Frankincense
From BibleEncyclopedia.Net
fraṇk´in-sens (לבנה, lebhōnāh, from root meaning “whiteness,” referring to the milky color of the fresh juice: Exodus 30:34; Leviticus 2:1 f,15 f; Leviticus 5:11; Leviticus 6:15; Leviticus 24:7; Numbers 5:15; 1 Chronicles 9:29; Nehemiah 13:5, Nehemiah 13:9; Song Of Songs 3:6; Song Of Songs 4:6, Song Of Songs 4:14; Isaiah 43:23; Isaiah 60:6; Isaiah 66:3; Jeremiah 6:20; Jeremiah 17:26; Jeremiah 41:5; translated in the last six references “incense” in the King James Version, but correctly in the Revised Version (British and American); Greek λίβανος, líbanoš: Matthew 2:11; Revelation 18:13. The English word is derived from old French franc encens, i.e. “pure incense”):
an odorous resin imported from Arabia (Isaiah 60:6; Jeremiah 6:20), yet also growing in Palestine (Song Of Songs 4:14). It was one of the ingredients in the perfume of the sanctuary (Exodus 30:34), and was used as an accompaniment of the meat-offering (Leviticus 2:1, Leviticus 2:16; Leviticus 6:15; Leviticus 24:7). When burnt it emitted a fragrant odor, and hence the incense became a symbol of the Divine name (Malachi 1:11; Song Of Songs 1:3) and an emblem of prayer (Psalms 141:2; Luke 1:10; Revelation 5:8; Revelation 8:3).
This frankincense, or olibanum, used by the Jews in the temple services is not to be confounded with the frankincense of modern commerce, which is an exudation of the Norway spruce fir, the Pinus abies. It was probably a resin from the Indian tree known to botanists by the name of Boswellia serrata or thurifera, which grows to the height of forty feet.
The common frankincense of the pharmacopeas is a gum derived from the common fir, but the frankincense of the Jews, as well as of the Greeks and Romans, is a substance now called Olibanum (from the Arabic el lubān), a product of certain trees of the genus Boswellia (Natural Order, Amyridaceae), growing on the limestone rocks of south Arabia and Somali-land (Isaiah 60:6; Jeremiah 6:20). The most important species are B. Carteri and B. Frereana. Some of the trees grow to a considerable height and send down their roots to extraordinary depths. The gum is obtained by incising the bark, and is collected in yellowish, semitransparent tears, readily pulverized; it has a nauseous taste. It is used for making incense for burning in churches and in Indian temples, as it was among the Jews (Exodus 30:34). See Incense. It is often associated with myrrh (Song Of Songs 3:6; Song Of Songs 4:6) and with it was made an offering to the infant Saviour (Matthew 2:11). A specially “pure” kind, lebhōnāh zakkāh, was presented with the shewbread (Leviticus 24:7).
