occurs only in Genesis 2:12 , where it designates a product of the land of Havilah; and in Numbers 11:7 , where the manna is likened to it in colour. It was probably an aromatic gum like balsam which exuded from a particular tree (Borassus flabelliformis) still found in Arabia, Media, and India. It bears a resemblance in colour to myrrh. Others think the word denotes "pearls," or some precious stone.
(bedolach ). ( Genesis 2:12 ; Numbers 11:7 ) It is quite impossible to say whether bedolach denotes a mineral or an animal production or a vegetable exudation. Bdellium is an odoriferous exudation from a tree which is perhaps the Borassus flabelliformis , Lin., of Arabia Felix.
BDELLIUM
del'-i-um (bedholach):
The word occurs twice in the Pentateuch:
(1) in Genesis 2:12, in conjunction with gold and onyx, as a product of the land of HAVILAH (which see), and
(2) in Numbers 11:7, where the manna is likened to this substance in appearance:
"The appearance thereof as the appearance of bdellium." The latter comparison excludes the idea of bedholach being a precious stone, and points to the identification of it with the fragrant resinous gum known to the Greeks as bdellion, several kinds being mentioned by Dioscorides and Pliny. It was a product of Arabia, India, Afghanistan, etc.
James Orr
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