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Balridge, Samuel, M.d.

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Balsamo (or Balsamone), Ignacio (2)

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Balsam

(Gr. βάλσαμον , i.e. opobalsamum, Arab. balasan), the fragrant resin of the balsam-tree, possessing medicinal properties; according to Pliny (12:54), indigenous only to Judaea, but known to Diodorus Sic. (3:46) as a product of Arabia also. In Palestine, praised by other writers also for its balsam (Justin, 36:3; Tacit. Hist. v. 6; Plutarch, Vita Anton. c. 36; Florus, 3, 5, 29; Dioscor. 1:18), this plant was cultivated in the environs of Jericho (Strabo, 16:763; Diod. Sic. 2:48; 19:98), in gardens set apart for this use (Pliny 12:54; see Joseph. Ant. 14:4, 1; 15:4, 2; War, 1:6, 6); and after the destruction of the state of Judaea, these plantations formed a lucrative source of the Roman imperial revenue (see Diod. Sic. 2:48). Pliny distinguishes three different species of this plant; the first with thin, capillaceous leaves; the second a crooked scabrous shrub; and the third with smooth rind and of taller growth than the two former. He tells us that, in general, the balsam plant, a shrub, has the nearest resemblance to the grapevine, and its mode of cultivation is almost the same. The leaves, however, more closely resemble those of the rue, and the plant is an evergreen. Its height does not exceed two cubits. From slight incisions made very cautiously into the rind (Joseph. Ant. 14:4, 1; War, 1:6, 6) the balsam trickles in thin drops, which are collected with wool into a horn, and then preserved in new earthen jars. At first it is whitish and pellucid, but afterward it becomes harder and reddish. That is considered to be the best quality which tiickles before the appearance of the fruit. Much inferior to this is the resin pressed from the seeds, the rind, and even from the stems (see Theophrast. Plantt. 9:6; Strabo, 16:763; Pausan. 9:28, 2). This description, which is not sufficiently characteristic of the plant itself, suits for the most part the Egyptian balsam-shrub found by Belon (Paulus, Samml. 4:188 sq.) in a garden near Cairo (the plant, however, is not indigenous to Egypt, but the layers are brought there from Arabia Felix; Prosp. Alpin. De balsamo, 3; Plant. Eg. 14:30, with the plate; Abdollatif, Memoirs, p. 58). Forskal found between Mecca and Medina a shrub, abusham (Niebuhr, Reis. 1:351), which he considered to be the genuine balsam-plant, and he gave its botanical description under the name Amyris opobalsamum, in his Flora Egypt. Arab. p. 79 sq., together with two other varieties, Amyris kataf and Amyris kafal. There are two species distinguished in the Linnsean system, the Amyris Gileadensis (Forsk. "A. opobals.") and A. opobals. (the species described by Belon and Alpin); see Linne's Vollst. Pflanzensyst. 1:473 sq., plates; Plenck, Plantt. Med. pl. 155; Berlin. Jahrb. d. Pharmac. 1795, pl. 1; Ainslie, Mater. Indica, 1:26 sq. More recent naturalists have included the species Amnyr's Gilead. in the genus Protium; see Wight and Walker (Arnott), Prodromn. flore peninsulae India Orient. (London, 1834), 1:177; Lindley, Flora Medica (London, 1838, 8vo), p. 169. This tree, from which the Mecca balsam is gained in very small quantity (Pliny 12:54, "succus e plaga manat ... sed tenui gutta plorata"), which never reaches us unadulterated, grows only in a single district of Yemen; of late, however, it was discovered in the East Indies also. See generally Prosp. Alpin. Dial. de balsalmo (Venet. 1591; as also, in several editions of his work De Plantt. fAq. p. 1592; and in Ugolini, Thesaur. 11, with plates); Veiling, Opobalsami veterib. cogniti indclcice, p. 217 sq.; Bochart, Hieroz. 1:628 sq.; Michaelis, Suppl. 2142 sq.; Le Moyne, Diss. Opobalsam. declaratzum (Upsal. 1764); Wildenow, in the Berl. Jahrb. d. Pharmac. 1795, p. 143 sq., with plates; Oken, sehrb. d. Botanik, II, 2:681 sq.; Martins, Pharmakogn. p. 343 sq.; Sprengel, Zu Dioscor. 2:355 sq.

Our only reason for mentioning all this is of course the presupposition that the Palestinian balsam is named in the Bible also, and, indeed, the bosem (בֹּשֶׂם, Song of Solomon 5:13), also basam (בָּשָׂם, v. 1; comp. Arab. bashaums), which in both passages appear to be names of garden plants, must be taken for the balsam-shrub (the ancient translators consider the word as a name). It is more difficult to determine whether the resin of the balsam tree is mentioned also in the books of the O.T. The tseri or tsori ( צְרִי or צַרִי ) is commonly taken for such. This name is given to a precious resin found in Gilead (Genesis 37:25; Jeremiah 46:11), and circulated as an article of merchandise by Arab and Phoenician merchants (Genesis 37:25; Ezekiel 27:17). It was one of the princi