Bdellium

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Bdellium (Hebrew bedolach) was probably an aromatic gum like balsam that was exuded from a tree, probably one of several species in the genus Commiphora. Bdellium was an adulterant of the costly myrrh and remains a binder in perfumes.

The word occurs only twice in the Hebrew Bible: in Genesis 2:12-13, it is a product of the land of Havilah:

And the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium and the onyx stone. And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia. (KJV)

The context has led some readers to link bedolach with pearls or other precious stones. Bdellium is mentioned again, as something familiar, in Numbers 11:7, where the manna is compared to it in color:

And the manna was as coriander seed, and the colour thereof as the colour of bdellium. (KJV)

External links

[Alchemy-works:] Bdellium
[Bdellium]

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