Bible Dictionary
Galbanum
Galbanum was a fragrant gum resin used as an ingredient in Israel’s holy incense. Its strong aroma and bitter taste distinguished it from the other spices in the mixture.
Definition
Galbanum is a fragrant gum-resin occurring in small translucent tears or brownish-yellow masses. It has an aromatic odor and bitter taste and was used as one of the ingredients in the holy incense.
Biblical Usage
Galbanum is named in the prescription for Israel’s sacred incense. It is also used in a comparison involving pleasant fragrance in the Apocryphal book of Sirach.
Historical Background
The resin is derived from certain umbelliferous plants. The sources state that it was imported from Persia and was also associated with India and the Levant.
Scripture References
Historical Bible Dictionaries
Easton's Bible Dictionary
Heb. helbenah, (Ex. 30:34), one of the ingredients in the holy incense. It is a gum, probably from the Galbanum officinale.
Smith's Bible Dictionary
one of the perfumes employed in the preparation of the sacred incense. (Exodus 10:34) The galbanum of commerce is brought chiefly from India and the Levant. It is a resinous gum of a brownish-yellow color and strong disagreeable smell, usually met with in masses, but sometimes found in yellowish tear-like drops. But, though galbanum itself is well known, the plant which yields it has not been exactly determined.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE)
<p>gal'-ba-num (chelbenah; chalbdne):</p><p>A gum-resin which occurs in small, round, semitranslucent tears or in brownish yellow masses; has a pleasant aromatic odor and a bitter taste; and is today, at any rate, imported from Persia.</p><p>It is derived from certain umbelliferous plants, Ferula galbaniflua and F. rubricaulis. It is mentioned in Ex 30:34 as an ingredient of the holy incense, and also in /APC Sirach 24:15: "a pleasant odor .... as galbanum."</p>