Spikenard
SPIKENARD
Son 1:12 4:13,14, a highly perfumed ointment prepared from a plant in India growing in short spikes. It was highly prized by the ancients, and was a favorite perfume at their baths and banquets. Horace represents a small box of it as equivalent to a large vessel of wine, and as a handsome quota for a guest to contribute to an entertainment. It was kept closely sealed, sometimes in alabaster boxes; and to unseal and open it was called breaking the box, Mar 14:3 . The evangelists speak of it as diffusing a rich perfume; and as “precious,” and “very costly,” a pound of it being worth more than three hundred denarii, or over forty dollars, Joh 12:3-5 . See ALABASTER and PENNY.
Fuente: American Tract Society Bible Dictionary
Spikenard
Spikenard. A costly oil derived from the dried roots and stems of the nard, an herb of Asia. This oil was used as a liquid or made into an ointment. Solomon praised the fragrance of spikenard ( Son 1:12; Son 4:13-14).
Spikenard was imported from India in alabaster boxes. These were stored and used only for special occasions. When household guests arrived, they were usually anointed with this oil. Jesus
was anointed on two occasions as an honored guest ( Mar 14:3; Joh 12:3).
Many spikes grew from a single nard root which produced clusters of pink flowers. The stems were covered with hair, giving them a woolly appearance. Some translations of the Bible refer to
spikenard as nard.
Fuente: Plants Animals Of Bible
Spikenard
(, nerd; ), a far-famed perfume of the East that has often engaged the attention of critics, but the plant which yields it has only been ascertained in very recent times. That the nard of Scripture was a perfume is evident from the passages in which it occurs. Son 1:12, While the king sitteth at his table, my spikenard (nard) sendeth forth the smell thereof. So in 4:14, Spikenard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense, myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices. Here we find it mentioned along with many of the most valued aromatics which were known to the ancients, and all of which, with the exception perhaps of saffron, must have been obtained by foreign commerce from distant countries, as Persia, the east coast of Africa, Ceylon, the northwest and the southeast of India, and in the present instance even from the remote Himalayan Mountains. Such substances must necessarily have been costly when the means of communication were defective and the gains of the successful merchant proportionally great. That the nard, or nardus, was of great value we learn from the New Test. (Mar 14:3). When our Savior sat at meat in Bethany, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard (), very precious; and she brake the box, and poured it on his head. So in Joh 12:3, Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard ( ), very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair, and the house was filled with the odor of the ointment. On this Judas, who afterwards betrayed our Savior, said (Joh 12:5), Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor?
Before proceeding to identify the plant yielding nard, we may refer to the knowledge which the ancients had of this ointment. Horace, at a period nearly contemporary, promises to Virgil a whole cadus (about thirty-six quarts) of wine for a small onyx box full of spikenard (Rosenmller, p. 168),
Nardo vina merebere.
Nardi parvus onyx eliciet cadum.
The composition of this ointment is given by Dioscorides in 1, 77, , where it is described as being made with nut oil, and having as ingredients malabathrum, schoenus, costus, amomum, nardus, myrrha, and balsamum that is, almost all the most valued perfumes of antiquity. It was also a valuable article in ancient pharmacy (see Strabo, 15, 695; Pliny, 12, 25; 14, 19, 5; 16, 59; Arrian, Exped. Alex. 6, 22, 8; Hirtius, Bell. Hisp. 33, 5; Athen. 15, 689; Evangel. Infant. Arab. ch. 5; Theoph. Plant. 9, 7; Galen, Simpl. Med 8, 13; Celsii Hierobot. 2, 1 sq.).
