Balm Of Gilead
From BibleEncyclopedia.Net
The region of Gilead abounded in spices and aromatic gums, which were exported to Egypt and Tyre (Gen_37:25; Jer_8:22; Jer_46:11; Eze_27:17). The word “balm” is a contracted form of “balsam,” a word derived from the Greek balsamon, which was adopted as the representative of the Hebrew words baal shemen, meaning “lord” or “chief of oils.”
The Hebrew name of this balm was tsori. The tree yielding this medicinal oil was probably the Balsamodendron opobalsamum of botanists, and the Amyris opobalsamum of Linnaeus. It is an evergreen, rising to the height of about 14 feet. The oil or resin, exuding through an orifice made in its bark in very small quantities, is esteemed of great value for its supposed medicinal qualities. (See BALM.) It may be noted that Coverdale's version reads in Jer_8:22, “There is no triacle in Galaad.” The word “triacle” = “treacle” is used in the sense of ointment.
The people of Jericho today prepare for the benefit of pilgrims a “Balm of Gilead” from the zaḳḳūm (Baḷanites Aegyptiaca), but this has no serious claims to be the balm of antiquity. If we are to look beyond the borders of modern Palestine we may credit the tradition which claims that Mecca balsam, a product of Balsamodendron Gileadense and B. opobalsamum, was the true “balm,” and Post (HDB, I, 236) produces evidence to show that these plants were once grown in the Jordan valley. Yet another suggestion, made by Lagarde, is that the cŏrī = στύραξ, stúrax, and if so then “balm” would be the inspissated juice of the Storax-tree (Styrax officinalis), a common inhabitant of Gilead.
See also Balm.
