Myrrh

Occurrences in the Bible

• Ingredient of the anointing oil: In Exodus 30:23, God commands that a holy anointing oil be made for anointing the tabernacle and the priests. This oil was used to set things and people apart as holy. The first ingredient listed is "pure myrrh five hundred shekels."
• Beautification and fragrance: Before going in to the king, Esther spent "six months with oil of myrrh" in preparation (Esther 2:12). Psalm 45:8 sings, "All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia." In Proverbs 7:17 the adulteress says, "I have perfumed my bed with myrrh." Myrrh appears several times in the Song of Solomon, where, for example, the beloved is compared to "a bundle of myrrh" (Song of Solomon 1:13; 4:6; 5:5).
• The birth of Jesus: The Magi presented the infant Jesus with gifts of "gold, and frankincense, and myrrh" (Matthew 2:11).
• The cross and burial: Just before the crucifixion, Jesus was offered "wine mingled with myrrh: but he received it not" (Mark 15:23). After Jesus died, Nicodemus brought "a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight," and together with Joseph of Arimathea prepared the body for burial (John 19:39–40).

The New Korean Revised Version also renders the word in Genesis 37:25 and 43:11 as "myrrh." However, the Hebrew word in these two passages is lot, which is distinct from mor. Some scholars identify lot as the resin of a different plant.

Background

Myrrh is a resin obtained by cutting the bark of trees of the genus Commiphora, in the family Burseraceae. These trees grow in the southern Arabian Peninsula and in northeastern Africa. Because the resin tastes bitter, the Hebrew word mor is often explained as related to a word meaning "bitter." In the ancient Near East, myrrh was a costly commodity imported from distant lands. It was widely used in perfumes, cosmetics, and medicines, and in preparing the dead for burial. The Korean word mollyak derives from the Chinese characters 沒藥 and is also the name of a medicinal substance in traditional East Asian medicine.

Significance in the Whole of Scripture

In the Old Testament, myrrh appears in connection with holy consecration, royal glory, and the joys of marriage and love. In the New Testament, it appears at both the birth and the death of Jesus. Preaching and devotional reflection frequently draw attention to the fact that the same substance was offered as a gift at his birth and used as a spice at his burial.

Interpretations and Debates

• Symbolism of the three gifts: Since early Church Fathers such as Irenaeus, a line of interpretation has held that gold signifies Christ's kingship, frankincense his divinity, and myrrh his death and burial. This interpretation comes from church tradition and is not stated explicitly in the text of Matthew. The tradition that there were three Magi arose from the number of gifts, but the text does not say how many Magi there were.
• Wine mingled with myrrh: The wine in Mark 15:23 is commonly interpreted as a drink intended to dull pain, although opinions differ on whether myrrh actually has such an effect. Matthew 27:34 describes the same scene as an offering of wine "mingled with gall," so the relationship between the two accounts is also a matter of interpretation.
• Figurative interpretation: Because Psalm 45 is quoted in Hebrews 1:8–9, the king of that psalm has been read as referring to Christ. There is also a tradition of reading the Song of Solomon as a portrayal of the love between Christ and the church. In such readings, myrrh is sometimes interpreted as representing the fragrance or the sufferings of Christ. Other interpreters, by contrast, read these texts as referring literally to the spice.

In the Korean Church

When the gifts of the Magi are explained in Christmas sermons and nativity plays, myrrh is commonly presented as a gift foreshadowing the sufferings of the cross. During Holy Week, it is often mentioned in connection with the scene of Nicodemus preparing Jesus' body for burial.