The nard () was known in very early times, and is noticed by Theophrastus and by Hippocrates. Dioscorides, indeed, describes three kinds of nard. Of the first, called (nardos) simply, there were two varieties the one Syrian, the other Indian. The former is so called, not because it is produced in Syria, but because the mountains in which it is produced extend on one side towards Syria and on the other towards India. This may refer to the Hindu Khush and to the extensive signification of the name Syria in ancient times, or to so many Indian products finding their way in, those ages into Europe across Syria. These were brought there either by the caravan route from northwest India or up the Persian Gulf and Euphrates. It is evident, from the passages quoted, that nard could not have been a produce of Syria, or its value would not have been so great either among the Romans or the Jews. The other variety is called gangitis, from the Ganges, being found on a mountain round which it flows. It is described as having many spikes from one root. Hence it, no doubt, came to be called , and, from the word stachys being rendered by the word spike, it has been translated spikenard. The second kind is by Dioscorides called Celtic nard ( ), and the third kind mountain nard ( ). If we consult the authors subsequent to Dioscorides, as Galen, Pliny, Oribasius, Aetius, and Paulus Egineta, we shall easily be able to trace these different kinds to the time of the Arabs. On consulting Avicenna, we are referred from narden to sunbul (pronounced sumbul), and in the Latin translation from nardum to spica, under which the Roman, the mountain, the Indian, and Syrian kinds are mentioned. So in Persian works on materia medica, chiefly translations from the Arabic, we have the different kinds of sunbul mentioned, as (1) Sunbul hindi; (2) Sunbul rumi, called also Sunbul ukleti and Narden ukleti, evidently the above Celtic nard, said also to be called Sunbul italion, that is, the nard which grows in Italy; (3) Sunbul jibulli, or mountain nard. The first, however, is the only one with which we are at present concerned. The synonyms given to it in these Persian works are Arabic, Sunbul al-tib, or fragrant nard; Greek, narden; Latin, nardam; and Hindee, balchur and jatamansi.
Sir William Jones (Asiat. Res. 2, 416, 8vo) was the first to ascertain that the above Hindee and Sanskrit synonyms referred to the true spikenard, and that the Arabs described it as being like the tail of an ermine. The next step was, of course, to attempt to get the plant which produced the drug. This he was not successful in doing, because he had not access to the Himalayan Mountains, and a wrong plant was sent him, which is that figured and described by Dr. Roxburgh (Asiat. Res. 4, 97, 438). Dr. Royle, when in charge of the East India Company’s botanic garden at Seharunpore, in 30 N. lat., about thirty miles from the foot of the Himalayan Mountains, being favorably situated for the purpose, made inquiries on the subject. He there learned that jatamansi, better known in India by the name balchur, was yearly brought down in considerable quantities as an article of commerce to the plains of India from such mountains as Shalma, Kedar Kanta, and others, at the foot of which flow the Ganges and Jumna rivers. Having obtained some of the fresh brought down roots, he planted them both in the botanic garden at Seharunpore and in a nursery at Mussfri, in the Himalayas, attached to the garden. The plant produced is figured in, his Illust. Himal. Botany, t. 54, and was found to belong to the natural family of Valerianeoe, which has been named Nardostachys jatamansi by De Candolle, and formerly Patrinia jatamansi by Mr. Dow, from plants sent home by Dr. Wallich from Gossamtham, a mountain of Nepal (Penny Cyclop. art. Spikenard; Royle, Illust. Himal. Botany, p. 242). Hence there can be no doubt that the jatamansi of the Hindus is the Sunbul hindi of the Arabs, which they compare to the tail of an ermine. This would almost be sufficient to identify the drug the appearance to which it refers may be seen even in the accompanying wood cut. This is produced in consequence of the woody fibers of the leaf and its footstalk not being decomposed in the cold and comparatively dry climate where they are produced, but remain and form a protection to the plant from the severity of the cold. There can be as little doubt that the Arabs refer to the descriptions of Dioscorides, and both they and the Christian physicians who assisted them in making translations had ample opportunities, from their profession and their local situation, of becoming well acquainted with things as well as words. There is as little reason to doubt that the of Dioscorides is that of the other Greek authors, and this will carry us into ancient times. As many Indian products found their way into Egypt and Palestine, and are mentioned in Scripture indeed, in the very passage with nard we have calamus, cinnamon, and aloes (ahalim) there is no reason why spikenard from the Himalayas could not as easily have been procured. The only difficulty appears to arise from the term having occasionally been used in a general sense, and therefore there is sometimes confusion between the nard and the sweet cane, another Indian product. Some difference of opinion exists respecting the fragrance of the jatamansi. It may be sufficient to state that it continues to be highly esteemed in Eastern countries in the present day, where fragrant essences are still procured from it, as the Unguentum nardinum was of old. Dioscorides refers especially to its having many shaggy () spikes growing from one root. It is very interesting to note that Dioscorides gives the same locality for the plant as is mentioned by Royle , . Though he is here speaking of lowland specimens, he also mentions plants obtained from the mountains (see the monographs De Nardo Pistica by Otto [Lips. 1673], Eckhard [Viteb. 1681], Hermansson [Upsal. 1734], and Sommel [Lund. 1776]). SEE OINTMENT.
