σμύρνα, σμύρνης, ἡ, Hebrew ξΙψ, ξεψ, myrrh, a bitter gum and costly perfume which exudes from a certain tree or shrub in Arabia and Ethiopia, or is obtained by incisions made in the bark: Mat_2:11; as an antiseptic it was used in embalming, Joh_19:39. Cf. Herodotus 2, 40, 86; 3, 107; Theophrastus, hist. pl. 9, 3f; Diodorus 5, 41; Pliny, h. n. 12, 33f; (BB. DD.; Birdwood in the 'Bible Educator', vol. ii., p. 151; Löw, Aram. Pflanzennam. § 185).

σμύρνα smyrna 2x myrrh, an aromatic bitter resin, or gum, issuing by incision, and sometimes spontaneously, from the trunk and larger branches of a small thorny tree growing in Egypt, Arabia, and Abyssinia, much used by the ancients in unguents, Mat_2:11 ; Joh_19:39

σμύρνα (in some MSS, ζμ -; ν . Bl., § 3, 9), -ης , ἡ , [in LXX for H4753 ;] myrrh , a resinous gum used as an unguent and for em\-balming: Mat_2:11 , Joh_19:39 .†

σμύρνα myrrh. For this spelling of the common noun which is found in its two NT occurrences ( Mat_2:11 , Joh_19:39 ) cf. the medical prescription P Oxy II. 234 ii. (ii/iii A.D.) σμύρναν καὶ [στυ ]πτηρίαν ἴσα τρί [ψας ] ἔνθες , pound myrrh and alum in equal quantities and insert (Edd.), and ib. XIV. 1739 .6 (ii/iii A.D.) σμιρινηαν , which the editors regard as = σμυρναίαν , i.e. σμύρναν ? To the exx. of ζμύρνα cited s.v. Ζμύρνα , we may add the fragmentary P Cairo Zen I. 59009 ( b ) ii. (iii/B.C.) ζμύρνης [ , P Grenf I. 14 .10 (B.C. 150 or 139) κίστη με (γάλη ) ξύ (λου ) μεστὴ ζμύρνης , P Oxy VIII. 1088 .57 (early i/A.D.) ζμύρνης (δραχμαὶ ) ι―, P Leid W viii. 11 (ii/iii A.D.) (= II. p. 107) προσμείξας αὐτο (= τῷ ) μέλαν καὶ ζμύρναν , and, in connexion with the service of the temples, BGU I. 1 .11 (iii/A.D.) τειμῆς μύρου κ [αὶ ] ζμύρνης . As showing the price of myrrh, which was a state monopoly, note P Tebt I. 35 .4 (B.C. III) ( = Chrest. I. p. 369) τῆς ἀναδεδομένης κατ ὰ κώμην ζμύρνης μηδένα πλει̑ον <<σι >>ν τη̑ς μνα̑ς ἀργυ (ρίου ) δραχμω̑ν μ̄ , for the myrrh distributed in the villages no one shall exact more than 40 drachmae of silver for a minaweight (Edd.).

σμύρνα σμύρνα, ionic σμύρνη, ἡ, like μύρρα, "myrrh", the resinous gum of an Arabian tree, used for embalming the dead, Hdt. ; called σμύρνης ἱδρώς by Eur. ; also used for anointing, Ar. ; and a salve, Hdt. [Etym: A foreign word.]

σμύρνα (in some MSS, ζμ-; see Bl., § 3, 9), -ης, ἡ, [in LXX for מֹר ;] myrrh, a resinous gum used as an unguent and for em­balming: Mat.2:11, Jhn.19:39.† (AS)