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Stacte

STACTE stăk’ tĭ (נָטָף, H5753). This word, found in Exodus 30:34, could be tr. “an aromatic gum” or “a drop.” In the Douay VS, the word “cassia” (Ezek 27:19) is interpreted “stacte,” and if this were right, then the stacte would come from the bark of the cassia tree.

The word נָטָף, H5753, when used in Ecclesiasticus 24:15 is tr. “sweet storax.” If this is so, then the plant must be Liquidambar orientale, for this is the plant that yields a fragrant resin prepared from the inner bark, called “storax.” This was not found in the Holy Land.

The tree that is found throughout Pal. is Styrax officinalis, a small tree bearing snowdrop-shaped, pendulous pure white flowers. If an incision is made in the bark, the fragrant resin is easily obtained.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915)

(nataph, "drops" (Job 36:27); stakte, meaning "oozing out in drops"): One of the ingredients of the holy ointment (Ex 30:34; Ecclesiasticus 24:15, margin "opobalsamum," the King James Version "storax"). The marginal reading is a concession to Jewish tradition, but see Spice, (1). Dioscorides describes two kinds of stacte, one of pure myrrh and one of storax and a fat mixed. See Myrrh. This nataph must have been either myrrh "in drops," as it is collected, or some other fragrant gum, similarly collected, such, for example, as gum tragacanth.

See also

  • Plants