Myrrh

A resinous substance derived from certain trees and bushes native to the Near East. It was a valuable commodity and had a variety of uses.

Myrrh was traded by merchants

Genesis 37:25 See also Revelation 18:11–13

And as they sat down to eat a meal, they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were carrying spices, balm, and myrrh on their way down to Egypt.

Myrrh was presented as a gift

Matthew 2:11 See also Genesis 43:11

On coming to the house, they saw the Child with His mother Mary, and they fell down and worshiped Him. Then they opened their treasures and presented Him with gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh.

Uses of myrrh

In the sacred anointing oil

Exodus 30:22–28

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Take the finest spices: 500 shekels of liquid myrrh, half that amount (250 shekels) of fragrant cinnamon, 250 shekels of fragrant cane, 500 shekels of cassia — all according to the sanctuary shekel — and a hin of olive oil. Prepare from these a sacred anointing oil, a fragrant blend, the work of a perfumer; it will be a sacred anointing oil. Use this oil to anoint the Tent of Meeting, the ark of the Testimony, the table and all its utensils, the lampstand and its utensils, the altar of incense, the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, and the basin with its stand.

As a perfume

Song of Solomon 1:13 See also Psalm 45:8; Proverbs 7:10–18; Song of Solomon 3:6

My beloved is to me a sachet of myrrh resting between my breasts.

In beauty treatments

Esther 2:12 See also Song of Solomon 5:5

In the twelve months before her turn to go to King Xerxes, the harem regulation required each young woman to receive beauty treatments with oil of myrrh for six months, and then with perfumes and cosmetics for another six months.

As a painkiller

Mark 15:22–23

They brought Jesus to a place called Golgotha, which means The Place of the Skull. There they offered Him wine mixed with myrrh, but He did not take it.

In embalming

John 19:38–40

Afterward, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus (but secretly for fear of the Jews), asked Pilate to let him remove the body of Jesus. Pilate gave him permission, so he came and removed His body. Nicodemus, who had previously come to Jesus at night, also brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds. So they took the body of Jesus and wrapped it in linen cloths with the spices, according to the Jewish burial custom.

The metaphorical use of myrrh

Song of Solomon 5:13 See also Song of Solomon 4:1–7, Song of Solomon 4:12–14, Song of Solomon 5:1

His cheeks are like beds of spice, towers of perfume. His lips are like lilies, dripping with flowing myrrh.