Spice; Spices:
spis, spi'-sis, -sez:
(1) (besem (Ex 30:23), bosem, plural besamim, all from root "to attract by desire," especially by smell): The list of spices in Ex 30:23 includes myrrh, cinnamon, "sweet calamus cassia." These, mixed with olive oil, made the "holy anointing oil." Officials of the temple had charge of the spices (1Ch 9:29). Among the treasures of the temple shown by Hezekiah to the messengers of Babylon were the spices (2Ki 20:13). They were used in the obsequies of kings (2Ch 16:14) and in preparation of a bride for a royal marriage (Es 2:12, "sweet-odors" = balsam). Spices are frequently mentioned in So (4:10,14,16; 5:1, margin and the King James Version "balsam"; So 5:13; 6:2, "bed of spices," margin "balsam"; 8:14). These passages in So may refer in particular to balsam, the product of the balsam plant, Balsamodendron opobalsamum, a plant growing in Arabia. According to Josephus it was cultivated at Jericho, the plant having been brought to Palestine by the Queen of Sheba (Ant., VIII, vi, 6; see also XIV, iv, 1; XV, iv, 2; BJ, I, vi, 6).
See MYRRH.
(2) cammim (Ex 30:34, "sweet spices")): "Take unto thee sweet spices, stacte, and onycha, and galbanum; sweet spices with pure frankincense." It is a general term for fragrant substances finely powdered. Compare Arabic shamm, "a smell" or "sense of smell"; generally translated "sweet incense" (Ex 25:6; 30:7; 31:11; 35:8,15,28; 39:38; 40:27 (the King James Version only); Le 4:7; 16:12; Nu 4:16; 2Ch 2:4 (the King James Version only); 2Ch 13:11). In Ex 37:29; 40:27; 2Ch 2:4, we have qsToreth cammim, "incense of sweet spices."
(3) (nekho'th; thumiamata (Ge 37:25, "spicery," margin "gum tragacanth or storax"); thumiama "incense" (Ge 43:11, "spicery"; some Greek versions and the Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) have "storax")): Storax is the dried gum of the beautiful Styrax officinalis (see POPLAR), which was used as incense-different article from that now passing under that name. Tragacanth is the resinous gum of several species of milk vetch (Natural Order, Leguminosae), especially of the Astragalus gummifer. Septuagint "incense" is probably the best translation.
(4) (reqach, "spiced" wine (So 8:2)).
See WINE.
(5) (aroma, "spices" (Mr 16:1, the King James Version "sweet spices"; Lu 23:56; 24:1; Joh 19:40; in Joh 19:39 defined as a mixture of aloes and myrrh)).
See PERFUME; BURIAL.
(6) (amomon (Re 18:13), margin "amomum"; the King James Version "odours"): The Greek means "blameless," and it was apparently applied in classical times to any sweet and fine odor. In modern botany the name Amomum is given to a genus in the Natural Order. Zingiberaceae. The well-known cardamon seeds (Amomum cardamomum) and the A. grana Paradisi which yields the well-known "grains of Paradise," used as a stimulant, both belong to this genus. What was the substance indicated in Re 18:13 is quite uncertain.
Written by E. W. G. Masterman
Myrrh:
mur:
(1) (mor or mowr; Arabic murr]): This substance is mentioned as valuable for its perfume (Ps 45:8; Pr 7:17; So 3:6; 4:14), and as one of the constituents of the holy incense (Ex 30:23; see also So 4:6; 5:1,5,13). Mor is generally identified with the "myrrh" of commerce, the dried gum of a species of balsam (Balsamodendron myrrha). This is a stunted tree growing in Arabia, having a light-gray bark; the gum resin exudes in small tear-like drops which dry to a rich brown or reddish-yellow, brittle substance, with a faint though agreeable smell and a warm, bitter taste. It is still used as medicine (Mr 15:23). On account, however, of the references to "flowing myrrh" (Ex 30:23) and "liquid myrrh" (So 5:5,13), Schweinfurth maintains that mor was not a dried gum but the liquid balsam of Balsamodendron opobalsamum.
Whichever view is correct, it is probable that the smurna, of the New Testament was the same. In Mt 2:11 it is brought by the "Wise men" of the East as an offering to the infant Saviour; in Mr 15:23 it is offered mingled with wine as an anesthetic to the suffering Redeemer, and in Joh 19:39 a "mixture of myrrh and aloes" is brought by Nicodemus to embalm the sacred body.
(2) (loT, stakte; translated "myrrh" in Ge 37:25, margin "ladanum"; 43:11): The fragrant resin obtained from some species of cistus and called in Arabic ladham, in Latin ladanum. The cistus or "rock rose" is exceedingly common all over the mountains of Palestine (see BOTANY), the usual varieties being the C. villosus with pink petals, and the C. salviaefolius with white petals. No commerce is done now in Palestine in this substance as of old (Ge 37:25; 43:11), but it is still gathered from various species of cistus, especially C. creticus in the Greek Isles, where it is collected by threshing the plants by a kind of flail from which the sticky mass is scraped off with a knife and rolled into small black balls. In Cyprus at the present time the gum is collected from the beards of the goats that browse on these shrubs, as was done in the days of Herodotus iii.112).
Written by E. W. G. Masterman
See BALSAM
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