Hebrew noun (masculine) · H1314
בֶּשֶׂם
besembeh'-sem
spice
29 uses in the Hebrew text, one for each word STEP Bible has tagged with this key
Word page · Part of the concordance, one page for every word of the Hebrew and Greek text. Strong's H1314is this word's number in James Strong's 1890 index of the King James Bible.
- 9 of 39Old Testament books
- 22spellings
The definition in full
Strong's key (1890) · H1314
fragrance; by implication, spicery; also the balsam plant
The King James renders it: smell, spice, sweet (odour).
James Strong, The Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (1890), public domain. Strong indexed the King James text, and this site quotes his entry as that index.
Summary
besem is rendered "spice". It stands 29 times in the Hebrew text, across nine books.
- Six of the uses stand in Exodus, more than in any other book.
- Its first use in canonical order opens the ledger below.Exodus 25:6olive oil for the light; spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense;
- The Greek text spells it twenty-two different ways.
The first use
olive oil for the light; spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense;
Exodus 25:6בְּשָׂמִים֙
The first use, in the order of the Old Testament's books.
Where the word stands
The word stands in nine of the 39 Old Testament books.
What the word means
Each meaning, and the words it is translated by
How the Greek text is glossed, word by word
- spices8
- and spices5
- spice3
- the spice3
- like the spice2
- the spices2
- and for spices1
- and the spices1
- of the spices1
- perfume1
- spices its1
- with the balsam oil1
The words built on the same word-part
Each word below begins with the same letters this one begins with. A shared word-part shows a family. It does not settle what any one of them means, so each word carries its own uses on its own page. Scholars call that shared part the stem.
The words it stands beside
All 29, in canonical order
Every use, in order
Every use, grouped by book, with its verse.
22 spellings and their grammar
STEP Bible tags every word of the Hebrew and Greek text with its spelling and its grammar. Both lists below count the rows printed underneath, written out in English, with the code beside each one as it was tagged.
How it is spelled
- בֹּ֜שֶׂם2
- בְּשָׂמִ֣ים2
- בְּשָׂמִ֧ים2
- בְשָׂמִֽים׃2
- הַבְּשָׂמִ֜ים2
- וּבְשָׂמִ֛ים2
- וּבְשָׂמִ֔ים2
- בַּבְּשָׂמִ֔ים1
- בֶּ֥שֶׂם1
- בֹ֖שֶׂם1
- בְשָׂמָ֑יו1
- בְּשָׂמִים֙1
and 10 more spellings in the ledger below.
The grammar of each form
- noun · masculine plural8HNcmpa
- conjunction (“and”) + noun · masculine plural5HC/Ncmpa
- noun · masculine singular4HNcmsa
- the definite article (“the”) + noun · masculine singular3HTd/Ncmsa
- preposition with the article + noun · masculine plural2HRd/Ncmpa
- preposition with the article + noun · masculine singular2HRd/Ncmsa
- the definite article (“the”) + noun · masculine plural2HTd/Ncmpa
- conjunction (“and”) + preposition + noun · masculine plural1HC/R/Ncmpa
- conjunction (“and”) + the definite article (“the”) + noun · masculine plural1HC/Td/Ncmpa
- noun · masculine plural · in construct (“…of”) + pronoun suffix · 3rd person masculine singular1HNcmpc/Sp3ms
Exodus
six uses
olive oil for the light; spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense;
- בְּשָׂמִים֙besamimnoun · masculine pluraltagged: spices
“Take the finest spices: 500 shekels of liquid myrrh, half that amount (250 shekels) of fragrant cinnamon, 250 shekels of fragrant cane,
- בְּשָׂמִ֣יםbesamimnoun · masculine pluraltagged: spices
- בֶּ֥שֶׂםbesemnoun · masculine singulartagged: spice
- בֹ֖שֶׂםvosemnoun · masculine singulartagged: spice
olive oil for the light; spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense;
- וּבְשָׂמִים֙uvesamimconjunction (“and”) + noun · masculine pluraltagged: and spices
as well as spices and olive oil for the light, for the anointing oil, and for the fragrant incense.
- הַבֹּ֖שֶׂםhabosemthe definite article (“the”) + noun · masculine singulartagged: the spice
1 Kings
four uses
She arrived in Jerusalem with a very large caravan—with camels bearing spices, gold in great abundance, and precious stones. So she came to Solomon and spoke to him all that was on her mind.
- בְּשָׂמִ֧יםbesamimnoun · masculine pluraltagged: spices
Then she gave the king 120 talents of gold, a great quantity of spices, and precious stones. Never again was such an abundance of spices brought in as those the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.
- וּבְשָׂמִ֛יםuvesamimconjunction (“and”) + noun · masculine pluraltagged: and spices
- כַבֹּ֨שֶׂםkhabosempreposition with the article + noun · masculine singulartagged: like the spice
Year after year, each visitor would bring his tribute: articles of silver and gold, clothing, weapons, spices, horses, and mules.
- וּבְשָׂמִ֔יםuvesamimconjunction (“and”) + noun · masculine pluraltagged: and spices
2 Kings
one use
And Hezekiah received the envoys and showed them all that was in his treasure house—the silver, the gold, the spices, and the precious oil, as well as his armory—all that was found in his storehouses. There was nothing in his palace or in all his dominion that Hezekiah did not show them.
