Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible (1898)
SPIN, SPIN'NING. The nations of antiquity placed great stress upon this womanly occupation - indeed, it was a necessary duty, since the preparation of the materials, no less than the making of the dress itself, fell upon the women. In the Bible there are only two direct notices of the art, Ex 35:25-26; Prov 31:19; but, since it is spoken of as a matter of course, we infer the custom was universal. Distaff-spinning was the mode, as is now the case in the East, wheel-spinning being apparently unknown.
The Hebrew women spun wool and flax from the distaff and twisted the thread by means of the spindle, and made up camel and goat-hair into sackcloth for mourning, girdles, and tent-covers. The women also made rope and cord. The men did not engage in such work. See Distaff.