King James Bible Dictionary

SPICE, noun

1. A vegetable production, fragrant or aromatic to the smell and pungent to the taste; used in sauces and in cookery.

2. A small quantity; something that enriches or alters the quality of a thing in a small degree, as spice alters the taste of a thing.

3. A sample.

SPICE, verb transitive

1. To season with spice; to mix aromatic substances with; as, to spice wine.

2. To tincture; as the spiced Indian air.

3. To render nice; to season with scruples.

1. Heb. basam, besem or bosem . In (Solomon 5:1) "I have gathered my myrrh with my spice," the word points apparently to some definite substance. In the other places, with the exception perhaps of (Solomon 1:13; 6:2) the words refer more generally to sweet aromatic odors, the principal of which was that of the balsam or balm of Gilead; the tree which yields this substance is now generally admitted to be the Balsam-odendron opobalsamum . The balm of Gilead tree grows in some parts of Arabia and Africa, and is seldom more than fifteen feet high, with straggling branches and scanty foliage. The balsam is chiefly obtained from incisions in the bark, but is procured also from the green and ripe berries.
2. Necoth . (Genesis 37:25; 43:11) The most probable explanation is that which refers the word to the Arabic naku'at i.e. "the gum obtained from the tragacanth" (Astragalus).
3. Sammim , a general term to denote those aromatic substances which were used in the preparation of the anointing oil, the incense offerings, etc. The spices mentioned as being used by Nicodemus for the preparation of our Lord's body, (John 19:39,40) are "myrrh and aloes," by which latter word must be understood not the aloes of medicine, but the highly-scented wood of the Aquilaria agallochum .

SPI'CED, participle passive Seasoned with spice.

SPI'CER, noun

1. One that seasons with spice.

2. One that deals in spice.

Heb. nechoth, identified with the Arabic naka'at, the gum tragacanth, obtained from the astralagus, of which there are about twenty species found in Palestine. The tragacanth of commerce is obtained from the A. tragacantha. "The gum exudes plentifully under the heat of the sun on the leaves, thorns, and exteremity of the twigs."

SPI'CERY, noun

1. Spices in general; fragrant and aromatic vegetable substances used in seasoning.

2. A repository of spices.

Aromatic substances, of which several are named in Exodus 30. They were used in the sacred anointing oil (Exodus 25:6; 35:8; 1 Chronicles 9:29), and in embalming the dead (2 Chronicles 16:14; Luke 23:56; 24:1; John 19:39, 40). Spices were stored by Hezekiah in his treasure-house (2 Kings 20:13; Isaiah 39:2).

In the formula for the sacred oil
Exodus 25:6; Exodus 35:8

Stores of
2 Kings 20:13

Used in the temple
1 Chronicles 9:29

Exported from Gilead
Genesis 37:25

Sent as a present by Jacob to Joseph
Genesis 43:11

Presented by the queen of Sheba to Solomon
1 Kings 10:2; 1 Kings 10:10

Sold in the markets of Tyre
Ezekiel 27:22

Used in the embalming of Asa
2 Chronicles 16:14

Prepared for embalming the body of Jesus
Mark 16:1; Luke 23:56; Luke 24:1; John 19:39-40