Bedolach resin

Bedolachharz , also Bdelliumharz , Bedellienharz , Bedellium , Guggul , False Myrrh, is the resin of the South Arabian balsam tree Commiphora mukul (Syn .: Commiphora wightii ) and the East African balsam tree Commiphora africana as well as Commiphora gileadensis (Syn .: Commiphora gileadensis ).

According to a statement in the Bible , Bedolach resin occurs in the land of Hawila ( Gen 2.12 EU ). In the Bible it is also used as a comparison for the description of manna ( Num 11.7 EU ).

The meaning of the Hebrew word בדלח bədolach is controversial. Following old Bible translations, e.g. B. Vulgate , and the ancient writers Pliny ( Naturalis historia XII; 35) and Dioscurides ( De materia medica I; 80) consider most of the commentators “Bdellium” for the exudate of the genus Commiphora , especially C. opobalsamum and C. africana , to be at home in East Africa and Arabia , but also in Babylonia , Bactria and India . Gum arabic was often used instead of bdellium resin .

The emerging gum resin is initially yellowish-viscous, later brownish-solid, and semi-transparent. It has an aromatic smell but a bitter taste and has been used as a fragrance, incense, and wound remedy.

literature

Manfred Görg: Bdlh ("Bdellium"): to the etymology. In: Biblical Notes . 48, (1989), pp. 12-16, ISSN 0178-2967 .
Dieter Lehmann: Two medical prescription books of the 15th century from the Upper Rhine. Part I: Text and Glossary. Horst Wellm, Pattensen / Han. 1985, now at Königshausen & Neumann, Würzburg (= Würzburg medical-historical research. Volume 34), ISBN 3-921456-63-0 , p. 153.
Dieter Martinetz, Karlheinz Lohs, Jörg Janzen: incense and myrrh. Cultural history and economic importance. Botany, chemistry, medicine. Wissenschaftliche Verlagsgesellschaft, Stuttgart 1989, ISBN 978-3-8047-1019-1 , pp. 42, 76, 89 and 96-99.

Web links

Ute Neumann-Gorsolke: Bedolachharz. In: Michaela Bauks, Klaus Koenen, Stefan Alkier (Eds.): The Scientific Biblical Lexicon on the Internet (WiBiLex), Stuttgart 2006 ff.

Remarks

↑ See also Commiphora africana var. Africana (A. Rich.) Engl.
↑ See for example Wilhelm Hassenstein: The Fireworks Book of 1420. 600 years of German powder weapons and gunsmithing. Reprint under the title Büchsenmeysterei with translation into standard German and explanations, Munich 1941, p. 109 ("Bedellium, a gum from a tree: is almost the same shape and effect as the myrrha, but is falsified with the gum arabico. Bedellium indicum is that best and fragrant, white inside. ")
^ I. Löw : The flora of the Jews. I. Volume, G. Olms, Hildesheim 1967 (reprint from 1928), OCLC 768450481 .

[1] See also Commiphora africana var. Africana (A. Rich.) Engl.

[2] See for example Wilhelm Hassenstein: The Fireworks Book of 1420. 600 years of German powder weapons and gunsmithing. Reprint under the title Büchsenmeysterei with translation into standard German and explanations, Munich 1941, p. 109 ("Bedellium, a gum from a tree: is almost the same shape and effect as the myrrha, but is falsified with the gum arabico. Bedellium indicum is that best and fragrant, white inside. ")

[3] I. Löw : The flora of the Jews. I. Volume, G. Olms, Hildesheim 1967 (reprint from 1928), OCLC 768450481 .