Opobalsamum (balsam, balm)
Plants and Trees in the Bible
The opobalsamum tree likes a desert or semi-desert climate. It grows to 2–3 meters (7–10 feet) tall and has small, wrinkled, three-part leaves, white flowers, and pea-sized red berries that have a fragrant yellow seed inside. The bark of younger branches is gray, turning brown with age. The resin appears by itself in green droplets from the stems and branches, but collectors also make cuts in the branches to speed the process. The droplets turn from green to brown, clump together, and fall to the ground, where they are collected.
Pictures
In the Bible
The Hebrew and Greek words for it, and every verse where each is used
בֹּשֶׂם bosem · 26 verses
What it stands for
In Bible times, balsam oil was used in holy anointing oil, as medicine, and as an ingredient of perfume.
More about it
The Hebrew word bosem, which is often rendered “balm” (derived from “balsam”), can refer to any type of aromatic healing substance, but it also designates the product of a particular tree, the Balsam or Opobalsamum Commiphora gileadensis. Arabs call it balasam or balasham. In the Talmud it is called afarsimon. Excavations near En Gedi have uncovered an ancient processing plant for balsam oil.
Moldenke is of the opinion that in bosem (rendered “spice”) refers to gum tragacanth (see 4.2.7 Tragacanth (gum tragacanth)). We support Zohary and Hepper who associate bosem with opobalsamum.
Also in Ointment and balm (medicinal plants)
Sources
Plants and Trees in the Bible, Animals in the Bible and Human-made Things in the Bible © United Bible Societies, 2025 (adapted from Each According to its Kind: Plants and Trees in the Bible by Robert Koops, All Creatures Great and Small: Living Things in the Bible by Edward R. Hope, and The Works of Their Hands: Man-made Things in the Bible by Ray Pritz), CC BY-SA 4.0; adapted for eRhema