Aloes
Summary
A costly, aromatic wood imported from the Far East, used in biblical times as perfume for garments, beds, and in preparing bodies for burial.
☩Nature of the Plant
The aloes of Scripture refers to an aromatic wood, not to the bitter medicinal aloes common today. It is identified with eagle-wood from trees of the Aquilariaceae family, particularly Aquilaria malaccensis and Aloes agallocha, which grow in Southeast Asia. The fragrant quality comes from a resin that forms in the heartwood. To obtain it, logs are buried and the outer part decays while the resin-saturated inner wood remains as the precious "eagle-wood" of commerce.
☩Biblical Uses
Aloes were highly valued as perfume for garments and beds. The psalmist describes garments fragrant with myrrh, aloes, and cassia. The most notable use appears when Nicodemus brought about a hundred pounds of myrrh and aloes for the burial of Jesus—an enormous and costly quantity demonstrating great devotion. This substance had been used for embalming since ancient times, with Herodotus reporting its use by Egyptians.
Related Verses6 mentions
References
- 1.James Orr (ed.), "Aloes; Lignaloes," in International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, vol. I (Howard-Severance Company, 1915).
- 2.James Hastings (ed.), "Aloes," in Dictionary of Christ and the Gospels, vol. I (T. & T. Clark, 1906–1908).
- 3.American Tract Society, "Aloes," in American Tract Society Bible Dictionary (American Tract Society, 1859).