[sc. Prefiguring] the funeral rites[1] of Christ, the laying-out [for burial]; for this [i.e. myrrh] is especially applied[2] to corpses.
*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.
[1] This translation of
taphos -- no.1 in LSJ s.v. -- seems preferable to the alternative "tomb" (no.2 there).
[2] Or "... is applied in different ways ...".
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