What does בֶּשֶׂם (bešem) mean in the Bible?
בֶּשֶׂם (bešem): Aromatic substance suggesting pleasure, luxury, and divine favor; literal spices evoke metaphorical sweetness.
Hebrew · H1314
בֶּשֶׂם
Fragrance ; by implication, spicery ; also the balsam plant
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בֶּשֶׂם H1314
Pronunciation bešem
What does בֶּשֶׂם (bešem) mean in the Bible?
בֶּשֶׂם (bešem): Aromatic substance suggesting pleasure, luxury, and divine favor; literal spices evoke metaphorical sweetness.
Full entry for בֶּשֶׂם (H1314) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render H1314?
The BSB source-word alignment has 29 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include spices (15), the spices (3), of fragrant (2), of spices (2), and spices (1).
Where does בֶּשֶׂם (bešem) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Exodus 25:6. Its strongest book concentrations include 2 Chronicles (6), Exodus (6), Song Of Solomon (6), 1 Kings (4).
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders It spices 15× Exodus 25:6, Exodus 30:23, Exodus 35:8, 1 Kings 10:2
the spices 3× 2 Kings 20:13, 1 Chronicles 9:30, Isaiah 39:2
of fragrant 2× Exodus 30:23
of spices 2× Song Of Solomon 6:2, Song Of Solomon 8:14
and spices 1× 1 Chronicles 9:29
and then with perfumes 1× Esther 2:12
as well as spices 1× Exodus 35:28
fragrance 1× Isaiah 3:24
of its spices 1× Song Of Solomon 4:16
of spice 1× Song Of Solomon 5:13
were spices 1× 1 Kings 10:10
Show sample aligned rows
Exodus 25:6 בְּשָׂמִים֙ to spices Noun - masculine plural Exodus 30:23 בְּשָׂמִ֣ים to spices Noun - masculine plural Exodus 30:23 בֶּ֥שֶׂם to of fragrant Noun - masculine singular Exodus 30:23 בֹ֖שֶׂם to of fragrant Noun - masculine singular Exodus 35:8 וּבְשָׂמִים֙ to spices Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine plural Exodus 35:28 הַבֹּ֖שֶׂם to as well as spices Article | Noun - masculine singular 1 Kings 10:2 בְּשָׂמִ֧ים to spices Noun - masculine plural 1 Kings 10:10 וּבְשָׂמִ֛ים to spices Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine plural 1 Kings 10:10 כַבֹּ֨שֶׂם to were spices Preposition-k, Article | Noun - masculine singular 1 Kings 10:25 וּבְשָׂמִ֔ים to spices Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine plural
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Exodus 25:6
Aligned rows 29
Books represented 9
Exodus 6 1 Kings 4 2 Kings 1 1 Chronicles 2 2 Chronicles 6 Esther 1 Song Of Solomon 6 Isaiah 2 Ezekiel 1
Source forms
בֹּ֜שֶׂם 2x bō·śem Isaiah 3:24, Ezekiel 27:22
בְּשָׂמִ֣ים 2x bə·śā·mîm Exodus 30:23, 2 Chronicles 16:14
בְּשָׂמִ֧ים 2x bə·śā·mîm 1 Kings 10:2, 2 Chronicles 9:1
בְשָׂמִֽים׃ 2x ḇə·śā·mîm Song Of Solomon 4:14, Song Of Solomon 8:14
הַבְּשָׂמִ֜ים 2x hab·bə·śā·mîm 2 Kings 20:13, Isaiah 39:2
וּבְשָׂמִ֛ים 2x ū·ḇə·śā·mîm 1 Kings 10:10, 2 Chronicles 9:9
וּבְשָׂמִ֔ים 2x ū·ḇə·śā·mîm 1 Kings 10:25, 2 Chronicles 9:24
בַּבְּשָׂמִ֔ים 1x bab·bə·śā·mîm Esther 2:12
Parsing patterns
Noun - masculine plural 8x Exodus 25:6, Exodus 30:23, 1 Kings 10:2, 2 Chronicles 9:1
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine plural 5x Exodus 35:8, 1 Kings 10:10, 1 Kings 10:25, 2 Chronicles 9:9
Noun - masculine singular 4x Exodus 30:23, Isaiah 3:24, Ezekiel 27:22
Article | Noun - masculine singular 3x Exodus 35:28, Song Of Solomon 5:13, Song Of Solomon 6:2
Article | Noun - masculine plural 2x 2 Kings 20:13, Isaiah 39:2
Preposition-k, Article | Noun - masculine singular 2x 1 Kings 10:10, 2 Chronicles 9:9
Conjunctive waw, Article | Noun - masculine plural 1x 1 Chronicles 9:29
Conjunctive waw, Preposition-l | Noun - masculine plural 1x 2 Chronicles 32:27
Evidence Summary
Hebrew word. Aromatic substance suggesting pleasure, luxury, and divine favor; literal spices evoke metaphorical sweetness.
Source Gloss
fragrance ; by implication, spicery ; also the balsam plant
Extended definition Source: Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon + Brown-Driver-Briggs
Aromatic substance suggesting pleasure, luxury, and divine favor; literal spices evoke metaphorical sweetness.
fragrance; by implication, spicery; also the balsam plant BDB: spice Usage: smell, spice, sweet (odour).
Grammatical Forms
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
Word Origins
בֶּשֶׂם is built from this root:
בָּשָׂם H1313
Part of These Phrases
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Sources
MorphGNT Strong's Dictionary XML — CC0 1.0 Public Domain
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (morphhb/OSHB) — CC BY 4.0
Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon — CC BY 4.0
Berean Standard Bible (BSB) source-word alignment - CC0 Public Domain