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Frankincense (2)

Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament

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FRANKINCENSE (לבֹנָה, λίβανος).—One of the ingredients of incense (קמוֹרִה), Exodus 30:34, and one of the gifts brought by the Magi to the infant Saviour (Matthew 2:11). The name is derived from לִבִן ‘to be white,’ akin to which is ân, the name by which frankincense is known in Arabia. It is a fragrant gum or resin, the produce of the tree Serrata, of the natural order Amyridaceae, from which it is obtained by slitting the bark. The tree itself is a native of Central and Southern India, whence the gum, which requires no further preparation than being allowed to harden, is exported to Europe, the yellowish or inferior quality in larger quantities than the white. Some uncertainty has existed as to the source of the supply. It seems clear that no such tree existed in Palestine, but that the frankincense used there was imported through Arabia (cf. Isaiah 60:6, Jeremiah 6:20, where ‘incense’ in Authorized Version ought to be ‘frankincense,’ and is so rendered in Revised Version NT 1881, OT 1885). The opening up of India by Britain made it plain that the source of the supply, which had previously come through Persia, was to be found there.

The ritual use of frankincense, in the OT as among the heathen, denotes direct adoration. It is burned as an appendage to the minhâh (Leviticus 2:2). According to old allegorizing traditions, the frankincense offered by the Magi signified the Divinity of the Holy Child, the gold representing His royalty, the myrrh either His healing powers or His prospect of suffering.

Literature.—Birdwood, The Genus Boswellia, London, 1870, also in Trans. Linn. Society, xxvii., 1871; Encyc. Brit.^{9 [Note: designates the particular edition of the work referred]} art. ‘Frankincense.’

S. J. Ramsay Sibbald.