What does בֶּשֶׂם (bešem) mean in the Bible?
Spices and fragrance appear in several different kinds of passage. Exodus includes fragrant ingredients among offerings for the sanctuary and names spices in the prescribed anointing oil.
Hebrew · H1314
בֶּשֶׂם
Spices and fragrance appear in several different kinds of passage. Exodus includes fragrant ingredients among offerings for the sanctuary and names spices in the prescribed anointing oil.
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בֶּשֶׂםH1314
Pronunciationbešem
What does בֶּשֶׂם (bešem) mean in the Bible?
Reader summary
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).
What This Word Actually Means
Spices and fragrance appear in several different kinds of passage. Exodus includes fragrant ingredients among offerings for the sanctuary and names spices in the prescribed anointing oil. The queen of Sheba brings an unusually abundant gift of spices to Solomon. Song of Songs places aromatic plants within its garden poetry of love. These settings involve worship instructions, royal gifts, and poetic delight rather than one hidden spiritual property shared by every pleasant smell.
Isaiah can also contrast fragrance with stench in a warning of judgment. Ask what the spices are doing in each scene and what the passage actually says about them. Their presence does not by itself prescribe a worship practice, identify a modern plant precisely, or promise a healing effect.
How the Bible Uses It
Sanctuary ingredients, Sheba's gift and the beloved's poetic garden supply distinct settings for spices and fragrance without turning their shared vocabulary into a universal ritual.
- Exod.30.23
“Take the finest spices: 500 shekels of liquid myrrh, half that amount (250 shekels) of fragrant cinnamon, 250 shekels of fragrant cane,
The named spices belong to the particular anointing-oil instructions given to Moses, with prescribed amounts and preparation in the following verses.
- 1Kgs.10.10
Then she gave the king 120 talents of gold, a great quantity of spices, and precious stones. Never again were spices in such abundance brought in as those the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.
Sheba's extraordinary spice gift accompanies her visit and praise of Solomon's wisdom and justice; the narrative emphasizes its abundance rather than a spiritual technique.
- Song.4.14
With nard and saffron, with calamus and cinnamon, with every kind of frankincense tree, with myrrh and aloes, with all the finest spices.
The aromatic plants are part of garden imagery describing the beloved, so this poetic list is not a sanctuary recipe or medical instruction.
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders Itspices15×Exodus 25:6, Exodus 30:23, Exodus 35:8, 1 Kings 10:2
the spices3×2 Kings 20:13, 1 Chronicles 9:30, Isaiah 39:2
of fragrant2×Exodus 30:23
of spices2×Song Of Solomon 6:2, Song Of Solomon 8:14
and spices1×1 Chronicles 9:29
and then with perfumes1×Esther 2:12
as well as spices1×Exodus 35:28
fragrance1×Isaiah 3:24
of its spices1×Song Of Solomon 4:16
of spice1×Song Of Solomon 5:13
were spices1×1 Kings 10:10
Show sample aligned rows
Exodus 25:6בְּשָׂמִים֙tospicesNoun - masculine pluralExodus 30:23בְּשָׂמִ֣יםtospicesNoun - masculine pluralExodus 30:23בֶּ֥שֶׂםtoof fragrantNoun - masculine singularExodus 30:23בֹ֖שֶׂםtoof fragrantNoun - masculine singularExodus 35:8וּבְשָׂמִים֙tospicesConjunctive waw | Noun - masculine pluralExodus 35:28הַבֹּ֖שֶׂםtoas well as spicesArticle | Noun - masculine singular1 Kings 10:2בְּשָׂמִ֧יםtospicesNoun - masculine plural1 Kings 10:10וּבְשָׂמִ֛יםtospicesConjunctive waw | Noun - masculine plural1 Kings 10:10כַבֹּ֨שֶׂםtowere spicesPreposition-k, Article | Noun - masculine singular1 Kings 10:25וּבְשָׂמִ֔יםtospicesConjunctive waw | Noun - masculine plural
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned rowExodus 25:6
Aligned rows29
