Vermilion

Vermilion appears as a paint colour twice in scripture. Both occurrences are negative: a king's vainglorious palace and a wall covered with painted Chaldean men. The pigment is associated with extravagance and with images that draw the heart astray.

The Painted Palace

Jeremiah's oracle against Jehoiakim mocks the king's building project. The would-be ruler dreams of grand architecture and rich finishes: "who says, I will build me a wide house and spacious chambers, and cuts him out many windows; and it is ceiled with cedar, and painted with vermilion" (Jer 22:14). Cedar panelling and vermilion paint stand for the misdirected ambition the prophet rebukes.

The Painted Wall

In Ezekiel's allegory of the two unfaithful sisters, the painted images on the wall are what set Oholibah's lust loose: "And she increased her whoring; for she saw men portrayed on the wall, the images of the Chaldeans portrayed with vermilion," (Eze 23:14). The bright pigment is what makes the foreign soldiers attractive enough to be desired, and the desire is the beginning of the alliance the oracle condemns.