Myrrh

How Nave’s arranged it

• (A fragrant gum)
• A product of the land of Canaan So 4:6,14; 5:1
• One of the compounds in the sacred anointing oilExodus 30:23
• Used as a perfume So 3:6; 5:13Esther 2:12Psalms 45:8Proverbs 7:17
• Brought by the wise men (Magi) as a present to JesusMatthew 2:11
• Offered to Jesus on the crossMark 15:23
• Used for embalmingJohn 19:39
• Traffic inGenesis 37:25Genesis 43:11

The passages, in Bible order (9)

The same references, sorted Genesis to Revelation. The first 9 are quoted in full; the rest are one click beneath them, book by book.

1. Genesis 37:25

   And as they sat down to eat a meal, they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were carrying spices, balm, and myrrh on their way down to Egypt.

   ›Commentary on Genesis 37:251 voice

   “They sat down to eat bread - Every act is perfectly in character, and describes forcibly the brutish and diabolic nature of their ruthless souls. A company of Ishmaelites - We may naturally suppose that this was a caravan, composed of different tribes that, for their greater safety, were traveling together, and of which Ishmaelites and Midianites made the chief. In the Chaldee they are called Arabians, which, from ערב arab, to mingle, was in all probability used by the Targumist as the word Arabians is used among us, which comprehends a vast number of clans, or tribes of people.

   Everything gathered on Genesis 37:25→

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2. Genesis 43:11

   Then their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: Put some of the best products of the land in your packs and carry them down as a gift for the man—a little balm and a little honey, spices and myrrh, pistachios and almonds.

   ›Commentary on Genesis 43:111 voice

   “Carry down the man a present - From the very earliest times presents were used as means of introduction to great men. This is particularly noticed by Solomon: A man’s gift maketh room for him, and bringeth him before great men, Pro 18:16. But what was the present brought to Joseph on this occasion? After all the labor of commentators, we are obliged to be contented with probabilities and conjecture. According to our translation, the gifts were balm, honey, spices, myrrh, nuts, and almonds.

   Everything gathered on Genesis 43:11→

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3. Exodus 30:23

   “Take the finest spices: 500 shekels of liquid myrrh, half that amount (250 shekels) of fragrant cinnamon, 250 shekels of fragrant cane,

   ›Commentary on Exodus 30:232 voices

   “Take thou also unto thee principal spices,.... To make the anointing oil with, and are as follow: of pure myrrh five hundred shekels; it is strange that Saadiah, and so Maimonides (f), should take this for musk, which comes from a beast, and is confuted by Aben Ezra from Son 5:1 from whence it plainly appears to be what comes from a tree; and the word "mor", here used, gives the tree the name of myrrh almost in all languages.

   “Compare Exo 37:29. Exo 30:23 Principal spices - i. e. the best spices. Pure myrrh - Is a gum which comes from the stem of a low, thorny, ragged tree, that grows in Arabia Felix and Eastern Africa, called by botanists Balsamodendron myrrha. The word here rendered pure, is literally, “freely flowing”, an epithet which is explained by the fact that the best myrrh is said to exude spontaneously from the bark, while that of inferior quality oozes out in greater quantity from incisions made in the bark. Five hundred shekels - Probably rather more than 15 1/4 lbs.

   Everything gathered on Exodus 30:23→

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4. Esther 2:12

   In the twelve months before her turn to go to King Xerxes, the harem regulation required each young woman to receive beauty treatments with oil of myrrh for six months, and then with perfumes and cosmetics for another six months.

   ›Commentary on Esther 2:122 voices

   “Six months with oil of myrrh - See on Est 2:3 (note). The reason of this purification seems not to be apprehended by any writer I have seen. The most beautiful of all the young virgins of all the provinces of Babylon were to be selected; and these were taken out of all classes of the people, indiscriminately; consequently there must have been many who were brought up in low life.

   “Now when every maid's turn was come to go in to king Ahasuerus--A whole year was spent in preparation for the intended honor. Considering that this took place in a palace, the long period prescribed, together with the profusion of costly and fragrant cosmetics employed, was probably required by state etiquette.

   Everything gathered on Esther 2:12→

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5. Psalms 45:8

   All your garments are fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia; from palaces of ivory the harps make you glad.

   ›Commentary on Psalms 45:82 voices

   “The sweet odor of Christ gives forth the fragrance of myrrh because of his passion, and of aloes because he did not remain motionless and inactive for three days and three nights but descended to the lower world to distribute the graces of the resurrection.… And it breathes forth the fragrance of cassia, a very delicate and fragrant bark, … because of the suffering of the cross undertaken in kindness to every creature.

