The people of Jericho today prepare for the benefit of pilgrims a "Balm of Gilead" from the zaḳḳūm (Baḷanites Aegyptiaca ), but this has no serious claims to be the balm of antiquity. If we are to look beyond the borders of modern Palestine we may credit the tradition which claims that Mecca balsam, a product of Balsamodendron Gileadense and B. opobalsamum , was the true "balm," and Post (HDB , I, 236) produces evidence to show that these plants were once grown in the Jordan valley. Yet another suggestion, made by Lagarde, is that the cŏrı̄ = στύραξ , stúrax , and if so then "balm" would be the inspissated juice of the Storax-tree (Styrax officinalis ), a common inhabitant of Gilead. See also BALM .
Source
- part_of
source-manifest/isbe— ISBE (PD)