The expression in the Authorized Version (Isaiah 19:7), "the paper reeds by the brooks," is in the Revised Version more correctly "the meadows by the Nile." The words undoubtedly refer to a grassy place on the banks of the Nile fit for pasturage.

In 2 John 1:12 the word is used in its proper sense. The material so referred to was manufactured from the papyrus, and hence its name. The papyrus (Hebrews gome) was a kind of bulrush (q.v.). It is mentioned by Job (8:11) and Isaiah (35:7). It was used for many purposes. This plant (Papyrus Nilotica) is now unknown in Egypt; no trace of it can be found. The unaccountable disappearance of this plant from Egypt was foretold by Isaiah (19:6, 7) as a part of the divine judgment on that land. The most extensive papyrus growths now known are in the marshes at the northern end of the lake of Merom.

Noah Webster's New International Dictionary of the English Language

1. (n.) A substance in the form of thin sheets or leaves intended to be written or printed on, or to be used in wrapping. It is made of rags, straw, bark, wood, or other fibrous material, which is first reduced to pulp, then molded, pressed, and dried.

2. (n.) A sheet, leaf, or piece of such substance.

3. (n.) A printed or written instrument; a document, essay, or the like; a writing; as, a paper read before a scientific society.

4. (n.) A printed sheet appearing periodically; a newspaper; a journal; as, a daily paper.

5. (n.) Negotiable evidences of indebtedness; notes; bills of exchange, and the like; as, the bank holds a large amount of his paper.

6. (n.) Decorated hangings or coverings for walls, made of paper. See Paper hangings, below.

7. (n.) A paper containing (usually) a definite quantity; as, a paper of pins, tacks, opium, etc.

8. (n.) A medicinal preparation spread upon paper, intended for external application; as, cantharides paper.

9. (a.) of or pertaining to paper; made of paper; resembling paper; existing only on paper; unsubstantial; as, a paper box; a paper army.

10. (v. t.) To cover with paper; to furnish with paper hangings; as, to paper a room or a house.

11. (v. t.) To fold or enclose in paper.

12. (v. t.) To put on paper; to make a memorandum of.