spices

Salves, perfumes, or aromatic oils. Spices were part of the luxury trade of the ancient world; a “balm,” resin of Pistacia mutica, was among the gifts sent to Joseph (Gen 43:11). Balsam oil or perfume in general appears in the catalogue of wealth that flows through Tyre (Ezek 27:22). Spices were used in the anointing oil, perhaps a balsam oil (Exod 35:28; 1Kgs 10:2). “Spices” may also refer to a sweet-smelling cinnamon or a sweet cane (Exod 30:23). Aromatic oils and perfumes were used for embalming and anointing a corpse (Mark 16:1; Luke 23:56; John 19:40).