perfume Summary and Overview

PER'FUME . Ex 30:35. The use of perfumery to give an agreeable odor to the person and apparel is and ever has been, widely prevalent in Eastern countries. In the passage cited, however, the composition which is called a perfume was to be used in the tabernacle service. The composition of it is prescribed with great particularity, and the making or using it for any other purpose was forbidden under severe penalties. It is of little importance what the ingredients were, or what was specially denoted in the manner of using it. It had its value as a test of obedience, and may have had some significancy to the view which we cannot appreciate. The "art of the apothecary," after or according to which the compound was to be made, probably consisted quite as much in the preparation of perfumes as in the sale of drugs and medicines. See Incense.