   “All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia,.... Either his human nature, as anointed with the oil of gladness, and filled with the graces of the Spirit, signified by the holy anointing oil in the tabernacle, of which the things mentioned were ingredients, Exo 30:23; or the garments of salvation and robe of righteousness, wrought out by him for his people, which are well pleasing and acceptable to his Father, and of a sweet smelling savour, being agreeable to his law and justice; and also to himself, as they are put upon his people; see Son 4:

   Everything gathered on Psalms 45:8→

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6. Proverbs 7:17

   I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, with aloes, and with cinnamon.

   ›Commentary on Proverbs 7:172 voices

   “With a provocative movement of a prostitute, with a disrupted gait through delights, with wandering eyes, and with playful darting of her eyelids, she captures the precious souls of young men (for the eye of a prostitute is a snare of a sinner), and with doubtful perception, she accosts anyone passing by in the corner of her house, with charming words, causing the hearts of young men to flutter, restless at home, wandering in the streets, prodigal with kisses, cheap in modesty, rich in attire, painted cheeks.

   “The love of perfumes is here, as in Isa 3:24, a sign of luxurious vice. Cinnamon - The Hebrew word is identical with the English. The spice imported by the Phoenician traders from the further East, probably from Ceylon, has kept its name through all changes of language.

   Everything gathered on Proverbs 7:17→

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7. Matthew 2:11

   On coming to the house, they saw the Child with His mother Mary, and they fell down and worshiped Him. Then they opened their treasures and presented Him with gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh.

   ›Commentary on Matthew 2:112 voices

   “(Verse 11.) And opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold, frankincense, and myrrh. The presbyter Juvencus beautifully captures the significance of the gifts in one verse. Thus, they bring gifts of gold, myrrh, and incense to the king, the people, and the God. And having received an answer in a dream, they returned to their own country by another way, so as not to go back to Herod. Those who had presented gifts to the Lord subsequently received a response.

   “(Hom. in Evang. i. 106.) Gold, as to a King; frankincense, as sacrifice to God; myrrh, as embalming the body of the dead. (ubi sup.) Something further may yet be meant here. Wisdom is typified by gold; as Solomon saith in the Proverbs, A treasure to be desired is in the mouth of the wise. (Prov. 21:20.) By frankincense, which is burnt before God, the power of prayer is intended, as in the Psalms, Let my speech come before thee as incense. (Ps. 141:2.) In myrrh is figured mortification of the flesh.

   Everything gathered on Matthew 2:11→

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8. Mark 15:23

   There they offered Him wine mixed with myrrh, but He did not take it.

   ›Commentary on Mark 15:232 voices

   “Wine mingled ... - Matthew says “vinegar.” It was probably “wine soured,” so that it might be called either. This was the common drink of the Roman soldiers. Myrrh - See the notes at Mat 27:34.

   “He is lifted up and nailed to the Tree, but by the Tree of Life He restoreth us; yea, He saveth even the Robber crucified with Him; yea, He wrapped the visible world in darkness. He is given vinegar to drink mingled with gall. Who? He who turned the water into wine, who is the destroyer of the bitter taste, who is Sweetness and altogether desire. He lays down His life, but He has power to take it again; and the veil is rent, for the mysterious doors of Heaven are opened; the rocks are cleft, the dead arise.

   Everything gathered on Mark 15:23→

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9. John 19:39

   Nicodemus, who had previously come to Jesus at night, also brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds.

   ›Commentary on John 19:392 voices

   “And there came also Nicodemus,.... To the cross, at the same time as Joseph did; who, whether they were brethren, as some conjecture, and met here by consent, since one prepared one thing, and another, for the interment of Christ, is not certain. This Nicodemus is thought to be the same with Nicodemus ben Gorion, the Talmudists speaks of, who, they say (u), was one of the three rich men in Jerusalem; as this appears to be a rich man, from the large quantity of myrrh and aloes he brought with him, and which must be very costly.

   “Nicodemus - See on Joh 3:1 (note), etc. Myrrh and aloes - Which drugs were used to preserve bodies from putrefaction. Calmet says that the aloes mentioned here is a liquor which runs from an aromatic tree, and is widely different from that called aloes among us. Some have objected that a hundred pounds’ weight of myrrh and aloes was enough to embalm two hundred dead bodies; and instead of ἑκατον, a hundred, some critics have proposed to read ἑκατερων - a mixture of myrrh and aloes, of about a pound Each. See Bowyer’s Conjectures.

   Everything gathered on John 19:39→

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