Online Resource Library
Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadJames Hastings Dictionary of the Bible: Spice, Spices
Subjects in this Topic:
SPICE, SPICES.—1. bâsâm, Son_5:2, RVm [Note: Revised Version margin.] ‘balsam’; bôsem [once, Exo_30:23, besem], plur. bĕâmîm. In Exo_30:23 is a list of various aromatic substances Included under the name bĕâmîm. These were stored in the Temple (1Ch_9:29), and in Hezekiah’s treasure-house (2Ki_20:13); they were used for anointing the dead (2Ch_16:14), and also as perfumes for the living (Son_4:10 etc.). 2. sammim, Exo_30:34 ‘sweet spices’; and, along with ‘incense,’ Exo_30:7; Exo_40:27, Lev_4:7, Num_4:16 etc. In the first passage the ‘sweet spices’ are enumerated as stacte, onycha, and galbanum (all of which see). 3. nĕkô’th, Gen_37:25 ‘spicery’ (RVm [Note: Revised Version margin.] ‘gum tragacanth or storax’), Gen_43:11 (RV [Note: Revised Version.] ‘spicery’). The gum tragacanth is the product of the Astragalus gummifer, of which several species are known in Syria. The storax (Styrax officinalis), a shrub with beautiful white flowers, also affords an aromatic gum valued by the ancients. Whether nĕô’th corresponded definitely to one of these, or was a generic term for ‘perfumes,’ is an open question. 4. 5. Gr. arômata (Mar_16:1, EV [Note: English Version.] ‘spices’) and amômon (Rev_18:13, RVm [Note: Revised Version margin.] ‘amomum,’ RV [Note: Revised Version.] ‘spice,’ AV [Note: Authorized Version.] omits) are probably both generic.
E. W. G. Masterman.