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Spikenard
(Heb. nerd), a much-valued perfume (Cant. 1:12; 4:13, 14). It was “very precious”, i.e., very costly (Mark 14:3; John 12:3, 5). It is the root of an Indian plant, the Nardostachys jatamansi, of the family of Valeriance, growing on the Himalaya mountains. It is distinguished by its having many hairy spikes shooting out from one root. It is called by the Arabs sunbul Hindi, “the Indian spike.” In the New Testament this word is the rendering of the Greek nardos pistike. The margin of the Revised Version in these passages has “pistic nard,” pistic being perhaps a local name. Some take it to mean genuine, and others liquid. The most probable opinion is that the word pistike designates the nard as genuine or faithfully prepared.
Fuente: Easton’s Bible Dictionary
Spikenard
nard, meaning “the stalk”; so our “spike-nard”, Arabic sunbul. Son 1:12; Son 4:13-14. Of it the ointment with which Mary anointed Jesus was made; it was so costly that Judas and other disciples murmured at the waste (Mar 14:3-5; Joh 12:3-5), its worth being 300 denarii, about 9 British pounds 7s. 6d. A valerian, with roots of strong odor, acting on the nerves Nardostachys jatamansi (Sanskrit, “locks of hair,” from the shaggy hair on the stem). Brought from distant India it suggested our Lord’s declaration, “wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her.” In lands distant as India, from whence it came, shall her gift of it to her Lord be told.
Fuente: Fausset’s Bible Dictionary
Spikenard
SPIKENARD (= spiked nard).The Authorized Version and Revised Version NT 1881, OT 1885 rendering of in Mar 14:3, Joh 12:3, or rather of the Vulgate nardi spicati (in Jn. nardi pistici). The word spikanard (sic) appears first in Wyclifs version, the Anglo-Saxon having merely deorwyres (= precious). Tindale has pure. These various translations indicate the doubt as to the meaning of the Greek, which was felt from very early times, and is reflected in the Versions generally. The oldest Syriac version and some. Old Latin texts simply transliterate, while the Peshitta renders by rishy (= choicest). Of the various explanations of the word , the most generally accepted are: (1) Genuine, as though it were connected with (Meyer, Weiss, etc.). The word does actually occur in Artemidorus (Oneir. 2. 32) in the sense of faithful ( ); and we learn from Pliny (HN xii. 26) that adulterations of nard were frequent.* [Note: Theophylact, (Com. on St. Mark. Migne, Pat. Gr. cxxix.).] (2) Liquid, as though it was connected with . Ovid (Ars. Am. iii. 443) uses the epithet liquida with nardus; and Clement of Alexandria (Paed. ii. viii. 64) distinguishes between and . (3) Drinkable. Athenaeus tells us that some unguents were drunk (689 C). But the Greek word for drinkable is , not . [Note: Scaliger derived the word from , to pound. But this does not give a satisfactory sense.] Some have suspected a primitive error in the text here, and have proposed various emendations. It has been suggested that the true reading is . All our authorities agree in stating that the genuine nard came from India, while inferior sorts came from other countries. Others would read (= Vulgate spicati), a word found in Galen, vi. 178 C, 182 C, E. Naber (Mnemosyne, 1902, pp. 115) conjectures an original form, (= liquid), which, being a , might have been corrupted into . Prof. E. N. Bennett (Classical Review, 1890, p. 319) suggests that the true form may be , and points out that the resin of the Pistacia terebinthus was anciently mixed with the oil of nard, and that it was a very valuable scent (Dioscorides, i. 91). All these emendations, however, ingenious and interesting as they are, are rendered improbable by the fact that neither in St. Mark nor in St. John is there any variation in the Manuscripts .
It is difficult to say with anything like certainty what the meaning of the word was. It may be a local name, as (Revised Version margin) suggests.* [Note: (from Opis, near Babylon), (from Psittake on the Tigris), and (from the (?) Persian town Pisteira) have been suggested as possible readings. But none of these is an Indian town.] Possibly it is the Greek equivalent of Pisit, one of the Skr. names for Nardostachys jatamansi (Dymock, Pharmacographia Indica, ii. p. 233). But most likely it is a technical term denoting some specially valuable kind of nard. [Note: This idea is found as early as Theophylact (c. 1077 a.d.), who says that the word may denote .] Modern experience goes to show how easily the exact meaning of similar technical or fancy names can be lost. Such has probably been the case with the word we are discussing. See also artt. Nard, Ointment.
