LABDANUM

(labʹda·num).

A soft, black or dark-brown gum that exudes from the leaves and branches of several varieties of Cistus, or rockrose. The gum has a bitter taste but a fragrant odor. It is used in perfumes and, at one time, was also extensively employed in medicine. With reference to this substance the ancient Greek historian Herodotus (III, 112) wrote: “It is gathered from the beards of he-goats, where it is found sticking like gum, having come from the bushes on which they browse. It is used in many sorts of unguents [ointments], and is what the Arabs burn chiefly as incense.”​—Translation by G. Rawlinson.

The Hebrew word nekhoʼthʹ designates this item carried by a caravan of Ishmaelites to whom Joseph was sold and one of the fine products that Jacob told his sons to take as a gift to one who was ruler in Egypt. (Ge 37:25; 43:11) Nekhoʼthʹ has been variously rendered “spices” (KJ), “gum” (AT, RS), “tragacanth” (Da), “resin” (Mo), and, as defined by Koehler and Baumgartner, “labdanum” (NW).​—Lexicon in Veteris Testamenti Libros, Leiden, 1958, p. 615.