Σμύρνα

myrrh

Translated by Carl Widstrand15 Jan 2000Vetting: high6 revisions

2 notes · 20 words

[sc. Prefiguring] the funeral rites¹ of Christ, the laying-out [for burial]; for this [i.e. myrrh] is especially applied² to corpses.

Greek original · Adler’s text

Σμύρνα· ὁ τάφος τοῦ Χριστοῦ, ἡ ἐνταφίασις· νεκροῖς γὰρ αὕτη διαφερόντως προσφέρεται.

Betacode

*smu/rna: o( ta/fos tou= *xristou=, h( e)ntafi/asis: nekroi=s ga\r au(/th diafero/ntws prosfe/retai.

From (unidentifiable) ancient commentary on Psalm 44:9 LXX, where the headword occurs.
The headword is also spelled z- (and without the s-, mu/rra). It is the oleo-gum-resin from the stem of Commifera abyssinica Holmes, used for perfumes and incense and for embalming the dead. A connection with stakth/ (myrrh oil: sigma 997) is not established, although described by Theophrastos (HP 9.4.10, 7.6.3 and passim). C. abyssinica belongs to the Burseraceae which also contains Boswellia carteri from which frankincense (libanw/tos: lambda 489) is produced. The Latin name for the myrrh-producing tree given in LSJ under smu/rna, Balsamodendron myrrha, is an older synonym for C. abyssinica. There is a lot of garbage and misunderstanding concerning myrrh in Dioscorides, Diodorus Siculus and Pliny.
1This translation of taphos -- no.1 in LSJ s.v. -- seems preferable to the alternative "tomb" (no.2 there). ↩
2Or "... is applied in different ways ...". ↩

Revision history6 revisions · last 15 Mar 2022