Answers about
Spices in the Bible
This word refers to various aromatic substances, several of which are named by Yahweh in reference to the Holy Tabernacle (Exodus 30).
Holy anointing oil made of olive oil, mixed with…
Sacred incense for the Holy Tabernacle, made of equal parts of…
- pure stacte
- pure onycha
- pure galbanum
- pure frankincense
Spices were used for various purposes, including in incense, in foods, sacred anointing oil (Exodus 25:6; 35:8; 1 Chronicles 9:29), and in embalming the dead (2 Chronicles 16:14; Luke 23:56; 24:1; John 19:39-40).
Upon King Asa’s death,
“…they buried him in his own sepulchres, which he had made for himself in the city of David, and laid him in the bed which was filled with sweet odours and divers kinds of spices prepared by the apothecaries’ art…” —2 Chronicles 16:14 KJV
Upon Jesus Christ’s death, they took
“…the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury.” —John 19:40 KJV
The queen of Sheba “came to Jerusalem with a very great train [caravan], with camels that bare spices… spices very great store…” (1 Kings 10:2, 10) as a gift to King Solomon.
Spices were stored by King Hezekiah in his treasure-house (2 Kings 20:13; Isaiah 39:2).
List of spices in the Bible
- Aloes
- Anise (Pimpinella anisum)
- Cane, fragrant
- Calamus (Latin for cane/reed)
- Capers (“the caperberry” Capparis spinosa —Eccl. 12:5)
- Cassia
- Cinnamon
- Coriander (cilantro) (Coriandrum sativum)
- Cumin (cummin)
- Dill (Anethum graveolens)
- Frankincense
- Galbanum
- Garlic (Allium sativum) —a vegetable used as a spice
- Hyssop (Origanum syriacum)
- Bay laurel (Laurus nobilis —aromatic Laurel Bay leaves, used whole, dried, or ground in cooking)
- Leek (Allium porrum)
- Mandrake (Mandragora officinarum)
- Mint (Mentha longifolia)
- Mustard (Sinapis alba)
- Myrrh (Commiphora myrrha)
- Onion (Allium cepa)
- Onycha
- Saffron (Crocus sativus)
- Spikenard
- Stacte
More information
- Perfumes and sweet fragrances in the Bible
- What is incense and how was it used in the worship of God?
- What is annointing?
- Evidence of imported VANILLA stored in jugs (in a tomb) was found in 2018 by archaeologists at ancient Megiddo
- Answers about agriculture in the Bible
- Foods in the Bible
- Cooking in the Bible
- About eating in the Bible
- “spicery”