- הַבְּשָׂמִ֜יםhabesamimthe definite article (“the”) + noun · masculine pluraltagged: the spices
1 Chronicles
two uses
Others were put in charge of the furnishings and other articles of the sanctuary, as well as the fine flour, wine, oil, frankincense, and spices.
- וְהַבְּשָׂמִֽים׃vehabesamimconjunction (“and”) + the definite article (“the”) + noun · masculine pluraltagged: and the spices
And some of the sons of the priests mixed the spices.
- לַבְּשָׂמִֽים׃labesamimpreposition with the article + noun · masculine pluraltagged: of the spices
2 Chronicles
six uses
Now when the queen of Sheba heard about the fame of Solomon, she came to test him with difficult questions. She arrived in Jerusalem with a very large caravan—with camels bearing spices, gold in abundance, and precious stones. So she came to Solomon and spoke with him about all that was on her mind.
- בְּשָׂמִ֧יםbesamimnoun · masculine pluraltagged: spices
Then she gave the king 120 talents of gold, a great quantity of spices, and precious stones. There had never been such spices as those the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.
- וּבְשָׂמִ֛יםuvesamimconjunction (“and”) + noun · masculine pluraltagged: and spices
- כַּבֹּ֣שֶׂםkabosempreposition with the article + noun · masculine singulartagged: like the spice
Year after year, each visitor would bring his tribute: articles of silver and gold, clothing, weapons, spices, horses, and mules.
- וּבְשָׂמִ֔יםuvesamimconjunction (“and”) + noun · masculine pluraltagged: and spices
And he was buried in the tomb that he had cut out for himself in the City of David. They laid him on a bier that was full of spices and various blended perfumes; then they made a great fire in his honor.
- בְּשָׂמִ֣יםbesamimnoun · masculine pluraltagged: spices
Hezekiah had very great riches and honor, and he made treasuries for his silver, gold, precious stones, spices, shields, and all kinds of valuable articles.
- וְלִבְשָׂמִים֙velivsamimconjunction (“and”) + preposition + noun · masculine pluraltagged: and for spices
Esther
one use
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.
- בַּבְּשָׂמִ֔יםbabesamimpreposition with the article + noun · masculine pluraltagged: with the balsam oil
Song of Solomon
six uses
How delightful is your love, my sister, my bride! Your love is much better than wine, and the fragrance of your perfume than all spices.
- בְּשָׂמִֽים׃besamimnoun · masculine pluraltagged: spices
with nard and saffron, with calamus and cinnamon, with every kind of frankincense tree, with myrrh and aloes, with all the finest spices.
- בְשָׂמִֽים׃vesamimnoun · masculine pluraltagged: spices
Awake, O north wind, and come, O south wind. Breathe on my garden and spread the fragrance of its spices. Let my beloved come into his garden and taste its choicest fruits.
- בְשָׂמָ֑יוvesamavnoun · masculine plural · in construct (“…of”) + pronoun suffix · 3rd person masculine singulartagged: spices its
His cheeks are like beds of spice, towers of perfume. His lips are like lilies, dripping with flowing myrrh.
- הַבֹּ֔שֶׂםhabosemthe definite article (“the”) + noun · masculine singulartagged: the spice
My beloved has gone down to his garden, to the beds of spices, to pasture his flock in the gardens and to gather lilies.
- הַבֹּ֑שֶׂםhabosemthe definite article (“the”) + noun · masculine singulartagged: the spice
Come away, my beloved, and be like a gazelle or a young stag on the mountains of spices.
- בְשָׂמִֽים׃vesamimnoun · masculine pluraltagged: spices
Isaiah
two uses
Instead of fragrance there will be a stench; instead of a belt, a rope; instead of styled hair, baldness; instead of fine clothing, sackcloth; instead of beauty, shame.
- בֹּ֜שֶׂםbosemnoun · masculine singulartagged: perfume
And Hezekiah welcomed the envoys gladly and showed them what was in his treasure house—the silver, the gold, the spices, and the precious oil, as well as his entire armory—all that was found in his storehouses. There was nothing in his palace or in all his dominion that Hezekiah did not show them.
- הַבְּשָׂמִ֜יםhabesamimthe definite article (“the”) + noun · masculine pluraltagged: the spices
Ezekiel
one use
The merchants of Sheba and Raamah traded with you; for your wares they exchanged gold, the finest of all spices, and precious stones.
- בֹּ֜שֶׂםbosemnoun · masculine singulartagged: spice
The letters
Gematria 342· 902 mispar gadol
Where it leads
How the numbers are counted
Every count on this page comes from STEP Bible's tagged Hebrew and Greek text, the same text the ledger prints. A use is counted once each time the tagging marks a word with this key.
Spellings are counted as the Greek text spells them, with the sentence's own punctuation taken off the word first, so a form that ends a clause is not counted as a second spelling.
The words it stands beside are the nouns, verbs and adjectives immediately before or after it, counted in every verse where the word stands. The article, the conjunctions and the prepositions are left out, because they stand beside every word.