is now usually identified with the exudation from the Balsamum
Gileadense, known as Opobalsamum, a delicately odorous resinous
substance of a dark red colour, turning yellow as it solidifies. It
is not now used in modern pharmacy, except in the East. The London
Pharmacopœia of 1746 authorised the substitution of expressed oil of
nutmeg for it in the formula for Theriaca. Some Biblical commentators
have preferred to regard mastic as the original Balm of Gilead, and
others have thought that styrax has fulfilled the description. At this
day the monks of Jericho sell to tourists an oily gum extracted from
the Takkum, or Balanites Egyptiaca, as Balm of Gilead. It is put up
in tin cases, and is said to be useful in the treatment of sores and
wounds; but it cannot be the true Balm of the Bible.
The references to Balm of Gilead in the Old Testament show that it was
exported from Arabia to Egypt from very early times. The Ishmaelites
“from Gilead” who bought Joseph, were carrying it down to Egypt with
other Eastern gums and spices (Genesis, xxxvii, 25). “A little balm”
was among the gifts which Jacob told his sons to take to the lord of
Egypt (Genesis, xliii, 11). This was the same substance: tsora in
Hebrew. The translation “balm” in the Authorised Version is said
in the Encyclopedia Biblica to be “an unfortunate inheritance from
Coverdale’s Bible.” Why it is unfortunate is not clear, unless it is
that the English word suggests the idea of a medicine. In the Genesis
references to the substance there is no indication that the tsora was
employed as a remedy, but in the Book of Jeremiah it is mentioned
three times (viii, 22; xlvi, 11; li, 8), and in all these allusions
its healing virtues are emphasised. Wyclif translates tsora in Genesis
“sweete gum,” and, in Jeremiah, “resyn.” Coverdale adopts “triacle”
in Jeremiah. The Septuagint rendered the Hebrew tsora into the Greek
retiné, resin.
The text of the prophetic book leaves it open to doubt whether the balm
was for internal or external administration. Probably it was made into
an ointment.
Gilead was the country on the East of the Jordan, not very defined in
extent, a geographical expression for the mountainous region which
the Israelites took from the Amorites. But it is not necessary to
suppose that the balsam was produced in that district. Josephus states
that the Balsamum Gileadense, the Opobalsamum tree, was grown in the
neighbourhood of Jericho; but he also reports the tradition that it was
brought to Judea by the Queen of Sheba when she visited Solomon. This
is not incompatible with the much earlier record of the Ishmaelites
carrying it “from Gilead” to Egypt. For the Sabaeans who inhabited the
southern part of Arabia were from very early times the great traders of
the East, and they would have supplied the balm to these Ishmaelites
in the regular course of commerce. The Sabaeans are believed to
have colonised Abyssinia, and the Queen of Sheba may have come from
that country. But whether the tree was originally grown in Africa or
Arabia, there is no doubt about the esteem in which it was held by many
nations. Strabo (B.C. 230) says: “In that most happy land of
the Sabaeans grow frankincense, myrrh, and cinnamon; and on the coast
that is about Saba, the balsam also.” Many later writers allude to its
costliness and to its medicinal virtues; Pliny tells us that it was
preferred to all other odours. He also states that the tree was only
grown in Judea, and there only in two gardens, both belonging to the
King.