LABDANUM

There is some uncertainty as to what is designated by the Hebrew word n^ekhoʼthʹ, an 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. (Gen. 37:25; 43:11) N^ekhoʼthʹ has been variously rendered “spicery” (AS, AV), “gum” (AT, RS), “tragacanth” (Da), “resin” (Mo) and, as defined in a recent Hebrew and Aramaic lexicon by Koehler and Baumgartner, “labdanum.” (NW) Labdanum is a soft, dark-brown or black gum that exudes from the leaves and branches of several varieties of Cistus or rockrose, a bushy little plant with large five-petal flowers resembling the wild rose. 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 (Book III, sec. 112) writes: “It is itself most fragrant; for it is found sticking like gum to the beards of he-goats, which collect it from the wood. It is useful for many ointments, and the Arabians burn it very generally as a perfume.”