The formula for the holy incense given in Exodus, xxx, 35, is
sufficiently definite. Taking it as it is translated in the Revised
Version, the prescription orders stacte, onycha, galbanum and
frankincense, equal parts; seasoned with salt; powdered.
The word translated incense in that passage, and also in Deuteronomy,
xxxiii, 10, and in Jeremiah, xliv, 21, is Ketorah, which originally
meant a perfumed or savoury smoke. In the Septuagint the word used for
Ketorah is Thymiana. In other passages (Isaiah, xliii, 33, lx, 6, lxvi,
3; Jeremiah, vi, 20; xvii, 26, and xli, 5), the word used in Hebrew was
Lebonah. This in our Authorised Version appears each time as incense,
but in the Revised Version the name frankincense is uniformly adopted.
Lebonah meant whiteness, probably milkiness being understood in this
connection, and travellers state that when the gum exudes from the
tree it is milky-white. The Greek equivalent, libanos, occurs severed
times in the New Testament (Matt., ii, 11; Revelations, xviii, 3).
The Arabic term was luban, and apparently olibanum is a modification
of this Arabic name with the article prefixed, Al-luban. The common
trade term “thus” is the Greek word for incense, and is derived from
the verb thuein, to sacrifice. Thurible was the Greek equivalent of the
censer. The same word has been modified into fume in English. There
is, besides, a common gum thus, obtained from the pines which yield
American turpentine.
Olibanum, or frankincense, derived from various species of the
Boswellia, was greatly prized among many of the ancient nations,
especially by the Egyptians, the Assyrians, and the Phœnicians. The
finest qualities were grown in Somaliland, but the stocks of these
were always bought up by the Arabs, who monopolised the commerce in
olibanum. It was believed for centuries that the shrub from which it
was obtained was a native of South Arabia, and an old Eastern legend
alluded to in the Apocalypse of Moses declares that Adam was allowed to
bring this tree with him when he was expelled from the Garden of Eden.
Bruce, the African traveller, first ascertained its African origin.
The historical notes on Olibanum in “Pharmacographia” are extremely
interesting and complete.
Stacte, in Hebrew Nataph, is frequently identified with opobalsamum,
and this interpretation is given in the margin of the Revised Version.
But there are reasons for regarding it as a particularly fine kind of
myrrh in drops or tears. Nataph meant something dropped or distilled.
Galbanum, it is not disputed, was the galbanum known to us by the same
name. Its Hebrew name was Helbanah or Chelbanah. It has been an article
of commerce from very early times, but the exact plant from which
it is obtained is very uncertain. Hanbury states that the Irvingite
chapels in London still use galbanum as an ingredient in their incense
in imitation of the ancient Jewish custom.
Onycha has been the subject of much discussion. The balance of learned
opinion favours the view that it is the operculum of a species of
sea-snail found on the shores of the Red Sea. It is known as Unguis
odoratus, blatta Byzantina, and devil’s claw. Nubian women to this
day use it with myrrh, cloves, frankincense, and cinnamon, to perfume
themselves.
The incense made from the formula just quoted was reserved specially
for the service of the tabernacle, and it was forbidden, under the
penalty of being cut off from his people, for any private person to
imitate it. It does not appear, however, that the Israelites continued
to use the same formula for their Temple services. Josephus states
that the incense of his day consisted of thirteen ingredients. These
were, as we learn from Talmudic instructions, in addition to the four
gums named in the Exodus formula, the salt with which it had to be
seasoned, myrrh, cassia, spikenard, saffron, costus, mace, cinnamon,
and a certain herb which had the property of making the smoke of the
incense ascend straight, and in the form of a date palm. This herb was
only known to the family of Abtinas, to whom was entrusted the sole
right of preparing the incense for the Temple. Rooms were provided
for them in the precincts, and they supplied 368 minas (about 368
lbs.) to the Temple for a year’s consumption; that was 1 lb. per day
and an extra 3 lbs. for the Day of Atonement. In the first century
(A.D.) this family were dismissed because they refused to
divulge their secret. The Temple authorities sent to Alexandria for
some apothecaries to succeed them, but these Egyptian experts could
not make the smoke ascend properly, so the Abtinas had to be re-engaged
at a considerably increased salary. They gave as a reason for their
secrecy their fear that the Temple would soon be destroyed and their
incense would be used for idolatrous sacrifices.
The incense now used in Catholic churches is not made according to
the Biblical formula. The following is a typical recipe in actual
use:--Olibanum, 450; benzoin, 250; storax, 120; sugar, 100; cascarilla,
60; nitre, 150.