בעל־שמין; in Arabic, _abuschâm_, that is, “father of
scent,” sweet-scented. According to Mr. Bruce, the _balessan_, _balsam_,
or _balm_, is an evergreen shrub, or tree, which grows to about fourteen
feet high, spontaneously and without culture in its native country,
Azab, and all along the coast to Babelmandel. There were three kinds of
balsam extracted from this tree. The first was called _opobalsamum_, and
was most highly esteemed. It was that which flowed spontaneously, or by
means of incision, from the trunk or branches of the tree in summer
time. The second was _carpobalsamum_, made by expressing the fruit when
in maturity. The third, and least esteemed of all, was _hylobalsamum_,
made by a decoction of the buds and small young twigs. The great value
set upon this drug in the east is traced to the earliest ages. The
Ishmaelites, or Arabian carriers and merchants, trafficking with the
Arabian commodities into Egypt, brought with them צרי as a part of their
cargo, Gen. xxxvii, 25; xliii, 11. Josephus, in the history of the
antiquities of his country, says that a tree of this balsam was brought
to Jerusalem by the queen of Saba, and given among other presents to
Solomon, who, as we know from Scripture, was very studious of all sorts
of plants, and skilful in the description and distinction of them. And
here, indeed, it seems to have been cultivated and to have thriven; so
that the place of its origin, through length of time, combined with
other reasons, came to be forgotten. Notwithstanding the positive
authority of Josephus, and the great probability that attends it, we
cannot put it in competition with what we have been told in Scripture,
as we have just now seen that the place where it grew, and was sold to
merchants, was Gilead in Judea, more than 1730 years before Christ, or
1000 before the queen of Saba; so that in reading the verse, nothing can
be plainer than that it had been transplanted into Judea, flourished,
and had become an article of commerce in Gilead, long before the period
he mentions. “A company of Ishmaelites came from Gilead with their
camels, bearing spicery and balm, and myrrh, going to carry it down to
Egypt,” Gen. xxxvii, 25. Theophrastus, Dioscorides, Pliny, Strabo,
Diodorus Siculus, Tacitus, Justin, Solinus, and Serapion, speaking of
its costliness and medicinal virtues, all say that this balsam came from
Judea. The words of Pliny are, “But to all other odours whatever, the
balsam is preferred, produced in no other part but the land of Judea,
and even there in two gardens only; both of them belonging to the king,
one no more than twenty acres, the other still smaller.” The whole
valley of Jericho was once esteemed the most fruitful in Judea; and the
obstinacy with which the Jews fought here to prevent the balsam trees
from falling into the possession of the Romans, attests the importance
which was attached to them. This tree Pliny describes as peculiar to the
vale of Jericho, and as “more like a vine than a myrtle.” It was
esteemed so precious a rarity, that both Pompey and Titus carried a
specimen to Rome in triumph; and the balsam, owing to its scarcity, sold
for double its weight in silver, till its high price led to the practice
of adulteration. Justin makes it the chief source of the national
wealth. He describes the country in which it grew, as a valley like a
garden, environed with continual hills, and, as it were, enclosed with a
wall. “The space of the valley contains 200,000 acres, and is called
Jericho. In that valley, there is wood as admirable for its fruitfulness
as for its delight, for it is intermingled with palm trees and
opobalsamum. The trees of the opobalsamum have a resemblance to fir
trees; but they are lower, and are planted and husbanded after the
manner of vines. On a set season of the year they sweat balsam. The
darkness of the place is beside as wonderful as the fruitfulness of it;
for although the sun shines no where hotter in the world, there is
naturally a moderate and perpetual gloominess of the air.” According to
Mr. Buckingham, this description is most accurate. “Both the heat and
the gloominess,” he says, “were observed by us, though darkness would be
an improper term to apply to this gloom.”
scent,” sweet-scented. According to Mr. Bruce, the _balessan_, _balsam_,
or _balm_, is an evergreen shrub, or tree, which grows to about fourteen
feet high, spontaneously and without culture in its native country,
Azab, and all along the coast to Babelmandel. There were three kinds of
balsam extracted from this tree. The first was called _opobalsamum_, and
was most highly esteemed. It was that which flowed spontaneously, or by
means of incision, from the trunk or branches of the tree in summer
time. The second was _carpobalsamum_, made by expressing the fruit when
in maturity. The third, and least esteemed of all, was _hylobalsamum_,
made by a decoction of the buds and small young twigs. The great value
set upon this drug in the east is traced to the earliest ages. The
Ishmaelites, or Arabian carriers and merchants, trafficking with the
Arabian commodities into Egypt, brought with them צרי as a part of their
cargo, Gen. xxxvii, 25; xliii, 11. Josephus, in the history of the
antiquities of his country, says that a tree of this balsam was brought
to Jerusalem by the queen of Saba, and given among other presents to
Solomon, who, as we know from Scripture, was very studious of all sorts
of plants, and skilful in the description and distinction of them. And
here, indeed, it seems to have been cultivated and to have thriven; so
that the place of its origin, through length of time, combined with
other reasons, came to be forgotten. Notwithstanding the positive
authority of Josephus, and the great probability that attends it, we
cannot put it in competition with what we have been told in Scripture,
as we have just now seen that the place where it grew, and was sold to
merchants, was Gilead in Judea, more than 1730 years before Christ, or
1000 before the queen of Saba; so that in reading the verse, nothing can
be plainer than that it had been transplanted into Judea, flourished,
and had become an article of commerce in Gilead, long before the period
he mentions. “A company of Ishmaelites came from Gilead with their
camels, bearing spicery and balm, and myrrh, going to carry it down to
Egypt,” Gen. xxxvii, 25. Theophrastus, Dioscorides, Pliny, Strabo,
Diodorus Siculus, Tacitus, Justin, Solinus, and Serapion, speaking of
its costliness and medicinal virtues, all say that this balsam came from
Judea. The words of Pliny are, “But to all other odours whatever, the
balsam is preferred, produced in no other part but the land of Judea,
and even there in two gardens only; both of them belonging to the king,
one no more than twenty acres, the other still smaller.” The whole
valley of Jericho was once esteemed the most fruitful in Judea; and the
obstinacy with which the Jews fought here to prevent the balsam trees
from falling into the possession of the Romans, attests the importance
which was attached to them. This tree Pliny describes as peculiar to the
vale of Jericho, and as “more like a vine than a myrtle.” It was
esteemed so precious a rarity, that both Pompey and Titus carried a
specimen to Rome in triumph; and the balsam, owing to its scarcity, sold
for double its weight in silver, till its high price led to the practice
of adulteration. Justin makes it the chief source of the national
wealth. He describes the country in which it grew, as a valley like a
garden, environed with continual hills, and, as it were, enclosed with a
wall. “The space of the valley contains 200,000 acres, and is called
Jericho. In that valley, there is wood as admirable for its fruitfulness
as for its delight, for it is intermingled with palm trees and
opobalsamum. The trees of the opobalsamum have a resemblance to fir
trees; but they are lower, and are planted and husbanded after the
manner of vines. On a set season of the year they sweat balsam. The
darkness of the place is beside as wonderful as the fruitfulness of it;
for although the sun shines no where hotter in the world, there is
naturally a moderate and perpetual gloominess of the air.” According to
Mr. Buckingham, this description is most accurate. “Both the heat and
the gloominess,” he says, “were observed by us, though darkness would be
an improper term to apply to this gloom.”