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perfumes in the Bible

Perfumes were used in various ways in Biblical times and are often mentioned in Scripture.

• Use in worship of God

  And you shall make from these a holy anointing oil, an ointment compounded according to the art of the perfumer. It shall be a holy anointing oil. —Exodus 30:25 NKJV

  Special, unique perfumed incense devoted to God, and not for personal use

  With it you shall make incense, a perfume, the work of a perfumer, salted, pure, and holy.

  You shall beat some of it very fine, and put part of it before the testimony in the tent of meeting where I will meet with you; it shall be most holy to you.

  The incense which you shall make, you shall not make in the same proportions for yourselves; it shall be holy to you for the Lord.

  Whoever shall make any like it, to use as perfume, shall be cut off from his people. —Exodus 30:35-37 NASB

  • What is worship?
  • Incense in the Bible
  • Offerings

• Use for personal, domestic and sensual enjoyment

  Ointment and perfume delight the heart…—Proverbs 27:9 NKJV

  Each young woman’s turn came to go in to King Ahasuerus after she had completed twelve months’ preparation, according to the regulations for the women, for thus were the days of their preparation apportioned: six months with oil of myrrh, and six months with perfumes and preparations for beautifying women. —Esther 2:12 NKJV

  I have sprinkled my bed
  With myrrh, aloes and cinnamon. —Proverbs 7:17 NASB

  Solomon says of The Shulamite,

  What is this coming up from the wilderness
  Like columns of smoke,
  Perfumed with myrrh and frankincense,
  With all scented powders of the merchant? —Song of Songs 3:6 NKJV

  You journeyed to the king with oil
  and multiplied your perfumes… —Isaiah 57:9 ESV excerpt

• Embalming the dead

• Funeral ceremonies

  She has come beforehand to anoint My body for burial. —Mark 14:8 NKJV

  …certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. —Luke 24:1 NKJV excerpt

  And Nicodemus, who at first came to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds. —John 19:39 NKJV

Perfumers

Hebrew: רַקָּח —transliteration: raqqach —meaning: perfumer; ointment maker

Hebrew: רָקַח —transliteration: raqach —meaning: to mix or compound oil or ointment

…Hananiah, one of the perfumers, made repairs [to the Jerusalem’s wall]… —Nehemiah 3:8 NKJV

Dead flies putrefy the perfumer’s ointment,
And cause it to give off a foul odor;
So does a little folly to one respected for wisdom and honor. —Ecclesiastes 10:1 NKJV

Hebrew: רַקָּחָה —transliteration: raqqachah ——meaning: female ointment maker; female perfumer

He [Saul, first king of Israel] will take your daughters to be perfumers, cooks, and bakers. —1 Samuel 8:13 NKJV

Perfume boxes

These are mentioned in Isaiah 3:20.

Hebrew words translated into English as perfume

Hebrew: רֹקַח —transliteration: roqach —meaning: spice mixture, perfume

Hebrew: רַקֻּחַ —transliteration: riqquach —meaning: perfumery

Hebrew: מֶרְקָח —transliteration: merqach —meaning: spice, perfume

Hebrew: מִרְקַחַת —transliteration: mirqachath —meaning: an ointment mixture; perfumes

Hebrew: נֵרְדְּ —transliteration: nard —meaning: nard; nard plants (an odorific plant from India via Persia); spikenard; perfume

Hebrew: בָּשְׂמַת —transliteration: Basemath —meaning: perfume; sweet-smelling

Two women named “Perfume”

Hebrew: בָּשְׂמַת —transliteration: Basemath —meaning: perfume; sweet-smelling

Who is Bashemath (Basemath)?

More information

• Oils in the Bible
• Spices in the Bible
• Ointments in the Bible
• Incense in the Bible
• Plants of the Bible