Literature.See the authorities cited at end of art. Nard. The question is discussed by C. F. A. Fritzsche (Com. on St. Mark, Leipzig, 1830) at great length, and very fully by Morison (Com. on Mk., in loc.).
H. W. Fulford.
Fuente: A Dictionary Of Christ And The Gospels
Spikenard
SPIKENARD (nrd, Son 1:12; Son 4:13-14; also Gr. nardos pistike, Mar 14:3, Joh 12:3).The fragrant oil of an Indian plant, Nardostachys jatamansi, which grows with a spike. The Arab [Note: Arabic.] , name sunbul hindi, Indian spike, preserves the same idea. The perfume when pure was very valuable (Joh 12:3).
About the meaning of the Gr. epithet pistik there has been much speulation. See note in RVm [Note: Revised Version margin.] at Mar 14:3, and cf. art. Spikenard in Hastings DCG [Note: CG Dictionary of Christ and the Gospels.] .
E. W. Masterman.
Fuente: Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible
Spikenard
So called from Narred or Nard. We meet with this word not very frequently in Scripture. The spouse in the Canticles speaks of it. (Son 1:12) -And the woman who anointed the head of Jesus before his sufferings, is said to have done it with the ointment of spikenard. (Mar 14:3) Certainly in both it was figurative. The spikenard itself is a small uninteresting shrub, not likely to attract the attention of any which are fond of plants, for there is no beauty in it; yet the smell and fragrancy of it is said by some to be unequalled. So that in whatever point of view we esteem the figure or similitude, whether in allusion to Christ, or his church, or his gospel, the resemblance is striking. What so humble, low, despised, and overlooked as Jesus, though the plant of renown? (Eze 34:29) “There was no beauty that we should desire him”-and yet what fragrancy, like the sweet incense of his blood and righteousness, to perfume the persons and offerings of his people? So his church; what more contemptible in the eyes of the great ones of the earth?-or his gospel, what more despised and set at nought? Yet how lovely, and how fragrant, in the view of Jesus! Hear what Jesus saith,”How fair is thy love, my sister, my spouse; how much better is thy love than wine, and the smell of thine ointments than all spices!” (Son 4:10) Oh, for grace to echo back to such matchless grace-While the king sitteth at his table-while his grace and the influences of his Holy Spirit, are calling forth into lively exercise those blessed principles he himself hath planted in my heart-“my spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof.” Yea, Jesus himself is the spikenard of my soul; his person, his blood, and righteousness, are an everlasting fragrancy to come up before my God as a sweet-smelling savour.
Fuente: The Poor Mans Concordance and Dictionary to the Sacred Scriptures
Spikenard
spknard (, nerd; , nardos (Son 1:12; Son 4:14); , neradhm; , nardoi (Son 4:13), spikenard plants; , nardos pistike (Mar 14:3; Joh 12:3), pure nard, margin liquid nard; the English word is for spiked nard, which comes from the Nardus spicatus of the Vulgate): Spikenard is the plant Nardostachys jatamansi (Natural Order, Valerianaceae); in Arabic the name Sunbul hind, Indian spike, refers, like the English and Latin name, to the snike-like shape of the plant from which the perfume comes. The dried plant as sold consists of the withered stalks and ribs of leaves cohering in a bundle of yellowish-brown capillary fibres and consisting of a spike about the size of a small finger (Sir W. Jones, As. Res., II, 409); in appearance the whole _ plant is said to look like the tail of an ermine. It grows in the Himalayas. The extracted perfume is an oil, which was used by the Romans for anointing the head. Its great costliness is mentioned by Pliny.
With regard to the exact meaning of the , pistike, in the New Testament, there is much difference of opinion: pure and liquid are both given in margin, but it has also been suggested among other things that this was a local name, that it comes from the Latin spicita or from pisita, the Sanskrit name of the spikenard plant. The question is an open one: either genuine or pure is favored by most commentators.
Fuente: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Spikenard
[NERD]
Fuente: Popular Cyclopedia Biblical Literature
Spikenard
nerd, . A plant that grows in India: so called, it is said, because of the ‘spikes’ that grow out of its roots. Its root and leaves are imported. A costly ointment was made of it, giving off a sweet perfume. Son 1:12; Son 4:13-14; Mar 14:3; Joh 12:3. It has been identified with the Nardostachys jatamansi.
