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Myrrh

Easton's Bible Dictionary

1

Heb. mor.

2

First mentioned as a principal ingredient in the holy anointing oil (Exod 30:23). It formed part of the gifts brought by the wise men from the east, who came to worship the infant Jesus (Matt 2:11). It was used in embalming (John 19:39), also as a perfume (Esth 2:12; Ps 45:8; Prov 7:17). It was a custom of the Jews to give those who were condemned to death by crucifixion “wine mingled with myrrh” to produce insensibility. This drugged wine was probably partaken of by the two malefactors, but when the Roman soldiers pressed it upon Jesus “he received it not” (Mark 15:23).

This was the gum or viscid white liquid which flows from a tree resembling the acacia, found in Africa and Arabia, the Balsamodendron myrrha of botanists. The “bundle of myrrh” in Song 1:13 is rather a “bag” of myrrh or a scent-bag.

3

Another word lot is also translated “myrrh” (Gen 37:25; 43:11; R.V., marg., “or ladanum”). What was meant by this word is uncertain. It has been thought to be the chestnut, mastich, stacte, balsam, turpentine, pistachio nut, or the lotus. It is probably correctly rendered by the Latin word ladanum, the Arabic ladan, an aromatic juice of a shrub called the Cistus or rock rose, which has the same qualities, though in a slight degree, of opium, whence a decoction of opium is called laudanum. This plant was indigenous to Syria and Arabia.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

mur:

(1) (mor or mowr; Arabic murr]): This substance is mentioned as valuable for its perfume (Ps 45:8; Prov 7:17; Song 3:6; Song 4:14), and as one of the constituents of the holy incense (Exod 30:23; see also Song 4:6; Song 5:1; Song 5:5; Song 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 (Mark 15:23). On account, however, of the references to "flowing myrrh" (Exod 30:23) and "liquid myrrh" (Song 5:5; Song 5:13), Schweinfurth maintains that mor was not a dried gum but the liquid balsam of Balsamodendron opobalsamum.

See BALSAM.

Whichever view is correct, it is probable that the smurna, of the New Testament was the same. In Matt 2:11 it is brought by the "Wise men" of the East as an offering to the infant Saviour; in Mark 15:23 it is offered mingled with wine as an anesthetic to the suffering Redeemer, and in John 19:39 a "mixture of myrrh and aloes" is brought by Nicodemus to embalm the sacred body.

(2) (loT, stakte; translated "myrrh" in Gen 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 (Gen 37:25; Gen 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).

E. W. G. Masterman

Kilde: Easton's Bible Dictionary (M.G. Easton, 1897) og International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (red. James Orr, 1915/1939), public domain. Oversat til dansk med AI og endnu ikke gennemlæst (helt eller delvis). Koblinger til personer og steder: Theographic Bible Metadata (CC BY-SA 4.0).