Aloes

Aloes are mentioned 5x in the Bible; in the OT it translates the Heb., 'ahalot (fem.) or 'ahalim (masc.), and the Greek, aloes at Jn 19:39. It is easy to confuse the aloes of the Bible with far more common Aloe vera, a succulent plant native to the Arabian peninsula, and reputed to have many medicinal uses and health benefits. The aloes of the Bible is rather to be identified with Aquilaria agallocha (possibly also A. malaccensis), an evergree tree, native to East Asia (India through to Indonesia), that can grow to a height of 160 feet and a bore of two feet, and exudes an aromatic resin. It is also known as agarwood or gaharu, and is nowadays reckoned one of the most expensive woods in the world, finding uses—as in ancient times—in perfume and incense. In four of its five occurrences in the Bible it is paired with myrrh suggesting that this was its most like use in ancient Israel. Nicodemus, famously, brought about 35 kilograms of a mixture of myrrh and aloe for preparing Jesus's body for burial (Jn 19:39). This was an extremely large and expensive amount of spices, and it speaks of the unsparing show of devotion to Jesus once Nicodemus decided he would come out into the open about where he stood with regards to the man who once told him he needed to be "born again."

This identification of aloes with the gaharu is meaningful for all the passages except its first mention in the Bible (Num 24:6). Here Balaam likens Israel to aloes planted by Yahweh." How would Balaam know of a tree found nowhere near Palestine? Or had botanical knowledge already spread that far afield even then? Or did the text we have mispelled 'ahalim for something else? This remains a puzzle? Balaam's point cannot, however, be missed for all our puzzle.

Concordance:

Num 24:6 - 'Like valleys they spread out, like gardens beside a river, like aloes planted by the Lord, like cedars beside the waters.

Psm 45:8 - All your robes are fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia; from palaces adorned with ivory the music of the strings makes you glad.

Prov 7:17 - I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes and cinnamon.

Song 4:14 - [Your plants are an orchard of pomegranates with choice fruits, with henna and nard,] nard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon, with every kind of incense tree, with myrrh and aloes and all the finest spices.

Jn. 19:39 - He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about thirty-five kilograms.