedia (Vol. 5, p. 308), a certain Rabbi Eybeschutz describes his fellow 18th Century Jews as:
“The physical traits are held to be short to middling stature, a long hooked nose, greasy skin, dark complexion, black, often wavy hair, thick lips, flat feet, and a tendency to run to fat in women.”
Now we will proceed with Weisman’s chapter on the significance of color in the Bible:
COLOR IN SCRIPTURE
It becomes self-evident that in nature certain colors represent or symbolize certain things — and we can only conclude that this was the intent and plan of the Creator.
Yellow, for example, is an alarming color and for a certain poisonous plant or snake to have a yellow coloration would make sense. Green represents vegetation and is symbolic of life or living things. A dark cloud is threatening, but a white cloud is pleasant to look at. The scheme of color was obviously by design, and we perceive this in nature and refer to it as the natural order of things.
Since colors symbolize and represent certain characteristics, qualities, attributes and features when used in nature (the works of God), we should expect that Nature’s God had likewise used the same principles of color characterization in His word.
We know from Scripture that God created Adam white — being “ruddy” only because of the blood showing through his non-pigmented or colorless skin. Things that are non-pigmented or colorless are white — that is the actual meaning of white — “lacking color; colorless” (see Webster’s New World Dictionary, 1976, p. 1621).
[CFT Note: The original meaning of “white” — derived from Old English “hwit” — is “bright, radiant; clear, fair” — so “white” is synonymous with “fair” and the Hebrew “yapheh” which is most often translated as “fair”.]
The question is — why did God create Adam non-pigmented or white, while other types of man were pigmented brown, yellow, black, bronze, etc?
Scripture reveals that God had assigned a specific meaning and characteristic to white which is always used in a positive, Godly and honorable manner as follows:
White is used in Scripture to represent what is pure, holy and clean (Isaiah 1:18; Daniel 11:35; Daniel 12:10; Psalm 51:7; Ecclesiastes 9:8).
Jesus Christ was transfigured on the mount as being pure white (Matthew 17:2; Mark 9:3; Luke 9:29) — and appeared to John as being white (Revelation 1:14) denoting his eternity and wisdom, and was white as snow in prophecy (Daniel 7:9).
God’s angels and the vesture of angelic beings are white (Matthew 28:3; Mark 16:5; John 20:12; Acts 1:10; Revelation 15:6).
The bride of Christ is “arrayed in fine linen, clean and white” (Revelation 19:8).
The “righteous” and those that “overcometh” are clothed in white (Daniel 12:10; Revelation 3:4-5; Revelation 6:11).
Those that are worthy to appear before Christ are in white robes (Revelation 7:9), being made white by the blood of Christ (Revelation 7:13-14).
The throne of God is white (Revelation 20:11) and the 24 elders seated around the throne are in white (Revelation 4:4).
God has assigned a significant meaning to “white” in Scripture which is always opposite from that which is colored or dark.
The white horse of Revelation 6:2 signifies victory, while the red horse represents war (Revelation 6:4) — the black horse signifies famine (Revelation 6:5-6) — and the pale horse death (Revelation 6:8). Christ and his armies are upon white horses (Revelation 19:11, 19:14).
We thus see white is represented as that which is Godly, pure, good and peaceful. Black — or some dark hue — is the symbol of disaster, mourning, or suffering (Job 3:5 & 30:30; Jeremiah 8:21 & 14:2; Lamentations 4:8 & 5:10; Joel 2:6; Nahum 2:10).
There is also significance in the words “light” and “dark” in Scripture which are symbolized as opposites (2 Corinthians 6:14; Romans 13:12). God’s word is light (Psalm 119:105; 2 Corinthians 4:4).
Also, “God is light, and in him is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5). Likewise, Jesus Christ is referred to as Light (John1:7).
Consequently, God’s chosen people are referred to as the “children of light” (John 12:36; Luke 16:8; Ephesians 5:8; 1 Thessalonians 5:5; Colossians 1:12).
Darkness is representative of evil, wickedness and corruption (Proverbs 4:19; Isaiah 8:22; John 3:19; Luke 11:34; Ephesians 5:11; 6:12) — and something the righteous seek to be
delivered from (Ezekiel 34:12; Colossians 1:13).
We can see that God had assigned an honorable, pure, good, and Godly attribute to those things that are white or light in appearance. But those things that are evil, corrupted, or bring misery are represented as black, dark, or colored.
Does it not logically follow that God would have created His supreme creation — Adam, and consequently His chosen people — “white” or “light” in appearance instead of colored black, yellow, copper, brown or some dark hue?
In light of the meaning and symbology God used in Scripture, it can be deduced that God made Adam white — symbolizing something pure, holy, and Godly.
God certainly would not have made his chosen race dark or capable of “developing” into dark or colored types as the creationists and Christian churches believe and teach.