Books represented9
Exodus61 Kings42 Kings11 Chronicles22 Chronicles6Esther1Song Of Solomon6Isaiah2Ezekiel1
Source forms
בֹּ֜שֶׂם2xbō·śemIsaiah 3:24, Ezekiel 27:22
בְּשָׂמִ֣ים2xbə·śā·mîmExodus 30:23, 2 Chronicles 16:14
בְּשָׂמִ֧ים2xbə·śā·mîm1 Kings 10:2, 2 Chronicles 9:1
בְשָׂמִֽים׃2xḇə·śā·mîmSong Of Solomon 4:14, Song Of Solomon 8:14
הַבְּשָׂמִ֜ים2xhab·bə·śā·mîm2 Kings 20:13, Isaiah 39:2
וּבְשָׂמִ֛ים2xū·ḇə·śā·mîm1 Kings 10:10, 2 Chronicles 9:9
וּבְשָׂמִ֔ים2xū·ḇə·śā·mîm1 Kings 10:25, 2 Chronicles 9:24
בַּבְּשָׂמִ֔ים1xbab·bə·śā·mîmEsther 2:12
Parsing patterns
Noun - masculine plural8xExodus 25:6, Exodus 30:23, 1 Kings 10:2, 2 Chronicles 9:1
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine plural5xExodus 35:8, 1 Kings 10:10, 1 Kings 10:25, 2 Chronicles 9:9
Noun - masculine singular4xExodus 30:23, Isaiah 3:24, Ezekiel 27:22
Article | Noun - masculine singular3xExodus 35:28, Song Of Solomon 5:13, Song Of Solomon 6:2
Article | Noun - masculine plural2x2 Kings 20:13, Isaiah 39:2
Preposition-k, Article | Noun - masculine singular2x1 Kings 10:10, 2 Chronicles 9:9
Conjunctive waw, Article | Noun - masculine plural1x1 Chronicles 9:29
Conjunctive waw, Preposition-l | Noun - masculine plural1x2 Chronicles 32:27
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Do not promise healing or spiritual protection from a scented preparation.
- Avoid treating the presence or absence of fragrance as a person's spiritual standing.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not claim every spice reference teaches anointing practice; Sheba's gift and the garden poem have different purposes.
- Do not claim these ingredients guarantee healing; the selected passages provide no medical promise or treatment instruction.
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 definitionSource: 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:
בָּשָׂםH1313
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.
For the Preacher and Teacher
The same sensory detail can serve very different purposes. Exodus specifies ingredients for an anointing oil within instructions for Israel's sanctuary. First Kings describes a gift whose remarkable abundance helps readers picture Sheba's royal visit. Song of Songs invites the reader into a fragrant garden image in its language of love. None of these functions should replace the others.
Isaiah's reversal from fragrance to stench also shows that an attractive material detail is not a guarantee of blessing wherever it appears. A useful study therefore moves from the noun to the scene: who gives, prepares, enjoys, or loses the fragrance? That question preserves the richness of the passages without assigning spiritual or therapeutic properties that they do not establish.
Anchor passage
Exod.30.23
Doctrinal connections
- Exodus 30:23-25 places selected aromatic ingredients within a prescribed sanctuary anointing oil.
- Exodus 25:6 includes spices among the materials brought for sanctuary preparations.
- First Chronicles 9:30 assigns the mixing of spices to particular priestly responsibilities.
- First Kings 10:10 emphasizes the exceptional abundance of Sheba's royal spice gift.
- Song of Songs 4:14 uses aromatic plants within the beloved's poetic garden imagery.
- Isaiah 3:24 reverses fragrance into stench within a specific prophetic warning of judgment.
The supplied Hebrew range includes fragrance, spices and a plant-related use. The selected passages establish their material and literary roles; the general gloss does not identify every named ingredient's modern botanical species.
From Old to New Testament
Fragrance can support a thematic comparison with Christian language about worship or a pleasing offering, but that comparison needs its own passage context. These Hebrew occurrences do not command Christians to reproduce the sanctuary oil or treat scented substances as carriers of saving grace.