Fuente: Concise Bible Dictionary
Spikenard
An aromatic plant
Son 4:13-14
Perfume prepared from
Son 1:12
A fragrant oil from, used in anointing
Mar 14:3; Joh 12:3
Fuente: Nave’s Topical Bible
Spikenard
Spikenard (Heb. nrd). Son 1:12; Son 4:13-14. The ointment with which our Lord was anointed in Simon’s house at Bethany was this nrd, and was very costly. See Mar 14:3-5; Joh 12:3; Joh 12:5. The ointment was made from an aromatic herb of the valerian family, imported from an early age from Arabia, India, and the Far East.
Fuente: People’s Dictionary of the Bible
Spikenard
Spikenard. (Hebrew, nerd). Spikenard is mentioned twice in the Old Testament, namely, in Son 1:12; Son_ 4:13-14. The ointment with which our Lord was anointed as he sat at meat in Simon’s house at Bethany consisted of this precious substance, the costliness of which may be inferred from the indignant surprise manifested by some of the witnesses of the transaction. See Mar 14:3-5; Joh 12:3; Joh 12:5.
(Spikenard, from which the ointment was made, was an aromatic herb of the valerian family, (Nardostachys jatamansi). It was imported, from an early age, from Arabia, India and the Far East. The costliness of Mary’s offering, (300 pence = $45), may best be seen from the fact that a penny, (denarius, 15 to 17 cents), was, in those days, the day-wages of a laborer. Mat 20:2. In our day, this would equal at least $300 or $400. — Editor).
Fuente: Smith’s Bible Dictionary
SPIKENARD
a costly perfume
Mar 14:3; Joh 12:3
Fuente: Thompson Chain-Reference Bible
Spikenard
is derived, through the Semitic languages (Heb. nerd, Syriac nardin), from the Sanskrit nalada, “a fragrant oil,” procured from the stem of an Indian plant. The Arabs call it the “Indian spike.” The adjective pistikos is attached to it in the NT, Mar 14:3; Joh 12:3; pistikos, if taken as an ordinary Greek word, would signify “genuine.” There is evidence, however, that it was regarded as a technical term. It has been suggested that the original reading was pistakes, i.e., the Pistacia Terebinthus, which grows in Cyprus, Syria, Palestine, etc., and yields a resin of very fragrant odor, and in such inconsiderable quantities as to be very costly. “Nard was frequently mixed with aromatic ingredients … so when scented with the fragrant resin of the pistake it would quite well be called nardos pistakes” (E. N. Bennett, in the Classical Review for 1890, Vol. iv, p. 319). The oil used for the anointing of the Lord’s head was worth about f12, and must have been of the most valuable kind. In the Sept., Son 1:12; Son 4:13-14.
Fuente: Vine’s Dictionary of New Testament Words
Spikenard
. By this was meant a highly aromatic plant growing in the Indies, called nardostachys, by Dioscorides and Galen; from whence was made the very valuable extract or unguent, or favourite perfume, used at the ancient baths and feasts, unguentum nardinum, unguentum nardi spicatae, [the perfume or unction of spikenard,] which it appears from a passage in Horace, was so valuable, that as much of it as could be contained in a small box of precious stone, was considered as a sort of equivalent for a large vessel of wine, and a handsome quota for a guest to contribute at an entertainment, according to the custom of antiquity:
Nardo vina merebere:
Nardi parvus onyx eliciet cadum.
Bring you the odours, and a cask is thine. Thy little box of ointment shall produce
A mighty cask. FRANCIS.
St. Mark, Mar 14:3, mentions ointment of spikenard very precious, which is said to be worth more than three hundred denarii; and Joh 12:3, mentions a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly; the house was filled with the odour of the ointment; it was worth three hundred denarii. It is not to be supposed that this was a Syrian production, but the true atar of Indian spikenard; an unguent, containing the very essence of the plant, and brought at a great expense from a remote country.
Fuente: Biblical and Theological Dictionary
Spikenard
Son 1:12 (c) The worship of the heart to our Lord, and the fragrant love of the devoted follower of the Saviour, is a sweet-smelling savour to the GOD of Heaven. (See also Mar 14:3).