This is not the greasy body we know as soap. The Hebrew terms "bor" and "borith" (that which cleanses) denote an alkali.
It was used for washing (Jb. 9:30; Jer. 2:22), for cleaning clothing (Mal. 3:2) and for smelting minerals (Is. 1:25).
The gr versions They chose to use the name of a substance extracted from a vegetable, "poa", herb, herbaceous plant.
In Palestine, saponaria root ("Saponaria officinalis") is used to wash fabrics, because it does not shrink.
The alkali used for the fusion of metals was obtained from the ashes of two varieties of saponaria ("Salicornía fructicosa" and "Salsola kali").
Even today they are reduced to ashes to obtain soda.
Meaning of SOAP
This is not the greasy body we know as soap. The Hebrew terms "bor" and "borith" (that which cleanses) denote an alkali.