Myrrh

Myrrh is probably the most precious spice in the Bible. It was worth more than its weight in gold. Our experts agree that the Hebrew word mor refers to the resin of one of the Commiphora genus, either myrrha, abyssinica or schimperi, all of which grew in what is now Yemen, Ethiopia, Somalia, and Madagascar. Other kinds of myrrh may have come from India (Commiphora erythraea, Commiphora opobalsamum). A more difficult question is the meaning of the word deror in EXO 30:23. In the other places where it occurs it means “freedom” or “liberty.” This is the basis for the word “liquid” in some versions, but there is no certainty that “free” means “liquid.” The fact that myrrh was sometimes mixed with wine may suggest that deror means “liquid” here, but on the other hand, the weight of the myrrh is given in dry measure rather than liquid measure, which argues against it (Durham, page 407).

The Hebrew word lot in GEN 37:25; GEN 43:11 is translated “myrrh” in RSV, but it should be rendered “ladanum,” according to the latest scholarship (see Rock rose (ladanum)).

RSV also renders the Hebrew word nesheq as “myrrh” (similarly REB “perfumes”) in 1KI 10:25; 2CH 9:24, but most other English versions translate it “weapons” or “armor.”

The myrrh plant is a bush or shrub with thick thorny branches that project and bend at odd angles. The leaves come in sets of three. The fruit is oval like a plum. The wood and bark have a pleasant smell. The gum oozes naturally from the branches, though some harvesters incise the branches to increase the flow. The sap or gum is clear or yellowish brown when it comes out, but gets darker as it dries. The taste of the gum is bitter (note the similarity of mor to the Hebrew word mar meaning “bitter”). In markets the gum is often found mixed with that of the kataf bush (bisabol).

God prescribed myrrh as an ingredient of the holy anointing oil (EXO 30:23), and it is used as perfume in Esther, Psalms, Proverbs, and eight times in Song of Songs. It was brought as an expensive gift by the Magi to the new King (MAT 2:11). As Jesus was dying on the cross, sympathetic bystanders may have offered it to him mixed with wine (MRK 15:23; see the parallel account in MAT 27:34). Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes to prepare Jesus’ body for burial (JHN 19:39). In ancient Egypt myrrh was burned on the altars of the sun god, and in Persia it was attached to the crowns of kings when they appeared in public. Romans burned myrrh at funerals and cremations, which helps to explain its inclusion in the list of spices in REV 18:13. Today it is used in perfumes, lotions, and even in toothpaste.

Varieties of myrrh grow in the Horn of Africa and Madagascar, so people from those areas should have no difficulty finding words for it. As to whether the myrrh in EXO 30:23 was liquid or solid, there seems to be no consensus, and the translator may be forgiven for simply ignoring the Hebrew word deror (as CEV has done). A variety of models are available for rendering mor deror as follows: “sticks of myrrh” (REB), “free-flowing myrrh” (NAB), “solidified myrrh” (NJPSV), “powdered myrrh” (GW, Durham), “fresh myrrh” (NJB), “liquid myrrh” (GNB, NIV, NCV), and “pure myrrh” (NLT, LB). Possible transliterations are Hebrew mor, Arabic mar, French mireh, and Spanish/Portuguese mirra. A transliteration from English or French should be pronounceable (for example, mura), not like one early Nigerian translations that carried the unpronounceable “myrrh” over unchanged.