Storax
Storax occurs only in Ecclesiastes 24:15, as a rendering of στακτή, stacte: "I gave a sweet smell like cinnamon and aspalathus, and I yielded a pleasant odor like the best myrrh, as galbanum, and onyx, and sweet storax, and as the fume of frankincense in the tabernacle." In Ge 37:25, Aquila renders נכאֹת, "spicery," by στύραξ, as also in 43, 11, where he is followed by the Vulg. Sweet storax is mentioned by various Greek writers, from the time of Hippocrates to that of Dioscorides. Several kinds of it were known, varying chiefly in the form in which it was obtained or the degree of adulteration to which it had been subjected. Most of the kinds are still known in commerce. It is obtained by incisions made in the bark of the tree called styrax officinale by botanists. This tree is a native of Greece, Asia Minor, Syria, and Palestine, and is about twenty feet high, with leaves like those of the quince, and flowers somewhat resembling those of the orange. Storax was and is still much esteemed, both as an incense and for its medical properties. It consists chiefly of resin, a volatile oil, and some benzoic acid. It has a grateful balsamic odor, which no doubt made it valued in ancient times. SEE SPICE.
